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HISTORY  OF  IRELAND, 

FROM   ITS   FIRST   SETTLEMENT 
TO   THE   PRESENT   TIME; 

INCLUDING  A  PARTICULAR  ACCOUNT  OF 

ITS  LITERATURE,  MUSIC,  ARCHITECTURE, 
AND  NATURAL  RESOURCES; 

WITH    UPWARDS    OF    TWO    HUNDRED 

BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 

OF 

ITS  MOST  EMINENT  MEN; 

INTERSPERSED    WITH    A    GREAT    NUMBER    OF 

3rtsl)    illclobic0, 

ORIGINAL    AND    SELECTED, 

ARRANGED   FOR   MUSICAL   INSTRUMENTS, 

AND    ILLUSTRATED    BY    MANY 

ANECDOTES   OF   CELEBRATED   IRISHMEN, 

AND  A 

SERIES  OF  ARCHITECTURAL  DESCRIPTIONS. 

BY 

THOMAS    MOONEY, 

LATE   OF  THE   CITY  OF  DUBLIN. 

YOL.  I. 

BOSTON: 

PATRICK   DONAHOE,   3    FRANKLIN   STREET. 

1853. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1845,  by 

Thomas    Moonev, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetta 


THIRD   EDITION. 


44427 


PREFACE. 


"History's  lessons,  if  you'll  read  'em, 

Will  impart  this  truth  to  thee  — 

Knowledge  is* the  price  of  freedom  ; 

Know  yourself,  and  you  are  free."  —  Nation. 

History  is  defined  to  be  a  dignified  recital  of  events.  Its  object  is  tc 
give  us  the  advantages  of  ages  of  experience,  and  its  treatment  ought  to 
be  such  as  not  only  to  instruct,  but  to  amuse  and  to  incite. 

It  should,  we  conceive,  be  written  to  effect  this  triple  purpose :  to  in- 
struct, by  a  skilful  array  of  events  growing  naturally  out  of  one  another;  — 
to  amuse,  by  a  happy  introduction  of  as  much  of  the  characteristic  fea- 
tures of  the  persons  in  the  narrative,  —  the  romance  of  life,  as  it  may  be 
termed, —  as  shall  not  take  too  much  from  its  dignity  ;  which  introductions 
should  appear  at  due  intervals  in  the  work,  like  inns  upon  a  great  road,  to 
afford  refreshment  to  the  reader-;  —  and  to  incite  to  deeds  of  virtue,  patriot- 
ism, tenderness,  and  heroism,  by  duly  extolling  such  as  may  have  distin- 
guished themselves  by  these  laudable  traits;  teaching  the  young  that 
by  these  means  only  can  they  hope  for  the  approbation  of  their  contem- 
poraries and  of  posterity.  This  is  the  aim  of  history,  to  which  all  its 
bearing  should  tend. 

Most  histories  are  written  so  dryly  that  they  are  as  unpalatable 
as  law  books.  Hence  the  young  mind  flies  off  to  novels  and  romances, 
which  are  fictitious  histories,  but  which  possess  the  exciting  and  at- 
tractive properties  that  the  grave  historian  casts  away.  The  mind 
of  youth  should  be  filled  with  true  history  as  the  preparatory  course  to 
the  acquisition  of  other  knowledge ;  and  it  should,  in  my  opinion,  be 
written  in  familiar  language,  and  interspersed  with  the  most  beautiful 
flowers  of  literature,  to  refresh  and  delight  the  mind,  and  engage  its 
attention. 

The  old  historians,  writing  for  less  sophisticated  natures,  enveloped  their 
narratives  in  poetry,  and  frei,uently  recited  them  to  their  auditories,  accom- 
panying the  voice  with  the  sounds  of  the  harp  —  a  mode  of  conveying 
b 


V.  PRErACE. 

nistorical  information  which  was  far  more  effective  than  thnt  adopted  by 
the  moderns.  The  multitude  of  every  nation,  in  ancient  times,  knew  the 
history  of  their  country  tolerably  well.  But,  with  all  our  modern  inven- 
tions, is  this  the  case  now  ?  Do  the  multitude  in  Ireland,  England,  France, 
or  America,  know  the  history  of  their  respective  countries  tolerably  well  1 
It  must  be  admitted  that  they  do  not.  Females,  in  general,  know  little  of 
history;  and  one  of  the  reasons  is,  that  most  of  the  histories  we  have 
are  written  so  gravely,  that  none  but  a  mind  ardently  bent  on  acquiring  a 
knowledge  of  the  past  will  toil  through  the  wearisome  pages  in  which  it 
is  deposited. 

Entertaining  this  opinion,  which  I  have  formed  upon  a  close  observation 
of  the  bent  of  the  public  taste,  I  have  constructed  my  work  upon  the 
ancient  plan,  restoring  poetry  and  music  to  their  companionship  with 
history.  This,  of  course,  will  subject  me  to  the  rod  of  the  reviewers;  but  I 
hope  to  have  the  multitude  on  my  side,  who  are  always  natural  in  taste 
and  honest  in  judgment ;  and,  if  I  succeed  in  this  respect,  I  can  afford 
to  bear  the  laceration  of  others.  I  therefore  present  my  History  of 
Ireland  in  a  scries  of  lectures,  interspersed  with  Irish  melodies,  nearly  in 
the  style  in  which  they  were  originally  delivered  by  me  in  New  York, 
This  method  of  conveying  historical  information  I  found  to  be  attractive 
and  effective  in  the  lecture-room,  and  I  trust  it  will  prove  so  in  my  book. 
Those  who  seek  the  music  and  the  pictures  may  pause  to  meditate  on 
facts  that  are  side  by  side. 

The  music  is  selected  from  many  eminent  Irish  composers.  The  col- 
lection embraces  every  measure.  It  is  difficult  to  select  music  that  will 
please  every  taste ;  and  some  that  I  have  omitted  may  be  much  better 
than  some  that  I  have  chosen.  The  pieces  which  I  have  published  are 
merely  specimens;  and  many  of  them  are  linked  with  the  history  by  an 
indissoluble  tie.  There  is  yet  an  unbounded  field  of  Irish  music  untrod- 
den. Perhaps,  in  some  future  publication,  I  may  offer  a  further  col- 
lection. The  songs  of  my  own  composition  have  been  arranged  for  sundry 
instruments  by  Mr.  M'Gaughy,  and  will  be  found,  it  is  hoped,  suggestive 
of  patriotic  sentiment. 

In  a  work  which,  like  this,  embraces  such  a  multitude  of  details  re- 
specting events  and  persons,  some  errors  must  strike  the  intelligent  reader  ; 
and  it  will  give  me  pleasure  to  receive  suggestions  for  improvement  from 
any  quarter.  The  severest  censure  of  the  reviewers,  if  founded  on  sufficieni 
grounds,  will  have  my  attention.  The  whole  of  this  work  is  stereotyped, 
and  covers  seventeen  hundred  metal  plates ;  it  is  in  my  power;  by  a 
trifling  expenditure,  to  have  alterations  made  in  any  of  its  pages.  My 
life  will  be  well  spent  in  perfecting  the  work  ;  and  every  detection  of 
error  or  omission,  either  by  friend  or  foe,  will  enable  me  to  carry  out  the 
great  object  I  have  in  view  —  the  completion  of  a  good  History  of  Ireland. 


PREFACE.  V 

The  unreflecting  or  the  prejudiced  Protestant  may  deem  this  History  par- 
tial, because  he  will  not  find  in  it  any  abuse  of  Catholicism  or  its  clergy. 
The  enlightened  and  the  patriotic  Protestant  will  perceive  that,  in  common 
with  the  great  body  of  the  Irish  people,  the  author  dwells  in  fervent  terms 
upon  the  virtue  and  nationality  of  the  Protestant  patriots,  dead  and  living. 
Molyneaux,  Swift,  and  Lucas,  were  Protestants.  Grattan,  Flood,  Bristol, 
Charlemont,  and  Curran,  were  Protestants.  The  Emmets,  O'Connor, 
Tone,  Rowan,  Russell,  were  Protestants.  These  are  among  our  canonized 
patriots,  the  concentred  rays  of  whose  genius  form  one  bright  beacon  to 
illumine  our  path  in  exile,  and  our  road  to  freedom.  In  our  own  day, 
O'Brien,  Grattan,  Steele,  Davis,  Barrett,  Gray,  Seaver,  Clements,  and 
others,  who  are  among  the  trusted  leaders  of  Ireland,  are  Protestants. 
We  are  prepared  to  risk  our  lives  by  their  side  in  defence  of  liberty. 
What  more  would  Protestantism  have,  unless  it  desire  a  tyrannical  ascend- 
ency over  Catholics,  which  the  Protestant  ministers  of  the  queen  of 
England  have  said  never  can  exist  again. 

The  unreflecting  and  the  prejudiced  Englishman  may  deem  this  History 
partial,  because  much  that  he  considered  his  own  in  art  and  valor  has 
been  restored  to  Ireland,  and  because  the  necessities  of  history  compel 
the  exposure  of  a  long  course  of  English  misrule  in  Ireland  and  else- 
where. But  the  enlightened  and  the  honest  Englishman  will  perceive 
that  the  aristocracy  and  its  agents  are  separated,  all  through,  from  the  great 
bulk  of  the  English  people,  who  suffer  almost  as  much  from  their  depre- 
dations as  Ireland  or  India  ;  and  a  special  acknowledgment  is  made  to  the 
English  democracy  for  the  several  manifestations  of  sympathy  which  they 
have  volunteered  in  behalf  of  the  freedom  of  their  brethren  in  Ireland. 
Indeed,  the  wish  is  frequently  wafted  forth  for  a  hearty  cooperation  of  the 
oppressed  English  and  Irish  people  for  the  achievement  of  their  common 
liberties. 

I  have  not  occupied  my  pages,  as  others  have  done  theirs,  with  detailed 
descriptions  of  those  lands  that  were  confiscated  during  the  several  wars 
between  England  and  Ireland,  nor  published  profitless  lists  of  the  "right 
owners,"  the  descendants  of  most  of  whom  are  scattered  over  the  world, 
and  are  become  the  servants  of  the  servants  of  men.  Such  publications 
enable  the  cunning  agents  of  England  to  spread  alarm  among  the  Protes- 
tant possessors  of  those  estates,  by  pointing  to  the  care  with  which  the 
Irish  historians  record  the  boundaries  and  the  names  of  former  owners,  —  to 
insinuate  that  the  object  of  the  present  agitation  for  the  reestablishment  of 
the  Irish  parliament  is  to  seize  on  those  estates,  and  restore  them  to  the 
descendants  of  the  original  owners.  Public  opinion  is  completely  set 
against  any  disturbance  of  the  possessors  of  property  in  Ireland,  upon  any 
pretence  oi former  illegal  seizure.  No !  The  Irish,  when  in  possession  of 
power,  will  never  overhaul  the  titles  of  those  who  reside  in  Ireland;  but 


VI  PREFACE. 

they  will  not  spate  the  permanent  absentees ;  tJiey  are  a  doomed  race.  And 
if  Ireland  be  driven  to  the  field  to  achieve  her  liberty,  the  fee  simple  of  ab- 
sentee property,  worth,  at  twenty  years'  purchase,  one  hundred  and  twenty 
millions  sterling,  {six  hundred  millions  of  dollars,)  will  be  found  most 
appropriate,  and  amply  sufficient  to  pay  those  auxiliaries  who  may  volun- 
teer in  her  behalf,  and  w-ho  would  be  happy  with  freedom,  competence, 
and  a  permanent  residence  in  Ireland,  as  their  reward.  In  such  an  event, 
the  man  who  would  not  be  for  Ireland  would  be  against  her ;  and  the 
penalty  of  his  hostility  ought  to  be,  at  least,  the  loss  of  his  property. 

There  will  be  found  occasional  repetitions  of  the  same  facts  in  the 
work.  I  have  learned  from  O'Connell,  from  Cobbett,  and  from  the  Lon- 
don Times,  that  it  is  necessary,  for  the  purposes  of  truth,  to  repeat  peculiar 
facts.     In  defence  of  this  practice,  I  will  let  the  Times  speak  for  me. 

"Now,  there  is  an  immense  power  in  facts.  The  long  contemplation, 
and  for  a  time  the  barren  contemplation,  of  one  simple  fact,  has  often  led 
to  the  sublimest  discoveries.  The  fall  of  an  apple  elicited  the  theory  of 
gravitation,  the  ascent  of  a  soap-bubble  the  laws  of  color  and  light.  It  is 
so  in  the  history  of  nations  ;  the  bare  sight  of  the  blood-stained  dagger,  or 
of  its  bleeding  victim,  has  overthrown  dynasties.  Such  is  the  powder  of  a 
picture,  or  of  a  ballad.  It  is  a  fact  boldly  exhibited,  and  appealing  to  the 
hearts  of  men.  Wherever  there  is  public  opinion,  wherever  there  are  com- 
mon sense  and  common  feeling,  a  fact  is  sure  to  have  its  weight.  It  is  a 
battering-ram,  which,  though  it  be  only  one  instrument,  yet,  by  many 
successive  blows,  will  break  through  the  thickest  and  hardest  prejudice  or 
stupidity.  It  is  the  continual  drop  which  wears  the  stone.  So  we  say, 
if  there  be  a  great  and  distressing  body  of  facts,  with  some  great  mystery 
of  iniquity,  or  error,  or  misfortune,  connected  with  it,  tell  it,  and  tell  it,  and 
tell  it  again.  Tell  it  in  a  thousand  forms.  Tell  it  with  perpetual  variety 
of  circumstance  and  novelty  of  view.  Tell  it  of  this  locality,  and  tell  it 
of  that.  Tell  it  of  twenty  years  back,  and  tell  it  of  now.  Tell  it  of  the 
mass,  and  tell  it  of  individuals.  Give  sums  total,  and  particular  instances. 
Give  names  and  places.  Make  the  fact  familiar,  and  yet  vast ;  detailed, 
and  yet  marvellous.  Do  all  this  with  a  laborious  and  painful  accuracy 
which  cannot  be  gainsaid.  Be  a  very  slave  to  the  truth.  Before  a  gen- 
eration is  past,  the  fact  will  speak  for  itself,  and  find  a  cure.  You  will 
have  endued  a  mere  fact  with  life  and  energy.  An  undeniable  statement, 
which  admits  of  being  comprehended  in  ten  words,  and  which  was  once 
the  ineffectual  subject  of  whole  libraries,  will  at  last  have  more  power  than 
ten  million  men."/' 

This  volume  embraces  the  great  outlines  of  the  history  of  Ireland  from 
the  first  settlement  of  the  island  to  the  30th  of  May,  1845.     Although  it  is 

*  Leading  article  from  the  Times,  on  the  Reports  from  Ireland  of  its  "  Commis- 
sioner," September,  1845. 


PREFACE.  Vll 

a  bulky  book,  it  is  yet  but  an  abridgment.  It  might  have  been  still  further 
abridged,  if  I  had  not  feared  Jo  defeat  the  great  object  in  view  by  a  dan- 
gerous brevity.  Although  brevity  is  the  soul  of  icit.,  it  may  be  the  destruc- 
tion of  history.  The  history  of  Ireland  might,  for  that  matter,  be  given 
in  two  or  three  pages  :  Thus,  — 

Ireland  was  first  peopled,  about  fifteen  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era,  by  an 
intelligent  race  called  Phoenicians,  who  came  from  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean 
Sea,  and  who  brought  with  them  a  knowledge  of  the  arts,  sciences,  and  literature, 
then  extant  among  the  enlightened  inhabitants  of  Egypt  and  Etruria.  The  island 
was  called  Scotia,  was  divided  into  principalities,  and  was  governed  by  independent 
kings  for  the  first  six  hundred  years,  who  warred  with  each  other  for  supremacy. 
About  nine  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era,  a  Fcis,  or  parliament,  was  called  by 
one  of  the  most  learned  and  moderate  of  those  kings,  named  Ollamh  Fodhla,  which 
was  held  at  Tara,  the  seat  of  his  court,  where  all  the  chief  men  of  the  country,  to  the 
number  of  one  thousand,  assembled.  This  great  man  delivered  to  that  assembly  a 
history  of  the  nation,  which  included  the  laws  and  maxims  of  their  forefathers  ; 
whereupon  a  written  constitution  was  framed,  and  appended  thereto,  called  the  Psalter 
of  Tara,  which  was  received  for  more  than  two  Uiousaud  years  as  a  guide  by  the 
subsequent  kings  and  jurists  of  Ireland.  The  laws  made  by  those  ancient  legislators 
were  very  wise  and  very  humane.  They  provided  for  the  national  hospitality,  for  the 
diffusion  of  knowledge  and  wealth,  and  the  subdivision  of  land,  and  for  the  punish- 
ment of  crime.  The  trial  of  disputes  by  twelve  men,  and  the  law  o^  gavel,  were  prom 
inent  among  them.  Their  language,  which  was  very  ancient,  and  identified  with 
the  earliest  developments  of  human  science,  is  spoken  by  the  people  to  tiiis  day. 
Chivalry,  honor,  music,  poetry,  and  martial  courage,  were  promoted  by  their  social 
customs.  Their  religion,  to  the  fourth  century,  was  pagan  :  they  sacrificed  to  the 
sun,  like  most  tjf  the  pagan  nations  of  antiquity. 

Though  the  nations  which  surrounded  them  were  many  times  conquered  and 
reconquered,  and  oven  sold  as  slaves,  by  Roman,  Saxon,  Dane,  and  Norman, 
Ireland  maintained  an  unconquerable  integrity  all  through.  During  the  western 
wars  of  the  Romans,  the  Irish  opposed  their  legions  in  Britain,  and  finally  drove  them 
back,  after  a  contest  which  lasted  four  hundred  years. 

They  were  the  only  nation  that  received  Christianity  without  sheddino-  blood,  which 
they  did  in  the  year  four  hundred  and  thirty-two,  from  the  lips  of  St.  Patrick,  who 
was  a  Gaulish  captive,  brought  into  Ireland,  with  many  others,  as  trophies  of  war,  by 
their  conquering  legions.  After  their  conversion  to  Christianity,  they  turned  their 
whole  strength  to  the  cultivation  of  letters  and  morals.  They  were  an  enlightened 
nation,  and  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  stimulated  them  to  become  missionaries  and 
teachers  of  the  west  of  Europe  in  morals,  languages,  literature,  astronomy,  architecture, 
poetry,  and  music.  They  opened  extensive  colleges  at  home,  to  which  the  youth  of 
Gaul,  Britain,  and  Scotland,  repaired  to  be  educated ;  and  they  sent  forth  swarms  of 
missionaries  over  Europe,  who  undertook  to  instruct  and  refine  the  barbarous  hordes 
which  overran  that  continent  on  the  breaking  up  of  the  Roman  empire.  There  is 
hardly  any  celebrated  part  of  Europe  where  evidences  may  not  be  found  at  this  day  of 
their  piety,  industry,  or  knowledge.  During  the  long  night  of  rufiianism  and  ignorance, 
which  hung  over  Europe  from  the  fourth  to  the  sixth  century,  when  the  Gotha 
were  seated  on  the  thrones  of  the  Caesars,  the  enlightened  sons  of  Ireland  were  the 
only  cultivators  of  letters,  preservers  of  ancient  documents,  and  dispensers  of  knowl- 
edge, that  remained  in  Europe.  They  preserved  the  ancient  Latin  and  Phoenician 
languages,  which  they  speak   in    the    purest  style  at  the   present    hour.      It   was 


VIU  PREFACE. 

from  them  that  the  Anglo-Saxons  received  tlieir  knowledge  of  letters  and  their  ideas 
of  legislative  government ;  and  though  there  are  some  writers  of  the  present  genera- 
tion who  denominate  the  ancic^nt  parliaments  ofTara"rude  baronial  assemblies," 
it  must  be  remarked  that  nothing  has  come  from  Saxon,  Dane,  or  Norman,  to  supply 
their  places;  that  the  entire  legislation  of  England,  from  the  Norman  conquest  to 
the  days  of  Castlereagh,  is  fraudulent,  bloody,  and  oppressive  ;  that  the  laws  which 
emanated  from  the  ancient  Irish  legislative  assemblies  were  calculated  to  diffuse 
wenlth  and  knowledge,  to  dispense  justice,  to  punish  crime,  and  to  superinduce 
morality  —  results  diametrically  opposed  to  those  which  flowed  from  the  legislation 
and  laws  of  England.  Ireland,  for  several  centuries,  presented  these  attributes,  and 
won  from  the  admiring  nations  which  she  taught  the  distinctive  title  Insulam  Sancto- 
rum et  Doctorum,  (Island  of  Saints  and  Doctors.) 

In  the  ninth  century,  her  people  were  harassed  by  a  war  witli  the  Danes,  whicii 
continued  two  hundred  years;  and  though  that  powerful  race  gave  a  new  line  of  kings 
to  England,  and  founded  a  new  kingdom  in  the  heart  of  Gaul,  they  were  subdued  by 
the  persevering  bravery  of  the  Irish,  who  defeated  them,  and  extinguished  their  power 
in  Ireland,  in  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century.  From  the  first  settlement  of  the 
country  to  this,  (a  period  of  twenty-four  hundred  years,)  the  Irish  maintained  their 
independence. 

In  the  twelfth  century,  through  the  quarrels  of  their  native  prmces,  they  were 
invaded  by  new  enemies  in  the  Anglo-Normans,  which  proved  disastrous  to  their 
independence.  These  invaders  were  crafty  and  treacherous,  arrayed  prince  against 
prince,  —  assisting  one  side  or  the  otlier,  according  to  circumstances, —  until  the 
power  of  all  was  considerably  diminished.  For  the  first  four  iuindred  years 
of  this  invasion,  the  Anglo-Norman  power  contented  itself  within  a  small  semicircle 
on  the  eastern  const  of  Ireland,  known  as  the  '•  English  Pah?,"  which  covered  about 
one  eighth  of  the  island,  wiiore  the  English  laws,  language,  and  dress  prevailed,  and 
where  a  little  parliament  and  governtnent  were  established  under  English  auspices; 
but  the  descendants  of  the  first  settlers  became,  in  course  of  time,  thorough  partici- 
pators in  Irish  feeling,  customs,  and  language,  imbued  with  feelings  racy  of  the  soil, 
and  were  occasionally  "  more  Irish  than  the  Irisli  themselves."  The  new  adventurers 
from  England  were  looked  upon  by  those  of  a  previous  age  with  jealousy  ;  but  both 
parties  generally  conspired  to  oppress  and  pillage  the  native  inhabitants. 

Towards  the  fifteenth  century,  the  native  Irish  princes  had  won  back  by  the  sword 
a  very  considerable  portion  of  the  territories  at  first  seized  by  the  invaders,  but, 
instead  of  joining  together  to  expel  them,  as  their  forefathers  had  expelled  the  Danes, 
were  content  to  receive  from  them  annual  trii)utes,  which  were  called  "  black  mail," 
and  which  were  paid  to  them  by  thi-  English  settli^rs  for  a  century  and  a  Iialf.  During 
all  this  time,  the  native  princes  carried  on  their  petty  wars  with  one  another  just 
as  if  no  foreign  foe  was  on  their  soil,  and  wasted  that  strength  in  senseless  assaults 
upon  each  other,  which  was  more  than  twice  sufficient,  if  combined,  to  expel  the  com 
mon  enemy. 

On  the  introduction  of  the' changes  in  the  creed  of  England,  in  the  sixteentli  and 
seventeentli  centuries,  a  series  of  religious  wars  and  sacrilegious  confiscations  ensued, 
from  which  the  people  of  Ireland  suffered  terribly.  A  mania  for  pillage  and  robbery 
was  generated  in  the  minds  of  the  English  people  by  tiie  wicked  examples  of  llonry 
VIII.  and  his  daugliters,  together  with  those  monarchs  of  England  who  (with  one  ex- 
ception, that  of  James  II.)  for  three  centuries  succeeded  him.  This  mania  was  con- 
verted into  thundering  armies,  and  at  one  period  it  seemed  as  if  half  the  population 
of  England  and  Scotland  had  landed  in  unfortunate  Ireland,  with  the  resolve  of 
exterminating  the  ancient  inhabitants.  A  vast  number  of  the  native  Irish  were 
destroyed  by  the  sword  and  famine  in  the  course  of  a  series  of  wars,  which  began  iu 


PREFACE.  IX 

the  mididle  of  the  sixteenth,  and  terminated  by  treaty  at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth 
century. 

In  the  course  of  these  wars,  the  Irish  maintained  their  right  to  civil  and  religious 
liberty  against  a  greatly  superior  and  a  far  more  crafty  force.  They  were  aided  in 
their  heroic  defence  by  Spain  and  France,  and  were  signally  victorious  in  many  battles  ; 
but  bribery  and  treachery  did  more  to  despoil  them  of  their  inheritance  than  the  arms 
of  their  enemies.  Having  lost  three  fourths  of  their  territory  and  half  of  their  popu- 
lation, being  reduced  by  famine  and  the  sword  to  about  one  million  of  inhabitants, 
(who  still  supplied  a  resisting  army  of  twenty  thousand  men,)  and  having  been  badly 
commanded  by  King  James  JI.  and  his  French  generals,  they  came  to  the  resolution 
of  capitulating  with  the  invaders,  which  they  did  by  solemn  treaty,  at  the  siege  of 
Limerick,  in  1691,  in  presence  of  the  English  and  Irish  armies.  In  that  treaty  of 
peace,  it  was  agreed,  for  the  first  time,  that  the  Irish  should  acknowledge  the  king  of 
England  as  king  of  Ireland,  but  that  they  were  in  other  respects  to  be  deemed  a  sepa- 
rate nation,  to  enjoy  the  rights  of  worshipping  God  according  to  their  consciences,  the 
inheritance  of  their  estates  by  those  who  survived  the  war,  and  liberty  of  trade,  navi- 
gation, and  manufacture.  There  was  no  question  raised  about  a  local  parliament, 
because  Ireland  was  then,  and  ever  had  been,  in  possession  of  some  kind  of  a  legisla- 
ture. The  king  and  queen  of  England,  William  and  Mary,  most  anxious  for  peace' 
solemnly  ratified  this  treaty  ;  after  which  the  flower  of  the  Irisli  army  passed  over  and 
entered  into  the  service  of  the  king  of  France.  Trade  and  manufactures,  for  which 
Ireland  was  ever  celebrated,  began  again  to  flourish ;  and  several  English  manufac- 
turers went  over  and  settled  there,  to  take  advantage  of  the  greater  facilities  for 
manufacture  which  the  country  offers  in  water-power,  labor,  provisions,  and  climate. 
From  this  a  jealousy  arose  in  England,  which  caused  the  king  to  break  all  those 
treaties  with  the  Irish  which  he  had  so  recently  agreed  upon.  First  he  put  down  their 
manufactures,  and  next  proscribed  the  Catholics,  who  formed,  as  at  present,  the  great 
majority  of  the  people.  Succeeding  monarchs  followed  up  these  bad  acts  by  others 
still  worse,  denying  liberty  to  educate,  or  acquire  property,  until  the  nation  wa^ 
reduced  to  the  most  degrading  ignorance  and  poverty  by  a  dreadful  and  certain 
process. 

The  Irish,  destitute  of  an  army,  and  but  just  recovering  from  the  horrors  of  warfare, 
were  unable  to  resist  the  course  of  injustice  and  oppression  which  they  were  now 
doomed  to  experience.  At  length,  upon  the  breaking  outof  the  war  of  independence  in 
the  American  colonies,  a  gleam  of  hope  opened,  which  was  realized  in  the  establishment 
of  the  political  independence  of  Ireland  in  17S2,  after  which  the  Irish  nation  started 
onward  in  a  brilliant  career  of  prosperity.  Tiiis  was  accomplished  by  the  virtuous 
resolution  of  the  Irish  volunteers,  a  civil  and  military  association  numbering  about 
eighty  thousand  men,  who  proclaimed  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  the  independ- 
ence of  Ireland,  as  their  mottoes  and  objects,  and  at  whose  demand  the  king  and 
parliament  of  England  solemnly  declared,  by  act  of  parliament,  that  the  Irish  nation 
was  integral,  and  independent  of  the  English  parliament;  that  no  authority  had  power 
to  legislate  for  Ireland  but  the  king,  lords,  and  commons,  of  Ireland ;  and  that  this  com- 
pact was  to  last/orcrcr.  During  this  bright  era,  Ireland  gave  to  literature,  eloquence, 
and  the  arts,  many  of  the  most  exalted  geniuses,  whose  contributions  England  has 
endeavored  to  appropriate  to  her  own  glory,  without  acknowledgment. 

The  prosperity  thus  engendered  in  Ireland  by  peace  and  freedom  superinduced, 
in  England,  the  revival  of  the  old  national  jealousy,  which  exhibited  itself  repeat- 
edly during  the  administration  of  Mr.  Pitt,  but  which  broke  into  an  overwhelm- 
ing massacre  in  the  year  1793  ;  immediately  after  which,  and  while  an  English  army 
of  one  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  men  were  in  the  country,  a  proposition  was 
brought  forward  in  the  Irish  parliament  by  the  British  minister,  to  hand  over  the  rights 


*  PREFACE. 

of  the  Irish  parliament  to  that  of  Britain,  and  reduce  the  three  hnrrdred  Irish  repre- 
sentatives to  one  hundred,  who  were  to  be  transferred  to  the  English  parliament 
where,  however,  they  were  to  be  met  by  an  English  majority  of  five  hundred.  A 
proposition  so  destructive  of  the  national  rights  and  prosperity  was  met  by  the  most 
determined  hostility  of  the  Irish  people. 

They  had  just  passed  through  a  civil  war,  and  suffered  a  general  massacre  and  loss 
of  leaders,  and  were  unable  to  resist  the  blow  by  war  ;  besides  which,  a  majority  of  the 
Irish  members  were  bribed  to  vote  away  the  independence  of  their  country.  Under 
these  circumstances,  and  in  defiance  of  the  two  solemn  compacts  of  1691  and  1782, 
the  union  with  England  was  consummated.  The  gentry  began  to  leave  the 
country,  and  carry  off  the  produce  of  the  soil,  and  the  ruin  of  Ireland  commenced. 
In  about  three  years  after  this,  Robert  Emmet  tried,  by  a  well-contrived  but  an 
unfortunate  effort,  to  overthrow  the  British  power  in  Ireland.  He  failed,  and  was 
executed  ;  and  then  the  British  ministry  suspended  the  constitution  for  several  years. 

At  length  Daniel  O'Connell,  a  distinguished  Catholic  lawyer,  commenced  a  system 
of  agitation  for  Catholic  emancipation,  which,  after  several  years'  perseverance,  pre- 
vailed at  last.  The  British  ministry  acknowledged  that  they  were  compelled  to  grant 
freedom  to  the  Catholics  and  Dissenters,  in  obedience  to  their  combined  confederation. 
O'Connell  then  led  the  way  in  the  reform  of  the  British  parliament,  and  the  British  and 
Irish  corporations,  by  the  success  of  which  he  obtained  a  great  deal  of  political  power 
for  the  Irish  people,  who  were  greatly  enlightened  by  his  eloquent  instruction,  and 
now  numbered  some  seven  millions,  six  sevenths  of  whom  were  Catholics.  He  then 
raised  the  demand  for  the  restoration  of  the  Irish  parliament;  and  though,  in  the 
prosecution  of  this  demand,  both  himself  and  his  friends  have  often  been  criminally 
indicted,  and  even  imprisoned,  yet  tiie  cause  is  so  just,  and  the  people  are  so  con- 
vinced that  without  it  they  must  be  forever  miserable,  that  there  is  no  doubt  but,  like 
emancipation,  reform,  and  other  great, questions  of  justice,  it  will  at  length  be  success- 
ful. To  enforce  this  demand,  Ireland  possesses  a  population  of  eight  millions  and 
a  half,  of  whom  a  million  and  a  half  are  organized  valiant  men,  governed  by  a  num- 
ber of  distinguished  leaders,  unparalleled  in  her  history  for  their  talent,  courage,  and 
caution.  The  Protestant  part  of  tlie  population  are  gradually  becoming  reconciled 
to  their  Catholic  countrymen.  The  British  minister  has  declared,  in  parliament, 
that  Ireland  presents  a  confederation  now  which  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  England  to 
put  down  ;  and  thus,  after  another  cycle  of  suffering,  Ireland  stands  forth  in  her 
integral  power,  a  nation  in  every  thing  but  the  name  —  an  attribute,  of  which,  under 
Heaven,  she  shall  not  long  be  destitute. 

Many  there  are  who  will  not  give  more  than  a  few  minutes  to  the  study 
of  Irish  history.  For  the  information  of  these,  the  preceding  paragraphs 
are  designed.  Even  through  that  glimpse,  they  may  see  how  deserving 
Ireland  is  of  her  freedom,  and  how  well  calculated  she  is  to  achieve  it; 
and  this  must  win  her  friends  and  consideration.  But  the  Irish  exile 
will  not  be  content  with  a  hasty  look  into  this  subject.  He  will  search 
the  long  record  of  the  glorious  deeds  of  his  forefathers ;  and  though  he 
may  be  far  removed  from  the  scenes  of  his  youth,  yet  the  dreams  of  home 
and  relatives  will  bring  his  troubled  memory  back  to  his  native  hills 
and  valleys,  where  the  dearest  images  first  impressed  their  forms  on  his 
heart. 

The  expatriated  Irishman,  wheresoever  he  may  be  driven  by  the  fiat  of 
a  severe  destiny,  carries  with  him  into  exile  an  undying  sympathy  for  his 


PREFACE.  XI 

native  land.  The  scenes  of  his  boyhood,  — the  river,  brook,  or  mountain, 
around  which  he  gamboled  in  days  of  light-hearted  youth,  —  the  dear 
brother,  sister,  or  parent,  lying  in  the  churchyard,  and  those  loved 
relatives  who  still  live,  but  are  separated  from  Him,  perhaps  forever,  by  a 
boundless  ocean  and  continent,  —  all  these  come  before  him  in  his  dreams, 
or  in  the  mirror  of  his  memory.  Wheresoever  he  may  be,  —  whether  on 
sea  or  on  land,  amid  the  convivial  circle  or  wrapped  in  sleep,  —  by  day  or 
by  night,  at  labor  or  at  rest,  in  London  or  Paris,  Canada  or  India,  in 
New  York  or  New  Orleans,  the  memories  of  his  father-land  haunt 
his  imagination.  No  enjoyment,  no  excess  of  fortune  or  of  misfortune, 
can  efface  them.  Ireland,  with  all  her  griefs  and  woes,  with  all  her  joys 
and  sorrows,  fills  his  mind,  breaks  in  upon  his  reveries,  and  springs  his 
sympathies.  Her  cares  are  his  cares ;  her  triumphs  are  his  triumphs ; 
her  reverses  trouble  him ;  the  career  of  her  patriots  fills  him  with  anxiety; 
their  glory  and  their  gloom  are  equally  his ;  they  pursue  and  hang  round 
him  in  public  and  in  private ;  and  the  farther  he  is  removed  from  his 
native  land,  the  more  intensely  does  he  feel  for  all  that  concerns  her. 
Although  his  attachment  to  the  land  of  his  adoption  be  sincere  and 
strong,  his  reverence  for  the  land  of  his  fathers  is  profound  and  lasting. 
Such  is  the  Irishman  in  exile.  He  is  the  same  in  the  four  divisions  of 
the  earth,  and  he  may  be  found  in  them  all. 

The  political  partisan  may  condemn  him  for  this  attachment  to  father- 
land and  to  all  its  holy  associations;  but  the  philosopher  knows  it 
to  be  an  instinct  planted  in  his  heart  by  his  Creator,  and  that  he  can  no 
more  divest  himself  of  its  influence  than  he  can  of  his  senses. 

Amid  all  the  privations  to  which  the  wandering  Irishman  is  subject, 
there  are  few  that  so  sensibly  affect  him  as  an  exclusion  from  a  knowl- 
edge of  what  is  passing  "  at  home."  In  proportion  as  his  mind  is  cul- 
tivated is  this  pain  intense.  Every  scrap  of  paper  upon  which  the  name 
of  Ireland  is  impressed  becomes  dear  to  him  ;  an  Irish  newspaper  is  a 
welcome  gift,  and  a  book  of  Irish  history  or  poetry  is  a  prize.  The  music 
of  his  boyhood  days,  when  struck  up  in  his  hearing,  makes  him  a  boy 
again.  For  a  moment  the  heavy  burdens  of  the  world  are  removed,  and 
the  care-worn  exile  becomes  for  a  time  softened  and  spiritualized  into  a 
happy  being.  This  may  be  pronounced  a  weakness,  a  childish  weakness ; 
still  it  delights  the  wanderer,  and  is   frequently  his  greatest  consolation. 

For  the  Irishman  in  exile,  this  book  is  specially  compiled.  It  is  not  a 
critical  history.  It  is  a  familiar  narrative,  in  which  all  that  is  dear  to 
him  is  embraced.  The  history,  biography,  architecture,  and  music  of 
his  country  are  treated  of,  and  the  monuments  of  his  forefathers'  genius 
and  valor  are  pointed  out.  With  this  book  in  his  possession,  he  will 
never  be  alone.  It  brings  him  into  communion  with  the  great  spirits  of 
the  past  and  the  present ;  he  is  again  in  their  society  ;  he  feels  the  enno- 
c 


Xll  PRF1!-ACE 

bling  influences  of  their  example ;  and  his  mind  expands  with  virtuous 
and  valiant  sentiment.  As,  in  well-bred  society,  we  are  coerced  into 
corresponding  demeanor,  so,  when  we  commune  frequently  with  the 
exalted,  whether  dead  or  living,  we  imbibe  their  spirit,  insensibly  become 
like  them,  rise  in  the  moral  scale,  are  obliged  to  be  virtuous,  and  ashamed 
to  be  base. 

With  this  object,  among  others,  I  have  gathered  records  of  the  bril- 
liant deeds  of  the  most  distinguished  of  our  countrymen.  These  will 
show  the  world  what  Ireland  deserves  to  be,  and  it  will  show  Irishmen 
themselves  what  they  should  individually  aspire  to  be.  It  will  awaken 
their  pride,  and  nourish  their  principle.  With  this  book  for  his  com- 
panion, the  Irishman  who  leaves  his  native  home  will  be  able  to  discover 
the  numerous  interesting  evidences  of  the  virtue,  talent,  and  valor  of  his 
countrymen,  which  are  to  be  met  with  in  all  parts  of  Europe  and  in  many 
parts  of  America.  Should  he  travel  into  Scotland,  he  will  find  in  the 
Isle  of  Hy  (lona)  a  memorial  of  the  piety  and  philanthropy  of  St. 
Columba  Kille,  who  from  that  spot  illumined  Caledonia  and  the  north  of 
England  in  the  sixth  century,  and  who  left  behind  him  an  institution  from 
which  the  lights  of  science  and  religion  exclusively  beamed  for  four  cen- 
turies on  the  north  of  Britain.  Should  he  from  thence  cross  the  borders 
into  England,  he  will  pass  over  the  remains  of  that  testimony  to  Irish  valor, 
the  great  wall  built  by  the  Romans  to  keep  out  the  Irish  legions  —  the  only 
legions  in  the  world  that  remained  unconquered  by  them.  Let  him  from 
this  memorable  spot  proceed  to  visit  the  old  Abbey  of  Malmesbury,  where 
Maildelphus,  the  Irish  monk,  taught  the  Angles  and  Saxons  Christianity, 
letters,  Latin,  and  architecture ;  and  when  he  comes  to  Oxford,  let  him 
survey  St.  Peter's  Chapel,  which  he  will  find  modeled  after  Cormac's 
Chapel,  on  the  rock  of  Cashel.  He  will  remember,  too,  that  Alfred,  who 
founded,  in  the  ninth  century,  this  college  and  the  constitution  of  Eng- 
land, received  his  education  and  ideas  of  law  and  government  in  Ireland, 
and  appointed  Irish  professors  to  instruct  his  countrymen.  Nor  ought 
he  to  omit  to  look  at  their  library,  where  he  will  see  that  the  most 
ancient  manuscripts  in  it  are  in  the  hand-writing  of  Irishmen. 

If  he  go  to  London,  let  him  enter  Westminster  Abbey,  and  survey  with 
feelings  of  reverence  the  everlasting  roof  of  Irish  oak  which  was  brought 
from  Ireland  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  which  hangs  in  solemn  grandeur 
over  the  forgotten  dead.  He  will  not  leave  this  place  without  calling 
at  Grattan's  grave,  and  kissing  the  sacred  stone  under  which  he  sleeps. 
Let  him,  if  he  have  feeling  and  ambition,  visit  the  British  Museum,  for  it 
was  founded  by  his  countryman.  Sir  Hans  Sloane ;  and  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Arts  also,  for  that  was  founded  by  his  countrymen,  Barrett 
and  Barry,  whose  magnificent  historical  paintings  adorn  its  walls  —  paint- 
ings which  Thomas  Campbell  declared  were  equal  to  Michael  Angelo's. 


PREFACE.  XIU 

Passing  from  this,  he  will  admire  the  parliament-house  of  England,  which 
was  built  by  his  countryman  Barry,  and  adorned  in  fresco  by  his  coun- 
tryman M'Clise.  The  viewing  and  remembering  these  things  will  rouse 
his  ambition  and  animate  his  heart. 

Should  he  pass  over  into  France,  there  also  will  he  meet,  scattered  on 
every  side,  memorials  of  his  forefathers.  At  Ligny,  within  three  leagues  of 
Paris,  are  the  ruins  of  three  churches  built  by  his  countryman  Fridolius,  in 
the  sixth  century,  where  the  lights  of  Christianity  and  learning  were 
opened  upon  France.  In  the  Irish  College  of  Paris,  he  will  find  the 
original  manuscripts  of  St.  Sedulius  and  others,  written  in  the  seventh 
century,  and  at  Versailles  he  will  find  four  grand  paintings  of  the  battle  of 
Fontenoy,  won  over  the  lion  of  England  by  his  countrymen.  He  will 
kneel  in  the  grand  hall  before  the  statue  of  Sarsfield,  and  vow  to  struggle 
for  the  freedom  of  the  land  which  gave  him  birth. 

Should  he  wander  through  Italy,  this  book  will  prove  an  index  to  much 
that  will  interest  an  Irishman.  The  ancient  language  of  that  classic  soil 
is  still  the  popular  language  of  Ireland.  The  most  ancient  manuscripts  in 
the  Vatican  are  in  the  hand-writing  of  Irishmen.  He  will  find  that  his  coun- 
trymen Columbanus  and  Dungal  instructed  Italy,  in  the  sixth  and  seventh 
centuries,  in  letters  and  music.  He  will  find  the  library  of  the  latter 
missionary  preserved  in  the  Ambrosian  library  at  Milan.  But  ere  he  quits 
Rome,  let  him  visit  the  tomb  of  the  great  Hugh  O'Neill,  in  the  monas- 
tery of  St.  Isidore,  and  pluck  caution  and  courage  from  his  grave  ;  for  by 
these  attributes  he  once  humbled  the  power  of  England. 

This  book  will  guide  him  to  many  an  honored  or  sacred  spot  in  Austria, 
Switzerland,  and  other  parts  of  Europe,  where  his  countrymen  have  left 
memorials  of  their  virtue,  genius,  or  valor,  the  recollection  of  which  must 
inspire  him  with  consanguine  attributes.  And  should  his  destiny  drive 
him  to  the  new  world,  he  will  find  even  here  many  noble  monuments  of  a 
like  character.  On  entering  New  York,  almost  the  first  object  that 
strikes  him  is  the  tomb  of  Thomas  A.  Emmet ;  before  which  the  patriot 
exile  will  feel  an  involuntary  impulse  to  kneel  and  pray.  He  will  think 
of  his  brother's  blood  not  yet  avenged,  and  his  grave  yet  undistinguished 
by  a  tomb  or  an  epitaph.  With  these  thoughts  upon  him,  he  will  sigh 
for  his  hapless  country,  and  meditate  upon  the  best  means  to  give  her 
freedom.  When  he  passes  into  the  interior,  he  will  visit  the  farm  of 
Wolfe  Tone,  in  New  Jersey,  or.  mayhap  the  relict  of  that  great  man  at 
Georgetown,  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  From  thence  let  him  visit 
Mount  Vernon,  the  tomb  of  Washington,  and  honor  the  memory  of 
him  who  did  justice  to  that  Irish  brigade  which  fought  faithfully  by  his 
side  to  the  last.  Let  him  then  cross  the  Alleghanies,  and  observe  the 
traces  of  Irish  genius  in  the  stupendous  works  which  annihilate  moun- 
tains,   invented    by  Dougherty,  and   from   thence   to   New    Orleans,   to 


XIV  PREFACE. 

admire  the  most  beautiful  architectural  pile  upon  the  face  of  the  new 
world,  erected  by  Gallagher.  At  this  point  he  will  be  near  the  Mara- 
thon of  modern  times,  the  plain  of  New  Orleans,  where  the  descendants 
of  his  countrymen  contributed  to  overthrow  the  picked  and  chosen  legions 
of  England. 

If,  after  seeing  some  of  these  monuments,  and  reading  about  the  others, 
he  should  remain  slavishly  indifferent  to  his  country's  fame  and  freedom, 
and  to  his  own  pride  and  character,  then,  he  may  rely  on  it,  his  nature 
is  bastardized,  and  he  belongs  not  to  Erin. 

This  book  will  call  up  memories  of  the  past  and  of  the  absent.  It 
will  bring  struggling  Ireland  into  the  minds  of  a  new  and  a  great  race. 
The  more  her  history  is  studied,  the  more  her  claim  upon  the  sympathies 
of  man  will  be  established  and  admitted.  It  was  for  her  dead  more  than 
for  her  living  that  the  nations  sympathized  with  modern  Greece,  and 
armed  for  her  emancipation.  This  effort,  the  first  to  combine  in  one 
work  the  history,  science,  and  biography,  of  Ireland,  if  properly  seconded 
by  her  own  sons,  will  do  much  to  engage  the  minds  of  the  thoughtful 
and  the  valiant  in  her  behalf  Every  true  Irishman  will  assist  in  circu- 
lating this  book,  —  push  its  facts  and  arguments  through  the  press,  and 
have  passages  from  it  read  aloud  in  lyceums  and  reading-rooms.  It  was 
not  written  to  aid  a  party,  but  to  dispel  falsehood  and  establish  truth. 
Every  man,  who  neglects  to  spread  its  contents  among  his  neighbors, 
favors  the  dominion  of  calumny  and  tyranny. 

The  Irish  name  has  been  blackened  in  America  by  the  pens  of 
calumniators.  This  book  will  help  to  remove  the  stain.  The  Irishman 
in  Ireland  is  prevented,  by  the  libel  and  sedition  laws,  from  learning  the 
history  or  the  doctrines  of  freedom.  This  book  will  help  to  enlighten 
him.  Every  Irishman  in  the  United  States  should  send  one  of  these 
books  to  some  friend  in  Ireland.  It  wdl  be  a  welcome  gift,  and  its 
introduction  among  the  Irish  farmers  will  rouse  their  ambition  and  fortify 
their  valor.  Every  Irishman  in  the  United  States,  who  can  afford  it 
should  have  one  of  these  books  to  lend  to  his  American  neighbors.  He 
should  be  industrious  in  circulating  it  from  man  to  man,  until  all  his 
American  neighbors  have  read  it  over.  If  this  be  vigorously  performed 
at  all  points  of  the  Union,  one  or  two  years  will  not  pass  over  ere  a  new 
and  a  powerful  sentiment  will  grow  up,  in  favor  of  Irishmen  and  Ireland, 
which  will  make  the  path  of  the  exile  pleasant  in  his  adopted  country,  and 
contribute  to  exalt  his  race  and  his  father-land  in  the  scale  of  nations. 

T.  M. 


GUIDE   THROUGH   THE   WORK. 


LECTURE  I. 
Introduction  —  Ancient  Nations  —  Egyptians  —  Phoenicians,  &c 1 

LECTURE  IL 
Phoenician  Mythology  —  Etruscans  —  Their  Discovery  of  Ireland  —  First 

Settlers  of  Ireland,  Slc 34 

LECTURE  m. 

Government  —  Legislative  Assemblies  —  Laws  —  Literature  —  Religion  and 

Customs  of  the  Ancient  Irish  from  1260  to  860  B.  C 51 

LECTURE  IV. 
The  Irish  Language  —  Historians  of  Ireland  —  Ancient  Architecture  - 

Round  Towers,  &c 77 

LECTURE  V. 
The  Irish  Bards  — Their  Poetry,  &,c 151 

LECTURE  VI. 
The  Music  of  Ireland 180 

LECTURE    VIL 
The    Historic   Narrative  resumed  —  860  B.  C.  to  the  first   Year  of    the 
Christian  Era  —  Names  and  Deeds  of  twenty  Kings  —  Military  Code  — 
Laws  of  Chivalry  —  Division  of  Ireland  into  Provinces  and  Counties..  .248 

LECTURE    VIII. 
From  the  Birth  of  Christ   to   A.  D.  141. 
Names  and   Deeds  of  forty-three  Kings  —  Moran  —  Roman  Invasions  — 
Roman  Customs  contrasted  with  those  of  the  Irish 271 

LECTURE  IX. 

From  A.  D.  141   to  279. 

Laws  —  Caledonian  Colony  —  Leinster  Militia  —  Reign  of  Cormac 298 

LECTURE  X. 
From  A.  D.  279   to  500. 
The  Constitution  of  tlie  Irish  Militia  —  Origin  of  several  Irish  Families  — 
Defeat  of  the  Romans  in  Caledonia  —  Literature,  Religion,  and  Cus- 


XVI  GUIDE    THROUGH    TITE    WORK. 

toms  of  tho  nnciont  Irish  contra-storl  with  those  of  Rome,  &c.  —  The 
Mission  of  St.  Patrick 325 

LIXTUllPJ  XI. 
From  A.  I).  500   to   800. 
Origin  of  the  Saxons  —  The  English  Ilopt^'irchy  —  Spirit  of  the  Christian 
Ages  —  The  Monks  —  Numerous   Irish   Missionaries  —  Their  Labors 
in  Europe 3(>4 

LECTURE    XII. 
From  A.  D.  800  to   I  OK!. 
Names  of  fifty-nine  Kings  of  Ireland  —  State  of  Europe  —  Charlemngne  — 
Mahomet  —  The  Venetians  —  The  Danes  —  Inva-sions  and  Battles  in 
Ireland  —  Brien  Boroimhe  —  Battle  of  Clontarf. 409 

LECTURE  XIII. 

Religion,  Liternturc,  and   Architecture  of  Ireland   in  the   tenth   and   elev- 
enth Centuries,  with  Engravings  illustrative  of  the  latter  Subject 448 

LKCTURE  XIV. 
FiiOM  A.  I).  lOIG   TO    1509. 
Names  of  nineteen  Irish  Kings  —  Norman  Conquest  —  First  English  Inva- 
sion—  Magna  Charta  —  Bruce  —  The  Laws  and  Battles  of  the  Pale... 545 

LECTURE    XV. 
From  A.  D.  1509  to   15fi0. 
The   Reign  of  Henry   tlie  Eighth  —  Queen  Mary  —  The  Reformation  — 

Seizure  of  Church   I'roperly,  &c fiOl 

LECTURE  XVI. 
From  A.  D.  l.WO  to   1003. 

Mary  Queen  of  Scots  —  (i,iif-f!n  Klizalxith  —  The  Fifteen  Years'  War  — 

The  Deeds  of  Ilugii    O'Neill 6135 

LECTURE  XV 11. 

From  A.  D.  1(50^  to    UI!)!. 

The  Reign  of  .Tames  the  First  —  Charles  the  First  —  "Irish  Rebellion"  — 

Cromwell's  Invasion  —  Charles  the  Second  —  James  the  Second — Wil- 

.      liairi  the  Third —  Trfmty  of  Liiriffrick  —  Irish  Exiles  —  Sarsfield 714 

LKC'JMJRE  XVIII. 
From  A.  I).  Ifi9l    to    178^. 
Breach  of  the  Treaty  of  iiirrnirick — Confiscations  —  Suppression  of  Trade 
and  M!inui(i.c,tures--l'':nal  Laws  — Reign   of  Queen    Anne  — George 
tlie  First,  Second,  and  Third  — Irish  Volunteers  — Independence 804 


GUIDE    THROUGH    THE    WORK.  XVU 

LECTURE   XIX. 
From  A.  D.  1782   to    1798. 
The  Dissolution  of  the  Irish  Volunteers  —  The  Rise  and  Progress  of  the 
United  Irishmen  —  Wolfe  Tone's  Exertions  —  Battles  of  '98  —  Trials 
and  Executions  of  tliat  Period  —  Fall  of  Ireland 858 

LECTURE    XX. 

From  A.  D.  1798  to   1800. 

The  United  Leaders  —  The  "Union"  and  the  Mode  of  carrying  it 1^*90 

LECTURE  XXI. 
Life  of  Rohert  Einmot  —  Russell  —  Letters  of  T.  A.  Emmet  and  Macnevin 

—  Insurrection  —  R.  Emmet's  last  Speech  and  Deatli^Miss  Curran.  .10G8 

LECTURE  XXII. 

Biographical  Sketches  of  the  eminent  I\lcn  of  Ireland,  that  flourished  from 
the  Beginning  of  tlie  Eighteenth  to  the  Beginning  of  tlie  Nine- 
teenth Century. 1097 

LECTURE    XXIII. 

O'CONNELL    AND    HIS    TiMES.  —  FrOM    A.    D.   1800     TO     1820. 

His  Ancestry  —  Youth  —  Professional   Career  —  Duels  and  Agitation 1199 

LECTURE    XXIV. 

O'CONNEI,!,    AND     HIS    TiMES.  — FrOM    A.    D.    1820     TO     1830. 

The  Rise,  Progress,  and  Triumph  of  tlie  Catholic  Association  —  Biograph- 
ical Sketches  of  the  Catholic  Loaders 1295 

LECTURE  XXV. 

O'CONNELL     AND    HIS    TiMES.  —  FrOM    A.    D.    1830     TO     1845. 

The  Reform  Agitation  —  Tiie  Repeal  Agitation  —  The  "  Experiment "  — 
Resources  and  Manufactures  of  Ireland  —  Revival  of  the  Repeal 
Agitation  —  Monster  Meetings  —  State  Trials  —  Imprisonment  and 
Triumph 1343 

LECTURE  XXVL 

O'Connell  and  his  Family  —  Father  Matliew  —  The  Archbishop  of 
Tuam  —  Bishop  Higgins  —  William  Smith  O'Brien,  with  tiie  load- 
ing Repealers,  and  distinguished  Men  of  Intellect 1554 

NOTES,   supplemental,  on  the  Round  Towers,  tlie    Volunteers,  and  the 

Laws   and  Law-Makers  of  England 1633 

GENERAL  INDEX 1041 

MUSICAL  INDEX 1652 


APPROBATION. 

Meeting  of  the  Fi-iends  of  Ireland  in  New   York. 

A  meeting  of  the  Friends  of  Ireland  and  of  Universal  Liberty  was  held  at  Wash- 
ington Hall,  Broadway,  on  the  evening  of  the  1st  of  May,  1843,  the  Rev.  Johit  N. 
Smith,  pastor  of  St.  James's,  in  the  chair,  James  Bergen  and  George  D.  Dowling 
secretaries. 

The  object  of  the  meeting  having  been  very  eloquently  stated  by  the  reverend 
chairman,  which  was  called  with  a  view  to  have  the  valuable  and  interesting  course 
of  Lectures  on  Ireland,  delivered  in  the  course  of  the  past  winter,  by  Mr.  Moonev, 
published, — 

The  reverend  gentleman  stated  that  he  had  heard  many  of  those  Lectures  delivered, 
and  he  considered  that  if  the  whole  were  published  in  the  cheapest  possible  form,  the 
book  would  form  an  excellent  auxiliary  to  our  stock  of  literature  ;  that  it  would  make 
an  excellent  school  book,  which  we  much  wanted,  for  it  was  a  lamentable  fact,  that 
the  youth  of  this  country  never  saw  a  History  of  Ireland,  simply  because  there  is  really 
no  such  work,  complete,  in  existence.  Even  the  children  of  Irish  parents  forget  the 
blessed  and  revered  land  of  their  forefathers,  or  learn  of  it  only  through  the  vicious 
medium  of  English  calumniators.  A  new  era  had  arrived,  public  inquiry  respecting 
Ireland  had  taken  wing,  and  it  will  not  rest  now  until  it  flies  over  the  entire  history 
of  that  interesting  but  oppressed  land.  (Cheers.)  Mr.  Moonky  had  given  the 
whole  of  her  splendid  history,  in  a  pleasing,  graphic,  and  familiar  style,  suitable  to 
ever}-^  taste.  He  was  the  first  man  that  did  the  thing  so  much  required,  and  he  felt 
it  his  duty  to  Ireland  and  to  truth  to  give  the  work  his  heartiest  support.     (Cheers.) 

The  Rev.  Mr.  M'Carran  supported  the  views  of  the  reverend  chairman.  Letters 
were  received  from  Messrs.  Charles  O'Conor,  William  Denman,  Dr.  M'Gloin,  and 
other  gentlemen,  highly  approving  the  object  of  the  meeting. 

Mr.  Wallace,  of  Kentucky,  also  addressed  the  meeting  in  laudatory  terms  of  the 
object  it  had  in  view,  and  moved  the  following  resolutions:  — 

Resolved,  That  we  have  witnessed  with  pleasure  the  great  advantage  derived  by  this 
community  from  the  Lectures  on  Irish  History,  delivered  by  Thomas  Mooney,  Esq., 
during  the  past  winter,  arid,  feeling  it  due  to  Ireland  and  the  United  States,  that 
the  most  extensive  circulation  should  be  given  to  the  valuable  and  interesting  matter 
contained  in  these  important  Lectures  as  a  national  work,  we  deem  it  a  duty  to  request 
Mr.  MooNEY  to  publish  an  edition  of  the  same. 

Resolved,  That  we,  as  a  committee,  not  only  cheerfully  recommend  such  a  publica- 
tion to  every  friend  of  Ireland,  and  of  universal  liberty,  throughout  the  United  States, 
but  will  assist,  by  all  honorable  means,  in  disposing  of  the  work  when  published. 

Resolved,  That  the  secretaries  of  this  meeting  be  empowered  to  call  upon  the  lead- 
ing men  of  this  city,  and  throughout  the  United  States,  for  such  general  cooperation 
as  they  may  be  disposed  to  render. 

The  following  named  gentlemen  then  and  subsequently  subscribed  their  names 
for  the  work  :  — 


20 


John  Power,  vicar-gene- 
ral, pastor  of  St.  Peter's, 
(five    copies,) 

John  N.  Smith,pastorof  St. 
James's,  (five  copies,) 

Michael  M'Carron,  St. 
James, 

Wm.  Nightengale,  pastor 
of  Fiftieth  Street  Church, 
(two  copies,) 

Alexander  Mappeti,  Trans- 
figuration Church, 

Rev.  Mr.  Murphy,  St.  Ma- 
ry's, 

Felix  Varela,  vicar-gene- 
ral, pastor  of  Transfigu- 
ration Church, 

John  M'Closkey,  pastor  of 
St.  Joseph's,* 

Andrew  Byrne,  pastor  of 
the  Church  of  the  Na- 
tivity, 

Rev.  Wm.  Quarter,  pastor 
of  St.  Mary's, 

Rev.  Mr.  Curran,  of  St. 
Paul's,  Harlem, 


'  Coadjutor  bishop  of  New  Vork. 
The  following  correspondence  took  place  :  — 


John  M'Keon,  M.  C, 

Robert  Emmet, 

Charles  0"Conor, 

W.  J.  Macneven, 

Samuel  R.  Macneven, 

John  Caldwell,  treasurer 
N.  York  Repeal  Associ- 
ation, 

Patrick  S.  Casserly, 

Gregory  Dillon, 

Wm.  Denman, 

Robert  Hogan,  president 
Emigrant  Society,  New 
York, 

Dr.  Sweeny, 

Dr.  M'Gloin, 

Roche  Brothers  &  Co., 

James  Shea, 

Joim  M'Sweeny, 

John  Augustus  Shea, 

P.  H.  Bushe, 

John  Colgan, 

Denis  Carolin, 

William  Wallace,  of  Ken- 
tucky, 

Timothy  Fahy, 

JAMES   BERGEN 


Henry  H.  Byrne, 

Henry  C.  Bowden, 

Daniel  Major, 

Robert  Wilson, 

C.  M.  King, 

Wm.  Francis  Clarke, 

Allanson  Nash,  109  Nassau 
Street, 

Moses  Y.  Beach,  proprietor 
of  the  Sun, 

Horace  Greely,  proprietor 
of  the  Tribune, 

Bernard  Donnelly, 

Charles  J.  Leahy, 

Thomas  Scanlan, 

Robert  O' Donovan, 

Alex.  Wells, 

John  Brady, 

Bartholomew  O'Conor,  sec- 
retary Repeal  Associa- 
tion, 

James  Trute, 

Patrick  M'Kenna,  Pitts- 
burg, 

James  Hurley. 


GEO.  D.  DOWLING,}"^''^^''^"■^■ 


^o  the  Very  Rev.  JOHN  POWER,   Vicar-General  of  New   York. 

Washington  Hall,  May  4, 1843. 

Very  Rev.  Sir : 

As  secretaries  of  a  meeting  of  friends  of  Ireland,  held  in  this  hotel  on  the  first 
of  May,  we  beg  leave,  in  compliance  with  the  resolutions  of  that  meeting,  to  enclose 
your  reverence  a  copy  of  the  same,  and  to  request  most  respectfully  your  attention 
thereto. 

The  students  in  the  schools  of  America,  and  the  great  public  generally,  have  hitherto 
been  deprived  of  a  correct  History  of  Ireland  —  one  which  would  acquaint  them  with 
the  true  character  of  the  Irish  people,  their  ancient  importance  amid  the  nations,  their 
unequalled  efforts  for  many  centuries  in  propagating  Christianity  and  literature,  and 
the  unparalleled  succession  ot  ages  during  which  they  sustained  their  national  integ- 
rity, together  with  the  treachery  and  butchery  by  which  they  were  deprived  of  their 
freedom. 

The  American  youth,  learning  the  little  that  is  printed  of  Ireland  through  the 
prejudiced  histories  written  by  her  oppressors,  cannot  but  have  conceived  a  very 
unfavorable  impression  of  her  gallant,  industrious,  and  warm-hearted  people.  Such, 
indeed,  is  the  result  of  those  unfair  and  prejudiced  reports,  that  many  amongst  the 
American  public  have  treated  individuals  from  Ireland  with  unaccountable  ill-feeling, 
which,  in  very  many  instances,  has  tended  to  impede  the  progress  of  enterprising 
industry,  in  many  of  the  most  important  walks  of  life. 


2% 

A  new  era,  however,  has  arrived.  Discussions  on  the  claims  of  Ireland  to  national 
independence  have  brought  the  character  of  that  nation  more  directly  before  the 
public  eye,  the  result  of  which  is  the  growth  of  a  more  favorable  opinion,  throughout 
America,  towards  Ireland  and  her  people.  From  these  discussions  have  grown  a 
series  of  Lectures  on  Ireland,  which  have  been  delivered  in  the  course  of  the  last 
winter  before  the  New  York  public,  by  Mr.  Thomas  Mooney,  a  gentleman  recently 
arrived  from  Ireland,  whose  unceasmg  exertions  for  the  liberation  of  his  country 
entitle  him  to  the  thanks  of  every  friend  of  freedom.  These  Lectures  have  covered 
the  whole  history  of  Ireland,  from  the  earliest  period  to  the  present  time,  and  will, 
when  published,  supply  that  desideratum  in  American  literature  so  much  required. 

It  is  our  pleasing  duty.  Very  Rev.  Sir,  to  solicit  the  honor  of  your  name  to  the 
national  list  of  patrons  and  subscribers  of  this  work ;  and  we  are,  with  respect,  your 
very  obedient  servants, 

JAMES  BERGEN,       J  Secretaries. 
GEO.  D.  DOWLING,  5 


ANSWER 

To  James  Bergen  and  George  D.  Bowling,  Esqrs. 

New  York,  May  12, 1843. 
Gentlemen  : 

I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  4th  instant,  with  the  resolutions  passed  at  a 
meeting  held  in  Washington  Hall,  on  the  1st  instant,  recommending  the  publica- 
tion of  Mr.  Mooney's  Lectures  on  Ireland,  as  delivered  in  this  city  during  the  past 
winter. 

Of  Mr.  Mooney's  knowledge  of  Ireland  and  of  Irish  affairs  I  am  fully  convinced. 
Of  his  great  services  and  labors  in  her  cause  since  his  arrival  in  this  country  you 
yourselves  are  witness.  By  his  speeches  and  Lectures  we  all  have  been  instructed. 
I  therefore,  gentlemen,  do  fully  concur  in  the  resolutions,  and  as  a  proof  of  my  hearty 
concurrence,  I  beg  you  will  set  my  name  down  for  five  copies  of  the  work. 
With  great  esteem,  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  gentlemen, 

Your  very  faithtui  servant, 

J.  POWER,  V.  G.  ofK.  Y. 


22 


ADDRESS 

To  the  exiled  Irishmen  resident  in  the  United  States,  the  British 
Provinces,  and  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  and  to  those  Irishmen 
still  in  bondage  in  their  native  country. 

MY  COUNTRYMEN  :  I  have  performed  the  laborious  task  of  gathering  into  one 
book  a  tolerably  complete  history  of  our  country,  our  greatest  men,  our  immortal 
music,  our  ancient  language,  and  our  sublime  architecture. 

This  work  has  cost  me  several  years  of  study,  research,  and  labor.  It  is  now  done. 
My  book  is  in  the  hands  of  the  world. 

It  commences  the  history  of  Ireland  at  a  period  thirteen  hundred  years  before  the 
Christian  era,  and  continues  it  to  the  thirtieth  of  May,  1845.  It  embraces  an  account 
of  all  transactions  in  Irish  history  most  interesting  to  Irishmen,  which  have  taken 
place  during  the  long  succession  of  ages  comprehended  in  three  thousand  two  hun- 
dred years. 

Independent  of  the  historic  narrative,  which  begins  at  tlie  beginning,  and  concludes 
in  the  present  year,  glancing  at  the  parallel  history  of  England  and  Scotland  as  it 
proceeds,  the  book  contains  the  following  special  features,  never  before  presented  in 
any  Irish  History. 

THE   IRISH   LANGUAGE. 

First.  — A  special  essay  on  the  antiquity,  nature,  history,  and  present  condition  of 
the  Irish  language,  with  fac-simile  specimens  of  th"e  ancient  Plia;nician  or  Coptic 
character,  in  that  stage  when  it  succeeded  symbolic  writing ;  also,  fac-simile  speci- 
mens of  tlie  Irish  alphabet,  and  oghams,  (secret  writing,)  and  a  brief  account  of  the 
patriotic  efforts  now  being  made  to  revive  the  language  in  Ireland. 

IRISH   MUSIC. 

Second.  —  A  special  history  of  Irish  music — its  remote  practice  in  Ireland — the 
mode  of  its  original  construction  —  the  origin  and  ancient  form  of  the  harp  —  its  cul- 
tivation and  improvement  by  the  Irish  bards  —  the  ancient  rules  or  canons  of  music 
which  they  formed  —  a  fac-simile  drawing  of  ancient  musical  notes  —  the  time  when, 
and  the  persons  who,  introduced  the  harp  music  and  its  laws  among  the  nations  of 
Europe  —  the  general  nature  of  Irish  music,  and  its  condition  at  the  present  time. 

Third.  —  As  connected  with,  and  illustrative  of,  the  foregoing,  I  have  introduced 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY  IRISH  MELODIES,  (POETRY  AND  MUSIC 

COMBINED.) 
These    melodies  are  arranged   for  the  piano-forte,  violin,  flute,  or   clarionet,  and 
presented  as  specimens  of  our  ancient    and  modern  composition,  embracing  every 
measure,  whether  of  love,  sorrow,  joy,  merriment,  war,  or  patriotism,  well  calculated 
to  soothe  the  heart  in  exile,  or  to  animate  it  in  bondage. 

IRISH   POETRY. 
Fourth..— A  special  essay    (historical)   on  the   nature  of  Irish  poetry.     Various 
specimens  of  versification  in  the  Irish  language,  with  translations,  are  introduced.     It 
is  shown  that  the  Irish  bards  first  invented  harmonic  versification,  and  formed  the 
science  of  dividing  time  and  matter  in  music,  poetry,  and  prose. 


ARCHITECTURE. 
Fifth.  —  A  special  history  of  Irish  architecture,  from  the  early  erections  of  crom- 
leaghs  and  round  towers  to  the  building  of  the  Parliament-House  in  Dublin. 

It  is  proved  in  this  essay,  that  the  sublime  style  of  architecture  miscalled 
Gothic  is  in  fact  Irish ;  and  the  names  of  the  pious  architects  who  introduced  that 
style  throughout  Europe,  with  the  names  of  the  churches  which  they  erected,  are  given. 

RELIGION   AND   LITERATURE. 

Sixth.  — tThe  history  of  the  ancient  worship  of  Ireland,  and  of  the  introduction  of 
Christianity  into  that  kingdom,  with  some  reflections  on  its  nature  —  the  extensive 
universities  in  Ireland  —  the  state  of  literature  at  various  periods — the  establishment 
of  universities  by  Irish  scholars,  in  the  si.xth  and  seventh  centuries  —  the  revival,  by 
those  pious  missionaries,  of  the  learned  languages,  writing,  literature,  religion,  arts, 
science,  and  music,  through  Europe,  after  the  barbarous  violence  of  Goth,  Vandal,  and 
Saxon  had  subsided. 

THE   HISTORIANS. 

Seventh.  —  A  series  of  biographical  sketches  of  the  ancient  and  modern  historians 
of  Ireland,  with  accounts  S?  the  records  which  they  compiled  and  the  places  where 
these  are  now  deposited,  and  the  best  compilations  that  now  exist. 

THE  GREAT  MEN. 
Eighth.  —  A  series  of  abridged  biographies  of  our  most  distinguished  men,  from 
Ollamh  Fodhla  to  O'Connell,  comprising  two  hundred  separate  "Lives,"  which  in- 
clude the  kings,  warriors,  writers,  saints,  bards,  and  artists  who  flourished  during 
the  ages  prior  to  the  English  invasion,  and  those  heroic  soldiers,  patriots,  martyrs, 
poets,  musicians,  orators,  authors,  and  artists  of  our  country,  who  shone  at  intervals, 
in  the  gloom  of  seven  centuries  of  Anglo-Saxon  oppression,  including  those  who  now 
live,  and  surround  O'Connell  in  the  heroic  struggle  for  national  independence. 

HISTORICAL  VIEWS   OF  OTHER  NATIONS. 

Tenth.  —  It  afibrds,  through  the  whole  work,  continued  parallel  glimpses  of  the 
histories  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Europe  generally,  by  which  the  reader  may 
become  well  informed,  as  he  proceeds,  of  the  revolutions  of  neighboring  nations, 
from  the  flood  to  the  present  year. 

ALPHABETICAL  INDEX. 

Eleventh.  —  A  comprehensive  Alphabetical  Index  is  appended  to  the  work,  which 
will  enable  the  reader  easily  to  refer  to  the  most  prominent  subjects  treated  of  in  its 
pages. 

I  have  put  the  whole  of  this  matter  into  one  book.  It  makes  over  sixteen  hundred 
and  fifty  pages. 

I  believe  it  will  be  admitted  that  this  is  the  most  comprehensive  History  of  Ireland 
that  ever  was  published.  I  might  have  spun  out  ten  volumes  from  the  material  im- 
bodied  in  this  one ;  but  my  object  is  to  place  in  the  hands  of  every  Irishman,  in  the 
cheapest  form,  and  in  one  book,  an  account  of  all  things  connected  with  our  country 
which  we  value  most,  by  which  the  splendid  history  of  our  race,  now  for  the  first  time 
put  together  since  our  fall,  shall,  like  the  Jewish  chronicle,  be  preserved  forever 
unbroken. 


24 


My  long  residence  in  Dublin,  my  long  connection  with  the  political  agitation  ot 
Ireland,  and  my  personal  cognizance  of  matters  and  men,  enable  me  to  narrate,  with 
tolerable  accuracy,  the  transactions  of  the  last  twenty  important  years  in  Irish  history 
—  a  period  yet  uncovered  by  any  other  writer. 

I  have  asked  no  patronage  or  subscription  from  any  man  towards  this  work.  It 
comes  out  equally  independent  of  the  rich  or  the  poor.  In  this  respect  it  is  more  for- 
tunate than  many  of  its  predecessors.  It  speaks  truth  of  the  living  and  the  dead  — 
is  published  in  a  land  of  freedom,  and  speaks  in  the  freeman's  tone.  I  ask  you,  my 
countrymen,  to  assist  in  its  circulation,  not  as  a  favor  to  me,  but  to  us  all,  —  the  sons 
of  a  persecuted  and  calumniated  land,  —  for  this  book  will  be  your  vindicator  and 
cheering  companion  in  exile  or  in  bondage. 

As  to  pecuniary  profits,  I  shall  have  little.  Every  man  acquainted  with  publishing 
will  tell  you  this  is  the  cheapest  book  ever  published.  The  music  alone  imbodied  in 
it  cannot  be  purchased  for  six  times  its  price.  Several  thousand  copies  must  be  sold 
before  the  first  outlay  shall  be  repaid. 

1  therefore  confidently  call  on  you  to  assist  in  the  circulation  of  this  book.  I  sug- 
gest the  formation  of  little  clubs  of  subscribers  of  fives,  tens,  or  twenties,  by  which 
the  expense  of  carrying  it  to  a  distance  will  be  lessened  ;  and,  as  a  means  of  dispel- 
ling mucii  of  that  prejudice  that  exists  in  this  country  towards  Irishmen,  I  would 
suggest  tliat  it  be  loaned  to  Americans  by  those  who  purchase. 
I  am,  my  countrymen. 

Your  faithful  and  obedient  servant, 

THOMAS  MOONEY. 

Boston,  Jfovember  1, 1845 


25 


APPROBATION. 


[From  the  Boston  Pilot  of  November  15,  1845.  J 

THE  HISTORY   AND   MUSIC   OF   IRELAND. 

We  record  to-day  the  most  extraordinary  meeting,  connected  with  Ireland,  that  evoT 
took  place  in  Boston,  which  was  held  on  Monday  evening  at  the  Odeon,  Franklin 
Street,  a  building  capable  of  holding  several  thousand  persons,  to  receive  Mr.  Mooney's 
new  work  on  the  History  and  Music  of  Ireland.  The  building  is  a  vast  theatre,  con- 
Eisting  of  pit,  boxes,  and  three  galleries,  every  part  of  which  was  crowded  to  its 
uttermost  capacity,  by  the  flower  of  the  Irisli  citizens  of  this  place,  including  all  the 
clergy  of  the  district,  and  very  many  distinguished  American  citizens. 

Amongst  those  whom  we  noticed  at  the  meeting  were  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Fitz- 
patrick,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Manihan,  the  Rev.  Mr.  O'Reilly,  Rev.  Mr.  O'Brien,  Rev.  Mr. 
Goodwin,  Rev.  Mr.  Fitzeimmons,  Rev.  Mr.  M'Mahon,  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson,  Rev.  Mr. 
Gibson,  Rev.  Mr.  Hardy,  Rev.  Mr.  O'Beirne,  Rev.  Mr.  Brady,  Rev.  Mr.  M'Grath,  Rev. 
Mr.  Dougherty,  J.  W.  James,  Esq.,  W.  J.  Walsh,  Esq.,  O.  A.  Brownson,  Esq.,  &c. 

Although  the  doors  were  opened  at  six  o'clock,  yet,  for  an  hour  previously,  Federal 
Street  was  crowded  with  people  waiting  for  admission,  and  several  thousands  went 
away  unable  to  enter. 

A  concert  of  the  music  in  Mr.  Mooney's  book  was  then  produced,  which  far  surpassed, 
in  melody  and  execution,  any  musical  entertainment  we  ever  witnessed.  The  music, 
selected  by  Mr.  Mooney  from  the  minstrels  of  Ireland,  is  undoubtedly  the  very  finest  we 
ever  heard,  and  its  execution,  by  Mr.  Michael  Mooney,  Mrs.  Franklin,  Mr.  Horncastle, 
Mr.  Garcia,  Mr.  Shaw,  Mr.  M'Gaughey,  Miss  Walsh,  and  Master  O'Keefe,  was  truly 
delightful,  and  won  from  the  audience  the  most  rapturous  applause.  The  house  was 
brilliantly  lighted  ;  the  rich  and  deep  intonation  of  the  organ,  when  pealing  forth  the  me- 
lodious airs  of  old  Ireland,  filled  our  hearts  with  joy  ;  and  the  sight  and  sounds  of  the 
harp,  the  Harp  of  Erin,  surrounded  as  it  was  that  night  by  men  who  are  prepared  to 
peril  all  to  emancipate  her,  called  up  the  memories  of  Tara  and  Clontarf,  and  caused 
many  a  noble  heart  in  that  building  to  pant  for  the  freedom  of  that  unhappy  land. 

When  the  vast  and  brilliant  auditory  were  perfectly  satiated  with  melody,  Mr. 
Mooney  came  upon  the  platform  to  call  the  meeting  to  order.  He  was  heartily  ap- 
plauded, and,  after  a  few  responsive  remarks,  moved  —  John  Warren  James,  Esq. 
to  the  chair,  and  Stephen  J.  Rogers,  Esq.,  secretary. 

Mr.  Mooney  then  said  he  had  called  that  meeting  together  to  present  to  his  country- 
men a.  History  of  Ireland.  The  work  had  been  gathered  from  at  least  one  hundred 
different  authors,  whose  writings  were  inaccessible  to  the  great  mass  of  the  public.  It 
was  a  faithful  and  a  fearless  history  of  the  Milesian  race,  down  to  the  memorable 
30th  of  May,  1645,  and  would,  he  hoped,  be  interesting  to  every  Irishman  in  exist- 
ence, whether  in  exile  or  bondage,  for  it  was  the  first  time  that  their  history  was  com- 
pletely presented  by  one  hand.  [Applause.]  Many  men  have  died  in  the  attempt  to  com- 
plete this  work.  He  was  more  fortunate  than  several  others  of  far  greater  abilities 
He  called  on  them  to  circulate  their  history,  to  lend  it  to  their  American  neighbors 
it  will  purify  the  mephitic  atmosphere,  and  will  cheer  the  exile  in  his  path  !   [Cheers.] 

He  would  now  present  the  book  to  them  through  one  to  whom  Irishmen  were  grate- 
fill,  one  to  whom  he  was  deeply  obliged.    [Applause.] 


26  CHARACTER    OF    THE    ETRURIANS. 

the  people  who  succeeded  them  in  their  beautiful  country,  absolutely 
nothing  intelligible  has  come  down  to  us.  If  their  sepulchres  exhibit 
so  much  greatness,  refinement,  and  dignity,  what  splendor  might  be 
expected  in  their  temples,  theatres,  public  buildings,  palaces,  and  the 
habitations  in  which  they  lived,  moved,  and  acted !  These  were  above 
ground.  Their  successors,  the  Romans,  ruthless,  ignorant,  and  barba- 
rous, have  obliterated  nearly  every  trace  of  them,  if  we  except  their 
stupendous  architecture,  some  magnificent  specimens  of  which  have, 
by  their  magnitude,  defied  the  ruthless  efforts  of  the  barbarians,  and 
resisted  their  puny  efforts,  while  they  attributed  their  erection  to  super- 
natural agency.  Such  has  ever  been  the  fate  of  civilized  nations,  when 
conquered  by  barbarians.  The  fall  of  the  Roman  empire,  in  turn, 
produced  the  "dark  ages;"  the  Anglo-Saxons  destroyed  all  traces  of 
Roman  literature  in  Britain.  The  hostile  disposition  exhibited  by  all 
barbarous  people  against  civilization  and  literature,  has  been  very 
remarkable.  Omar,  who  destroyed  the  Alexandrian  library,  was  a 
correct  specimen  of  the  ferocious  and  ignorant  barbarian  of  all  ages." 

Sir  William  then  quotes  from  the  Quarterly  Review,  1833,  a  passage 
on  this  nation.  "  Etruria  is  one  of  the  great,  mid,  as  yet,  unsolved 
problems  of  ancient  history.  It  is  clear  that,  before  the  Romans,  there 
existed  in  Italy  a  great  nation,  in  a  state  of  advanced  civilization,  with 
public  buildings  of  vast  magnitude,  and  works  constructed  on  scientific 
principles,  and  of  immense  solidity,  in  order  to  bring  the  marshy  plains 
of  central  and  northern  Italy  into  regular  cultivation.  They  were  a 
naval  and  commercial  people,  to  whom  tradition  assigned  the  navigation, 
at  one  period,  of  the  Mediterranean.  Their  government  seems  to  have 
been  nearly  allied  to  the  Oriental  theocracies :  religion  was  the  domi- 
nant principle,  and  the  ruling  aristocracy  a  sacerdotal  order." 

He  then  enters  into  an  elaborate  history  of  this  extinct  nation,  which 
he  justly  builds  upon  the  inscriptions  on  their  coins,  on  their  tombs,  on 
their  vases,  on  their  bronze  mirrors  or  sjjecula,  on  their  tables  of  bronze, 
that  have  been,  within  the  last  few  years,  dug  up  from  beneath  the 
classic  earth  of  Italy,  over  which  the  Roman  conquerors  trod,  uncon- 
scious, in  their  efforts  to  obliterate  the  memory  of  this  people,  of  the 
existence  of  subterranean  evidences  which  would,  in  other  ages,  meet 
the  eye  of  posterity,  and  deprive  Rome  of  the  honors  of  originating  arts, 
science,  and  mythology,  which  she  so  zealously  and  so  unjustly  strove 
to  assume  at  the  expense  of  her  teachers,  the  Etrusco-Phoenicians. 

This  great  nation,  with  its  history,  was  involved  in  the  deepest 
mystery,    until  a   critical   knowledge   of  the   ancient   Irish  language, 


LANGUAGE  OF  THE  ETRURIANS  PROVED  TO  BE  IRISH.      27 

acquired  late  in  life,  by  Sir  William  Betham,  enabled  that  profound 
scholar  and  antiquarian  to  perceive,  that  all  their  inscriptions,  memorials, 
and  devices,  were  written  in  the  ancient  Irish  character  ;  and 
that  through  the  Irish,  and  the  Irish  tongue  alone,  could  he  unlock  the 
hidden  history  of  that  polished,  illustrious  people,  who  once  filled  Italy, 
Gaul,  Spain,  and  Ireland,  with  memorials  of  their  arts  and  labor,  which 
still  remain,  outliving  the  coundess  generations  of  man,  that  have  washed 
over  them  as  the  ocean  beats  over  the  lasting  rocks  of  Erin's  old  prom- 
ontories. 

Sir  William  gives  upwards  of  fifty  plates  of  accurate  drawings  of 
many  of  their  ancient  coins,  curiosities,  weapons,  bronze  mirrors,  together 
with  the  literal  inscriptions  found  on  the  seven  tables  of  bronze  —  inscrip- 
tions called  by  the  learned  the  "  Eugubian  Tables."  There  are  several 
mythological  engravings  on  ancient  pieces  of  metal,  which  are  given,  and 
translated  first  from  the  old  Etrusco-Phoenician  language  into  modern 
Irish,  and  then  from  the  Irish  into  modern  English.  In  presenting  a 
drawing  of  a  magnificent  statue  in  alabaster,  found  in  one  of  the  ancient 
vaults  of  Etruria,  Sir  William  thus  writes :  — 

"Although  the  number  of  plates  has  already  exceeded  what  was 
contemplated,  I  cannot  resist  the  temptation  of  placing  in  this  work  one 
of  a  recumbent  figure  of  a  man,  which  formed  the  covering  of  a  sar- 
cophagus, now  in  the  museum  at  Volterra.  It  is  doubtless  a  portrait  of 
the  deceased,  who  was,  according  to  the  expression  of  Catullus,  a  corpu- 
lent Etruscan  — '  obesus  EtruscusJ 

"  It  is  not  easy  to  imagine  a  finer  formed  head,  or  a  countenance 
more  expressive  of  a  brilliant  intellect,  a  cultivated,  well-stored  mind,  and 
a  benevolent  heart,  than  the  one  here  presented.  The  ring  on  his  left 
hand,  and  the  gold  chain,  or  torque,  round  his  neck,  declare  him  a 
man  of  high  rank.  He  was  a  writer,  as  appears  from  the  volume  in  his 
hand.  His  head  is  encircled  with  a  wreath  of  oak  leaves ;  the  counte- 
nance fills  us  with  bitter  regret  that  the  productions  of  the  mind  of  such 
a  man  should  be  lost  forever.  How  many  ages  of  progressive  civiliza- 
tion must  have  passed  away  to  have  produced  such  a  head,  and  a 
pencil,  or  chisel,  capable  of  making  it  live  to  our  days !  Where  is  the 
Greek  or  Roman  statue  which  throws  this  into  the  shade,  and  exhibits 
a  higher  style  of  excellence  in  art,  or  one  of  which  any  age  might  be 
prouder  ?  His  very  obesity  is  a  proof  of  civiirzation.  He  was  a  benefac- 
tor to  his  country  by  his  writings  :  probably  his  nation,  anxious  to  do  him 
honor,  erected  this  monument  to  his  memory.  Anonymous  as  he  is  to 
us,  his  merits  will  not  be  altogether  unappreciated ;  for  they  caused  the 


The  Rev.  Mr.  M'M^hon  next  addressed  the  meetmg  in  terms  highly  compUmen 
tary  to  the  work,  and  was  followed  by  W.  J.  Walsh,  Esq.,  in  a  most  eloquent  speed 
to  the  same  purport ;  after  which  the  subscription  list  was  commenced. 

Mr.  O'Brien,  the  president  of  the  Father  Mathew  Total  Abstinence  Society,  rose 
on  behalf  of  that  body,  to  take  the  first  copy,  which  the  society  have  resolved  to  for 
ward  to  Father  Mathew.     [Loud  cheers.] 

A  stream  of  subscribers  were  then  supplied,  who  paid  down  their  money  and  took 
away  their  books.  We  never  saw  any  thing  like  the  enthusiasm  displayed  on  this  oc- 
casion. Several  hundred  copies  were  cleared  away.  The  immense  assemblage  then 
began  to  separate 


[From  the  Boston  Pilot,  November  22.1 

MR.  MOONEY'S   CONCERTS   AND   HISTORY. 

CHARLESTOWN. 

The  Town  Hall  of  Charlestown  was  filled  to  the  doorway  with  an  enthusiastic  audi- 
tory on  Monday  evening,  to  hear  Mr.  Mooney's  concert.  We  noticed  in  the  room 
very  many  of  the  American  citizens  of  the  place,  including  the  Rev.  Mr.  Goodwin, 
Professor  Ryder,  of  Holy  Cross  College,  Rev.  Mr.  O'Brien,  Rev.  Mr.  Hardy,  Rev.  Mr. 
M'Grath,  &c. 

At  the  conclusion,  the  Rev.  Mr.  O'Brien  came  on  the  stand,  to  address  the  people 
on  the  nature  and  contents  of  Mr.  Mooney's  work  on  the  History,  Music,  Biography, 
Architecture,  and  Resources  of  Ireland.  "  I  love,"  he  said,  "music  and  history.  I 
came  here  to  hear  genuine  melody,  and  to  recommend  to  my  fellow-citizens  a  genu- 
ine History  of  the  land  of  my  forefathers.  [Cheers.]  I  wish  them  to  take  this  work, 
and  peruse  its  facts  and  statements.  If  they  have  prejudice  against  Ireland,  the  study 
of  this  book  will  dispel  it.  Faithful  history  is,  after  religion,  the  most  interesting 
study  for  the  human  mind.  This  History  is  faithful  and  true.  It  is  carefully  and  sim- 
ply written.  It  has  been  perused  with  deep  interest  by  one  who  watches  over  the 
Catholics  of  New  England  with  a  father's  fondness,  and  I  am  glad  to  say  that  it  has 
his  entire  approbation.  [Cheers.]  And  I  have  only  to  add  my  own  testimony  of  its 
value,  and  my  thanks  to  the  author  for  producing  a  work  that  at  once  reflects  credit 
upon  him  and  upon  his  country."    [Cheers.] 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Goodwin  then  came  upon  the  stand,  and  delivered  a  feeling  and  elo- 
quent address  to  the  immense  auditory,  most  of  whom  were  his  parishioners.  We  re- 
gret we  have  not  full  notes  of  the  eloquent  addresses  of  both  gentlemen.  The  follow- 
ing few  sentences  from  Mr.  Goodwin  will  give  an  idea  of  his  sentiments:  — 

"  My  fellow-citizens,  I  attend  here  this  evening  to  give  expression  to  my  gratitude 
towards  Mr.  Mooney,  the  author  of  this  very  important  and  very  faithful  work  on  the 
history  of  Ireland.  I  have  not  had  it  in  my  possession  more  than  a  couple  of  days, 
but  even  in  that  short  time  I  have  seen  enough  to  convince  me  that  it  is  an  admirable 
■work,  most  ably  constructed  to  effect  the  establishment  of  truth  and  liberty.  [Applause.] 
It  appears  at  the  first  glance  to  be  a  bulky  volume,  but  it  is  in  truth  a  most  concise 
production.  There  are  no  waste  words  nor  tedious  details,  and  it  really  surprises  me 
how  the  author  contrived  to  compress  so  much  knowledge  into  one  book.  It  is  a  his- 
tory of  European  civilization  for  three  thousand  years,  and  presents  to  us  Ireland,  in 
every  phase,  during  that  long  succession  of  ages,  down  to  the  present  hour.  We  have 
biography,  we   have  architecture,  fully  and  ably  traced  and  developed ;   and,  besides 


29 

this,  we  have  upwards  of  a  hundred  pieces  of  the  best  Irish  music,  which  cannot  be  pur 
chased  in  the  music  stores  for  less  than  twice  the  price  of  this  book.  1  trust  no  Irish 
family  will  be  without  this  admirable  work.  I  could  wish  that  every  American  citizen 
would  possess  himself  of  it.  It  would  remove  much  of  that  senseless  prejudice  which 
exists  around  us  towards  our  Irish  fellow-citizens.  1  was  born  within  a  stone's  throw 
of  where  I  now  stand,  and  was  once  as  full  of  unjust  prejudice  towards  the  Irish  people 
as  any  around  me  ;  but  when  I  came  to  knovv^  them,  to  study  tlieir  history  and  char- 
acter, my  prejudices  vanished,  and  my  heart  swelled  with  friendship  for  so  moral,  gen- 
erous, and  high-minded  a  people.  [Cheers.]  There  may  be  some  grounds  afforded,  by 
the  ill  conduct  of  individuals,  for  this  prejudice;  but  this  ill  conduct  must  not  be  suf- 
fered to  tarnish  a  great  nation,  that  has,  in  all  ages,  given  saints  and  missionaries  to  re- 
ligion, scholars  to  literature,  genius  and  talent  to  the  arts,  and  valiant  champions  to 
liberty.  [Loud  and  enthusiastic  cheers.]  Let  this  invaluable  book,  which  bears  incon- 
trovertible testimony  to  the  fame  of  Ireland,  be  widely  distributed,  and  you  and  your 
children's  children,  to  the  latest  generation,  will  partake  of  the  benefit  of  the  great 
truths  which  it  proclaims."   [Great  applause.] 

Mr.  Mooney  then  opened  the  subscription  list,  when  several  copies  of  his  work 
were  taken ;  soon  after  which  the  meeting  broke  up. 


ROXBURY. 

On  Tuesday  evening,  a  similar  concert  and  meeting  took  place  in  Roxbury.  The 
Town  Hall  was  crowded  to  excess  by  the  most  numerous  and  respectable  auditory  that 
ever  gathered  within  its  capacious  walls.  The  concert  was  presented  in  tlie  finest 
style  by  the  performers. 

At  the  conclusion,  the  Hon.  Isaac  H.  Wkight  came  upon  the  platform,  and  was 
very  heartily  applauded  by  the  assembly.  He  said  his  friend,  Mr.  Mooney,  remarked 
that  there  was  music  in  his  voice,  but  he  thought  the  music  they  had  just  heard  before 
was  far  better.  He  was  really  delighted  with  this  night's  entertainment,  for  it  ush- 
ered into  existence  a  faithful  History  of  Ireland.  This  was  a  work  that  had  long  been 
much  wanted.  He  was  proud,  as  an  American  citizen,  that  this  great  work  had  been 
written  and  published  in  America.  Here  was  it  brought  forth,  where  the  press  was 
free,  and  where  the  truth  can  be  told ;  and  Mr.  Mooney  has  told  the  whole  truth  re- 
specting his  native  land.  No  son  of  that  land  can  do  more  for  its  exaltation  than  he 
who  pens  of  it  an  honest  and  careful  history.  That  work  has  been  performed,  by  Mr. 
Mooney,  in  a  manner  that  reflects  the  highest  credit  on  his  talents,  and  the  highest 
honor  upon  his  country.  It  is  a  monument  to  his  country's  fame  more  lasting  than 
stone  or  brass,  and  will  survive  as  long  as  the  language  in  which  it  is  written.  [Ap- 
plause.] Mr.  Mooney  has  wisely  gathered  into  his  work  the  scattered  but  beautiful 
melodies  of  his  native  land.  This  will  ever  preserve  it  in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  for 
the  melody  of  Ireland  is  found  to  reach  the  human  heart,  and  touch  its  finest  sensibil- 
ities. It  now  remains  for  the  people  to  come  forward  and  sustain  this  great  effort  to 
elevate  them.  Let  it  not  be  said  that  Mr.  Mooney  shall,  by  the  very  greatness  of  his 
labors  to  exalt  his  country,  fall,  and  become,  like  many  other  men  of  ability,  a  beggar 
for  his  pains.    [Cheers.] 

The  honorable  gentleman  then  gave  his  name  for  the  work,  and  was  followed  by 
very  many  in  the  meeting,  when  scores  of  the  History  of  Ireland  were  taken. 

Mr.  Sharkey  said,  he  was  desired  by  several  American  citizens  to  request  Mr.  Moo- 
ney to  repeat  the  concert. 


LETTERS   FROM   THE   BISHOPS  OF   BOSTON   AND 

NEW   yOE-K. 

Boston,  J\'ov.  24,  1845. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  have  devoted  eis  much  time  to  the  perusal  of  your  excellent  History  of 
Ireland  as  1  could  well  afford  from  rny  other  occupations,  since  the  receipt  of  the 
copy  you  had  the  kindness  to  lay  before  me.  1  have,  in  fact,  read  enough  of  it  to  be 
able  to  form  a  pretty  fair  estimate  of  its  value  ;  and  I  unhesitatingly  say,  that  it  has 
given  me  more- information  of  poor,  oppressed  Ireland  than  any  book  I  had  ever  read 
before  —  to  say  nothing  of  the  exquisite  pleasure  and  delight  I  derived  from  its  well- 
written  pages.  It  is  truly  a  great  work,  and  one  I  shall  rejoice  to  see  in  the  hands  of 
every  Irishman,  and  of  every  native-born  citizen  of  America.  You  have  indeed 
labored  well  and  hard  for  Old  Ireland.  May  all  your  hopes  in  her  regard  be  realized, 
and  may  you  yet  live  to  see  her  what  she  ought  to  be  — 

"  Great,  glorious,  and  free, 
First  flower  of  the  earth,  and  first  gem  of  the  sea." 

Your  obedient  servant, 

t  BENEDICT,  Bishop  of  Boston. 

Thomas   Moosey,  Esq. 


New  Yokk,  Kov.  26,  1845. 

Dear  Sir  : 

I  received  with  much  satisfaction  your  voluminous  and  interesting  work  on 
Ireland,  which  you  had  the  kindness  to  send  to  me.  I  have  had  time  only  to  glance 
through  it ;  but  I  am  convinced  that  it  is  at  once  a  useful  and  highly-deserving  pro- 
duction. 

It  is  honorable  to  Ireland  that,  in  a  foreign  land,  there  should  be  found  both  zeal  and 
talent  sufficient  to  accomplish  it,  and  also,  as  I  hope,  patronage  enough  to  warrant  the 
undertaking,  and  to  remunerate  the  labor  and  research  necessary  for  its  accomplishment. 

1  return  you  rny  thanks  for  the  copy  you  were  good  enough  to  send  rne ;  and 

I  remain,  with  great  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant  in  Christ, 

{  JOHN,  Bishop  of  New  York. 
Thomas  Mooitet,  Esq.,  Boston. 


31 


LETTER  FROM  ROBERT  EMMET,  ESQ.,   OF  NEW  YORK. 

New  York,  Dec.  8,  1845. 

Thomas  Mooney,  Esq. 

Dear  Sir : 

1  owe  you  an  apology  for  having  so  long  deferred  ac- 
knowledging the  receipt  of  the  copy  of  your  work  on  Ireland,  which  you  so  kindly 
sent  me,  and  your  letter  accompanying  it.  I  can  only  say  that,  since  1  received  it,  I 
have,  with  few  intervals,  been  laid  up  witli  attacks  of  rheumatism,  which  have  pre- 
vented me  from  attending  to  business  or  using  my  pen  in  any  way.  I  am  happy  to 
say,  however,  that  I  am  almost  restored ;  and  one  of  tlie  first  uses  I  make  of  my 
returning  strength  is  to  express  to  you  the  grateful  sense  which  I  feel  at  your  kind- 
ness and  attention. 

During  my  confinement  to  my  room,  I  have  derived  great  pleasure  and  much  in- 
struction from  your  book ;  and  /  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  the  useful  information  it 
contains,  its  correct  and  patriotic  views,  and  the  mode  rjou  hare  adopted  for  the  arrange- 
ment of  its  contents,  viake  it  one  of  the  most  interesting  historical  compilations  I  crer 
Tnct  wit/i. 

As  an  Irisliman,  I  feel  grateful  to  you  for  so  successful  an  effort  to  place  the  his- 
tory and  character  of  our  country  in  their  true  liglit;  and  I  sincerely  hope,  as  I  fully 
believe,  that  your  exertions  will  not  go  unrewarded.  Every  man  who  has  Irish  blood 
in  liis  veins  should  be  the  possessor  of  your  book  ;  and  I  wish  you  no  smaller  meas- 
ure of  reward  tlian  that,  and  a  continuance  of  health  to  enjoy  it. 

Believe  me,  sincerely, 

Your  friend, 

ROBERT   EMMET. 


33 


SUBSCRIBERS'    NAMES 


BOSTON  LIST. 

Right-  Rev.  BENEDICT,  Bishop  of  Boston. 
Right  Rev.  JOHN,  Coadjutor  Bishop. 

Rev.  Dr.  O'Flaherty,  Rev.  Mr.  O'Brien, 

Rev.  Mr.  O'Reilly,  5,  Rev.  Mr.  Flood, 

Rev.  Mr.  Fitzsimmons,  Rev.  Mr.  Crudden, 

Rev.  Mr.  Hardy,  Rev.  Mr.  Dougherty, 

Rev.  Mr.  M'Mahon,  Rev.  Mr.  O'Beirne, 

Rev.  Mr.  Goodwin,  Rev.  Mr.  Haskins, 

Rev.  Mr.  M'Grath,  Rev.  Mr.  M'Dermott, 

Very  Rev.  Dr.  Ryder,  Rev.  P.  O'Beirne. 
Rev.  Mr.  Devlin,  V.  A., 


Isaac  Wright, 
Walter  J.  Walsh, 
J.  C.  Tucker, 
St.  Mary's  R.  Room,  3, 
Michael  Riley, 
James  Riley, 
Michael  Kenny, 
Terence  M'Hugh,  4, 
M.  J.  Mooney, 
Patrick  Mooney, 
Peter  Higgins,  2, 
P.  Comerford,  . 
Hugh  Duffy, 
Cooper  Moriarty, 
P.  Conarty, 
John  Collins, 
John  Stuart, 
Edward  M'Cafferty, 
C.  Masterson, 
Owen  Murphy, 
James  Sullivan,  2, 
Thos.  Osborne, 
Patrick  Greehy, 
Edward  Haley, 
George  Derett, 
James  Ryan, 
J.  Ford, 

Stephen  Cusack, 
Jas.  O'Connor, 
Daniel  O'Regan, 
M'Donald, 


Thos.  Hughes, 
Florence  M'Carty, 
Francis  M'Girr, 
Edward  Byrne, 
Jas.  Byrne, 
Wm.  Murray, 
Thos.  Connors, 
Robert  Giles, 
Andrew  Gaffney, 
W.  S.  Baxter, 
Wm.  Timmons, 
J.  P.  Crean, 
Patrick  Phillips, 
James  Cummings, 
Nugent  Keenan, 
Thos.  O'Hara, 
Mr.  M'Gaughy, 
Philip  Guinan, 
Daniel  M'Farland, 
J.  Daly, 

Jeffrey  Donahoe, 
John  Dee, 
Patrick  Connors, 
Bernard  M'Laughlin, 
Patrick  Furlong, 
H.  W.  M'llroy, 
Michael  Dinan, 
J.  T.  Cunningham, 
Edward  Gillen, 
Michael  Canny, 
Peter  Peduzzi, 


Patrick  Durr, 
Edward  Young, 
Henry  Dooley, 
John  C.  Kells, 
Wm.  A.  Wilson, 
Henry  J.  Duff, 
Michael  Drury, 
Owen  Sullivan, 
Jeremiah  Minahan, 
Timothy  Linehan, 
Edward  Coughlan, 
James  M'Conologue, 
Michael  Walsh, 
Michael  O'Rourke, 
Thos  Sweeney, 
Wm.  Dwyre, 
John  Hector, 
Wm.  Feely, 
Patrick  Loan, 
Thos.  Hennessy, 
Cornelius  M'llroy, 
Charles  Doherty, 
Wm.  Byrne, 
Jeremiah  Sheehan, 
Thomas  Kenny, 
M.  Stuart, 
John  Devlin, 
Mark  Conway, 
Joseph  Nash, 
Thomas  Hill, 
Philip  Reilly, 


33 


Wm.  Franklin, 

Major  Heiss, 

Maurice  Vaughan,  7, 

D.  M.  Hallinan, 

Wm.  Simpson, 

Wm.  Daly,  3, 

Saxton  &,  Kelt,  2, 

Redding  &  Co.,  8, 

J.  Burke,  25, 

John  Warren  James, 

O.  A.  Brownson, 

P.  Donahoe, 

Squire  Aimes,  2, 

Michael  Gallagher,  5, 

J.  R.  Fitzgerald, 

Dennis  O'Brien, 

Father  Matthew  Society, 

Mr .  Roberts, 

J.  D.  Mahoney,  2, 

Thomas  Mooney, 

Miss  M.  Walch, 

Richard  Walch, 

Arthur  M'Evoy, 

Stephen  J.  Rogera, 

Michael  Keyes, 

Dr.  Germaine, 

Hugh  Gray, 

Edward  Donnelly, 

P.  Winters, 

Robert  Mahood, 

John  Manning, 

Hugh  Ward, 

Thos.  Dunnigan, 

Edward  Russell, 

John  Kelly, 

Michael  Hall, 

Edward  Dolan, 

Thos.  F.  O'Keefe, 

Master  Walter  Byrne, 


Wm.  Dudley, 
Patrick  Flynn, 
Peter  M'Goorty, 
Daniel  Crowley, 
John  Cashman, 
James  T.  Baxter, 
David  Hunksley, 
Hugh  M'Dirild, 
Bartholomew  Whitton, 
Thos.  Wallace, 
Terence  O'Neill, 
Edward  Murphy, 
Edward  Farran, 
John  Nicholson, 
Charles  Kelley, 
Michael  Hyde, 
John  Grant, 
Thos.  Tracy, 
Thomas  O'Hara, 
Roger  Doherty, 
Thos.  Kenny, 
Bernard  Fitzpatrick, 
Cornelius  Gray, 
Francis  S.  M'Girr, 
Jeffrey  Pendergrast, 
John  Bray, 
Hugh  Cummiskey, 
Edward  Lawlor, 
James  Carney, 
Catherine  Gallagher, 
Edmund  Wall, 
Michael  Foley, 
Wm.  Murphy, 
John  Flanagan, 
George  Wilson, 
Timothy  Lynch,  12, 
Wm.  Phayer,  6, 
Francis  M'Ginley, 
Patrick  Lyons, 


John  White, 

Michael  Ryan, 

Wm.  Riding, 

M.  M'Burney, 

Daniel  M'Carty, 

Hugh  Doherty, 

Michael  Kane, 

Edward  Powers, 

Patrick  Barry, 

Dougal  Anderson, 

Martin  Collier, 

Hugh  Murphy, 

Wm.  Nagle, 

John  Murray, 

Wm.  Hyland, 

P.  H.  Pierce, 

John  Power, 

James  Ahem, 

Patrick  Sharkey, 

B.  F.  Cooke, 

Owen  Cusack, 

John  Berran, 

Marcus  Byrne, 

Michael  M'Donnell, 

Patrick  O'KeefFe, 

John  Kenny, 

Wm.  Doyle, 

J.  Hector,  Jr., 

P.  Salmon, 

J.  M'Cabe, 

Michael  King, 

Thomas  Hand, 

James  Ward, 

John  Whitty, 

T.  Reynolds, 

John  Troy, 

W.  B.  M'Connellogue,  5, 

Wm.  Cunningham,  10, 


LECTURE    I. 


SECTION    I. 


Reasons  for  delivering  these  Lectures.  —  Ignorance  respecting  Ireland  prevailing 
in  America.  —  Reasons.  —  Policy  of  Britain  to  defame  Ireland,  and  suppress 
her  History.  —  American  Literature  derived  from  England. —  Opinions  of  Warner 
and  Sir  James  Mackintosh  on  the  Antiquity  of  Irish  Literature  and  Laws. 

My  first  duty  is  to  acquaint  you  with  the  reasons  which  induce  me 
to  deliver  before  the  American  public  a  course  of  Lectures  on  the 
History  of  Ireland.  I  have  travelled  over  a  large  surface  of  this  great 
country  within  the  last  three  years ;  I  have  attended  many  public 
meetings  of  American  citizens,  who  assembled,  during  that  time,  to 
sympathize  with  Ireland,  in  her  struggle  for  a  nation's  rights.  I  have 
had  the  honor  and  pleasure,  at  those  meetings,  to  explain  the  true 
relations  that  existed  between  Ireland  and  England ;  and  to  explain  the 
nature  of  that  momentous  measure,  termed  "  repeal,"  which  the  Irish 
people  are  now  seeking  to  achieve. 

In  the"  course  of  these  addresses,  I  brought  before  the  attention  of 
innumerable  meetings  of  American  citizens,  views  of  Irish  history  — 
facts  important  to  her  cause,  that  all  should  know  ;  and  it  surprised 
me  not  a  little  to  find  that  much  of  what  I  stated  appeared  new  to 
the  great  public,  even  to  the  reading  and  reflecting  classes  of  this  Union. 

Meditating  on  this  deplorable  ignorance  of  Ireland's  history,  which 
I  found  very  generally  existing,  I  endeavored  to  account  for  it  to  myself. 
I  found,  in  the  public  schools  and  libraries  of  America,  the  histories 
of  Greece,  Rome,  France,  Spain,  England,  and  Scotland;  but  I 
found  no  history  of  Ireland.  The  Americans,  speaking  the  English 
language,  derive  their  literature  from  English  books ;  and  all  that  they 
have  known  of  Irish  history,  they  derived  from  the  prejudiced,  prostitute 
pens  of  British  writers. 

The  policy  of  Britain,  since  her  first  invasion  of  Ireland,  in  1169,  has 
1 


2  POLICY    OF    BRITAIN    TO    DEFAME    IRELAND. 

ever  been  to  disparage  the  fair  character  of  her  sister  isle ;  to  darken  it 
before  the  nations  of  the  earth ;  to  hold  the  country  up  to  each  new 
generation  as  disentitled  to  national  rights,  national  honor,  national  fame  ; 
to  pay  dishonest  writers  for  discrediting  its  glorious  history  of  civiliza- 
tion, independence,  and  government,  which  commenced  a  thousand 
yeafs  before  England  herself  had  emerged  from  a  stale  of  barbarism, 
or    slavish    subjection  to  pagan  Rome. 

Those  English  writers  of  Irish  history,  beginning  with  Giraldus 
Cambrensis,  who,  first  of  his  class,  commenced  to  defame  Ireland,  at 
the  instigation  of  the  British  king,  Henry  the  Second,  immediately 
after  the  invasion  of  Ireland  by  that  monarch,  have  continued  their 
calumnies,  age  after  age,  with  the  regularity  of  a  well-organized  sys- 
tem, to  the  last  living  libellers  of  the  London  press,  (the  Times  and 
the  Standard,^  who  pile  up  calumny  upon  calumny  on  dieir  victim, 
with  surprising  effrontery,  even  in  this  enlightened  age. 

These  calumnies,  uttered  with  the  same  unblushing  confidence  in  the 
past  ages  as  in  the  present,  have  always  been  quoted  by  writer  after 
writer,  on  the  English  side,  the  falsehoods  of  one  generation  serving  for 
texts  to  the  generation  succeeding.  Every  reign,  every  English  minis- 
try, has  brought  forth  its  swarm  of  revilers,  who  have  stood,  as  it  were, 
on  the  banks  of  Time,  casting  their  filth  and  their  poison  into  the  stream 
of  its  history ;  who  have  generated  in  the  minds  of  the  youth  of  their 
own  country  terrible  prejudices  against  their  Irish  brethren,  teaching  and 
training  them  to  oppress  that  inoffensive  nation  —  a  nation  that,  for 
many  ages,  had  been  their  faithful,  their  unconquerable,  their  victo- 
rious ally  against  the  overwhelming  power  of  pagan  Rome. 

In  addition  to  this  perfected  system  of  calumny,  which  seems  as  if  it 
never  were  to  end,  the  English  invaders,  in  every  age,  have  made  it 
their  special  object  to  destroy  every  valuable  record,  which  they  could 
lay  their  hands  upon,  of  Ireland's  ages  of  independence,  of  govern- 
ment, of  laws,  of  literature,  poetry,  and  music. 

I  shall  show,  as  I  proceed,  when,  and  where,  and  by  whom,  were 
those  libraries  of  Ireland's  glory  destroyed — libraries  that  took  ages  to 
accumulate,  in  which  were  carefully  registered  the  deeds  of  the  kings, 
and  princes,  and  lawgivers,  of  "  Temora  "  (Tara)  for  upwards  of  two 
THOUSAND  YEARS  ;  who,  unconquercd  by  invaders,  and  undisturbed  in 
succession,  preserved  the  national  independence  of  the  great  Irish  race 
for  a  duration  longer  than  any  nation,  ancient  or  modern,  can  boast  of. 

But  these  Vandals  from  Britain  did  not  destroy  only  the  records  of 
Irish  arts,  sciences,  fame,  and  glory,  but  destroyed,  in  the  promiscuous 


ANCIENT    DOCUMENTS. BENEDICTINE    MONKS.  6 

outrage,  innumerable  records,  and  most  valuable  historical  fragments 
(which  were  deposited,  in  the  course  of  time,  in  the  Irish  colleges) 
of  Egypt,  of  Phoenicia,  of  the  Scythians  and  Celts,  from  which  nations 
the  early  settlers  in  Ireland  were  descended. 

Many  fragments  of  Grecian  and  Roman  literature,  which  constitute 
the  code  of  classics,  were  found  amongst  the  few  volumes  of  Ireland's 
own  history,  which  the  devotees  of  knowledge  tried  to  preserve  and 
secrete  during  the  ages  of  persecution.  The  world  is  indebted  to  the 
order  of  Benedictine  monks  for  almost  ^ll  we  have  of  ancient  histoiy, 
of  Grecian  or  Roman  literature.  These  good  men  gathered,  in  every 
age,  such  fragments  of  the  world's  history  as  had  escaped  the  unlettered, 
but  conquering  hordes  of  the  north  of  Europe  —  a  race  which  looked  on 
knowledge,  and  on  letters,  as  their  greatest  enemies. 

When  all  Europe,  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  was  convulsed 
with  struggles  between  the  decaying  power  of  Rome  and  her  resisting 
vassals,  —  when  those  nations,  which  she  had  enslaved  by  her  arms, 
and  oppressed  by  her  aristocracy,  uprose  against  her  sway,  and  demol- 
ished, by  a  mighty  convulsion,' her  Western  Empire,  —  the  peaceful, 
studious,  contemplative  inquirers  after  nature's  mysteries  were  driven 
from  their  academic  abodes  in  western  Europe,  and  very  many  of 
them  fled  for  refuge  to  Ireland. 

For  this  there  existed  a  very  natural  cause.  Ireland  had  maintained 
her  independence  against  the  arms  of  Rome  during  the  whole  of  her  six 
or  seven  centuries  of  conquest.  Though  Britain,  Gaul,  Spain,  Greece, 
and  all  the  nations  of  the  East,  submitted  to  that  rule,  Ireland  alone, 
amongst  them  all,  remained  independent ;  presenting  to  the  eyes  of 
posterity  a  splendid  oasis  of  freedom  amidst  the  universal  desolation 
of  slavery.  Her  schools  and  colleges,  sustained  by  national  grants,  and 
cherished  by  national  hospitality,  offered  sanctuaries  to  the  learned  of 
Europe,  who  fled  thither  from  the  surrounding  scenes  of  tumult  and 
slaughter,  carrying  with  them  such  valuable  fragments  as  they  could, 
secure  of  the  intellectual  industry  of  previous  generations. 

The  innumerable  monasteries  which  were  instituted  in  Ireland 
soon  after  the  establishment  of  Christianity  there,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  fifth  century,  attracted  the  "  Brothers  of  St.  Benedict,"  a  society, 
the  first  of  the  kind  in  the  world,  which  originated  in  Italy,  and 
extended  'ts  branches  through  the  European  continent,  and  to  Ireland. 
These  Brothers,  I  say,  seemed  to  be  the  only  executors  of  ancient 
literature.  They  gathered  it ;  they  protected  it ;  and  little  indeed  is  the 
world  aware  of  the  obligations   it  owes  to  those   industrious  ecclesias- 


4  IRELAND    THE    CHIEF    SEAT    OF    WESTERN    LITERATURE,, 

tics,  or  to  that  nation  which  ofFereii  them  and  their  priceless  gatherings  a 
safe  and  welcome  sanctuary,  when  they  were  driven  from  every  other. 

Ireland  having  been  the  chief  seat,  in  the  west,  of  literature  and  laws, 
even  in  the  Druid  ages,  the  early  accumulations,  age  after  age,  must  have 
swelled  to  immense  dimensions,  previous  to  the  European  convulsions  in 
the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries.  But,  when  we  estimate  the  quantity  of 
books,  documents,  and  records,  which  the  literary  refugees  carried  with 
them  into  Ireland,  during  that  convulsion,  and  when  we  add  them  to 
those  already  gathered  there,  we  can  then  conceive  some  measure  of 
the  criminality  of  those  British  invaders,  one  of  whose  objects,  for 
many  centuries,  seemed  to  be  the  destruction  of  every  ivorlc  of  literature 
found  in  that  ill-fated  country. 

I  shall  show,  when  I  come  to  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth,  James  the  First, 
the  Charleses,  Cromwell,  that  cartloads  of  the  most  ancient  and  most 
valued  works  were  taken  from  the  shelves  of  the  religious  libraries, 
brought  out,  and  burned  at  the  doors  of  those  tenements  which  St. 
Patrick  and  his  successors  erected,  within  wliose  venerable  piles 
Alfred  and  his  Saxon  countrymen,  for  many  ages,  received  their 
gratuitous  education. 

But,  though  ages  of  fanatical  persecution  destroyed  much  that  we 
should  value,  yet  enough  was  saved  to  show  what  our  nation  was  in  her 
lengthened  career  of  independence.  The  literary  and  religious  refugees 
who  fled  from  British  violence,  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeentli  centuries, 
to  the  Continent,  carried  with  them  more  than  enough  of  material  to 
furnish  the  world  with  a  more  accurate  history  of  Ireland  than   any 

OTHER    NATION    CAN    BOAST    OF. 

And  what  must  gratify  you  and  me  very  much,  is  the  fact,  that, 
notwithstanding  the  corruption  and  tyranny  practised  by  each  succeeding 
British  ministry  towards  Ireland ;  notwithstanding  the  promotion  and 
rewards  which  awaited  every  lying  historian ;  notwithstanding  the 
persecution  which  every  literary  man,  who  dared  to  print  the  truth,  from 
Molyneux  to  Plowden,  experienced  at  the  hands  of  guilty  power,  —  yet 
there  have  been  found  Englishmen  and  Scotchmen,  who,  ih  the  face  of 
all,  in  the  teeth  of  national  pride  and  ministerial  power,  have  clung 
to  the  proud,  the  lasting  standard  of  eternal  truth,  have  explored  the 
streams  of  History  to  their  obscure  source,  have  traced  them  honestly 
for  three  thousand  years  of  time,  and  have  honestly  admitted  the  ancient 
power  and  glory  of  Ireland. 

How  great  must  our  gratitude  be  towards  men  so  just  and  so  fearless  ! 
Say,  how  much  of  the  crimes  of  England  towards  Ireland  is  washed 


AUTHORITIES    RELIED    ON    IN   THIS    WORK.  O 

away  by  the  virtues  of  the  few  honest  writers  on  Irish  history,  who  have, 
in  latter  times,  appeared  amongst  her  sons.  Amongst  these  I  shall 
quote  from  Betham,  Colonel  Vallancey,  Dr.  Warner,  Plowden,  Lin- 
gard,  and  Cobbett ;  and  amongst  the  writers  of  Scottish  birth,  Sir 
James  Mackintosh,  the  ornament  of  English  literature ;  and  the  Abbe 
M'Geoghegan  amongst  the  French.  Among  the  Irish  writers,  I  will 
draw  on  the  rich  stores  put  together  by  O'Conor,  O'Halloran,  O'Con- 
nell,  Keating,  Mac  Dermott,  Pepper,  Moore,  Wyse,  Barrington, 
O'Callaghan,  Battersby,  Madden,  &tc.  From  some  of  the  surviving 
patriots  of  '98  I  have  collected  unpublished  material.  From  two  of 
the  above  historians  I  present,  at  the  outset,  a  couple  of  extracts, 
merely  to  indicate  the  nature  of  the  important  history  which  I  have 
undertaken  to  develop. 

Dr.  Warner  says,  "  Will  any  critic  in  this  country  [England]  any 
longer  confidently  assert  that  the  Irish  had  not  the  use  of  letters  till 
after  the  arrival  of  St.  Patrick,  and  the  conversion  of  the  island  to 
Christianity  ?  Ought  we  Englishmen  not  rather  take  shame  to  ourselves 
that  we  have  hitherto  always  treated  that  ancient  gallant  people  with 
such  illiberal  contempt,  who  had  the  start  of  the  britons  for 

MANY    AGES,    IN    ARTS  AND   SCIENCES,    IN    LEARNING    AND    LAWS?" 

Sir  James  JVIaekintosh  says,  "  The  Chronicles  of  Ireland,  written  in 
the  Irish  language,  from  the  second  century  to  the  landing  of  Henry 
Plantagenet,  have  been  recently  pubhshed,  with  the  fullest  evidences 
of  their  genuineness  and  exactness.  The  Irish  nation,  though  they 
are  robbed  of  many  of  their  favorite  legends  by  this  authentic 
publication,  are  yet  enabled  by  it  to  boast  that  they  possess  genuine 
history  several  centuries  more  ancient  than  any  other  nation  possesses, 
in  its  present  spoken  language.  Indeed,  no  other  nation  possesses  any 
monument  of  its  literature,  which  goes  back  within  several  centuries  of 
the  beginning  of  those  Chronicles.  Some  of  Dr.  O'Conor's  hearers 
may  hesitate  to  admit  the  degree  of  culture  and  prosperity  he  claims 
for  his  country ;  but  no  one,  I  think,  can  deny,  after  perusing  his  proofs, 
that  'the   Irish   were    a  lettered    people   while    the    Saxons 

WERE    still    immersed    IN    DARKNESS    AND    IGNORANCE.'  " 

If  Ireland,  then,  be,  and  have  been,  what  these  great  men  admit, 
ought  we  not  to  feel  humbled  at  finding  her  history  so  Httle  known  ?  to 
find  her  name  not  only  blotted  from  the  political  map  of  the  world,  but 
fraudulently  excluded  from  the  commonwealth  of  the  world's  literature  ? 
And,  as  we  are  vigorously  struggling  in  the  sublime  effort  to  restore  her 
political  position  amid  the  nations,  so  ought  we  to  struggle  vigorously 


6  POLICY    OF    BRITISH    WKITERS    TOWARDS    IRELAND. 

to  reestablish  her  in  her  ancient  relations  with  the  literature  and  science 
of  enlightened  man. 

While  I  feel  strongly  that  this  ought  to  be  done,  I  also  feel  that  I 
am  incompetent  to  impart  to  the  work  I  undertake  those  features  of 
style  and  diction  which  would  increase  its  interest,  and  secure  for  the 
nation  to  which  I  belong  a  reasonable  share  of  honor.  I  feel  this 
thoroughly,  and  I  express  it  unaffectedly;  yet  I  also  mourn  the  igno- 
rance tliat  prevails  in  this  great  country,  in  relation  to  Ireland  ;  and, 
clumsy  though  my  hand  may  be,  and  untutored  my  pen  and  tongue, 
I  will  avail  myself  of  the  opportunity  and  the  means  that  even  /  possess,, 
to  place  before  the  American  public  a  general  digest  of  Ireland's  history, 
from  the  beginning  of  her  ages  of  civilization  and  government  to  the 
present  time. 


SECTION  II 


Policy  of  British  Writers.  —  Dr.  Johnson's  Letter.  —  Discovery  of  a  Key  to  the 
Egyptian  Inscriptions.  —  Rosetta  Stone.  —  The  Deluge.  —  Noah. —  Settlement  of 
Egypt  by  the  Children  of  Ham.  —  Origin  of  Writing.  —  Instinct  in  Insects  and 
Quadrupeds.  — Symbolic  Writing.  — Irish  Language  constructed  on  the  Sounds  of 
Nature.  —  Ancient  Egyptian  Government.  —  Egyptian  Priesthood.  —  The  Pharaohs- 
or  Kings  of  Egypt.  —  Pyramids.—  Brick-making.  —  Mummies.  —  Manufactures  of 
Egypt.  —  Its  Architecture.  —  Metre.  —  Calendar.  —  Art  and  Science.  —  Libraries. 
—  Histories.  —  Fathers  of  History. 

The  majority  of  British  writers  have  left  no  effort  untried  to  discredit 
the  early  history  of  Ireland.  The  laborious  records  of  the  ancient  Irish 
historians  they  have  treated  as  bardic  rhapsodies,  because  their  authors 
claimed  for  their  country  a  high  degree  of  perfection  in  government, 
arts,  literature,  manufactures,  music,  civilization,  and  social  refinement. 

When  the  knowledge  of  any  art,  or  law,  which  moderns  value,  was 
attributed  to  ancient  Ireland,  the  British  calumniators  seized  on  the 
proposition,  and  held  it  up  to  derision,  as  an  absurdity.  "  Observe,'^ 
they  would  say,  "  the  Irish  claim  the  merit  of  knowing  the  principles 
of  masonry  and  building  three  thousand  yeai^s  ago;  of  working  in 
metals,  of  manufacturing  textile  fabrics,  of  understanding  mathematics 
and  astronomy,  —  though  we  know  those  various  branches  of  human 
knowledge  were  the  inventions  of  modern  ages."  Arguments  of  this 
kind  take  well  with  admirers  exclusively  of  modern  art  and  civilization ; 


DR.  JOHNSON  S  LETTERS  ON  IRELAND.  7 

for  self-love  is  gratified,  and  self-importance  swelled  by  their  admission. 
Those  who  would  disturb  theories  so  fashionable,  have  rather  an  uphill 
work  to  perform. 

The  celebrated  Dr.  Johnson,  the  great  standard  authority  on  the 
English  language,  deplored,  frequently,  the  little  that  was  known  of 
ancient  Ireland  by  his  countrymen.  Some  of  his  letters,  of  dates  1755, 
1777,  to  Dr.  O'Conor,  of  Bealenagar,  the  Irish  historian,  have  been 
recently  published  by  Sir  William  Betham,  Ulster  king  at  arms  in 
Ireland,  in  his  very  able  work  on  the  ancient  Celtae,  &;c.,  now  before 
ine.     The  following  extracts  from  one  of  those  letters  is  seasonable :  — 

"  What  the  Irish  language  is  in  itself,  and  to  what  language  it  has 
affinity,  are  very  interesting  questions,  which  every  man  wishes  to  see 
resolved,  that  has  any  philological  or  historical  curiosity.  Dr.  Le- 
land  begins  his  History  too  late.  [Leland,  who  was  a  renegade 
Irishman  of  that  age,  commenced  his  History  of  Ireland  from  the 
beginning  of  her  connection  with  Britain.]  The  ages  which  deserve  an 
exact  inquiry  are  those — for  such  there  ivere  —  when  Ireland  was 

THE    SCHOOL    OF  THE  WEST,  THE    QUIET    HABITATION    OF  SANCTITY  AND 

LITERATURE.  If  you  could  givc  a  history,  though  imperfect,  of  the 
Irish  nation  from  its  conversion  to  Christianity  to  the  invasion  from 
England,  you  would  amplify  knowledge  with  new  views  and  new 
objects.  Set  about  it,  therefore,  if  you  can.  Do  what  you  can  easily 
do  without  anxious  exactness.  Lay  the  foundation,  and  leave  the 
superstructure  to  posterity. 

"  I  am,  sir,  your  humble  servant, 

"  Samuel  Johnson. 

^'May  19,  1777." 

Considerations  such  as  these,  so  eloquently  expressed  by  the  great 
Dr.  Johnson,  ought  to  induce  us  to  look  into  the  ancient  history  of  a 
race  which  was,  for  many  ages,  the  "  teachers  of  the  west,"  and  should 
excuse  me  for  carrying  you  back  to  ages  of  the  world  far  more  remote 
than  the  arrival  of  the  Phoenicio-Milesian  settlers  in  Ireland,  to  the 
times,  indeed,  of  Moses,  of  Abraham,  and  of  Noah,  for  the  purpose 
of  proving  the  reality  of  that  remote  civilization,  which  Ireland  inherited 
from  a  long  line  of  illustrious  ancestors,  whose  Irish  descendants,  in 
every  age,  passionately  cultivated  the  literature  bequeathed  to  them. 

The  recent  discoveries  made  in  the  hieroglyphic  systems  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians,  and  in  the  tombs  of  ancient  Etruria,  place  within  our  reach 
iihat  knowledge  of  the  primeval  ages  which  was  denied  to  the  Greeks 


8  DISCOVEEY   OF    A    KEY   TO   THE    EGYPTIAN    INSCRIPTIONS. 

and  Romans  ;  viz.,  a  knowledge  of  ancient  Egypt,  Phoenicia,  Etruria, 
&c. ;  of  the  invention  and  advancement  of  art  amongst  those  singu- 
larly great  nations.  In  the  days  of  Herodotus,  Josephus,  Pliny,  and 
other  fathers  of  history,  who  wrote  about  two  thousand  years  ago, 
Egypt  had,  even  then,  been  almost  forgotten,  and  would  have  been 
completely  so,  had  it  not  been  for  her  everlasting  monuments  of  art. 
All  the  decipherers  of  the  symbolic  memorials  had  long,  long  been 
gathered  to  the  catacombs  of  the  embalmed  dead,  and  httle  remained 
to  attest  their  former  grandeur  and  power,  but  their  wonderful  pyramids, 
and  their  mysterious  inscriptions,  which  no  living  man,  for  many  ages, 
could  decipher. 

To  ancient  Greece  and  Rome,  Egypt  and  Phoenicia  were  lands  to 
be  plundered,  not  exalted ;  lands  whose  wisdom  and  glory  dimmed 
their  own  ;  lands  to  be  forgotten,  not  recorded.  Both  those  nations, 
in  turn,  plundered  Egypt,  Phoenicia,  and  Etruria.  Both  possessed 
themselves  of  their  arts,  sciences,  laws,  and  religious  mysteries,  and 
boldly  assumed  them  as  their  own.  What  England  was,  and  is,  to 
Ireland,  Greece  and  Rome  were  to  Egypt  and  Phcenicia  —  plunderers 
of  their  territory  and  science,  and  libellers  of  their  name. 

But  Providence  brought  to  light  the  means  of  opening  the  sealed 
tablets  of  the  Egyptians  and  the  entombed  treasures  of  the  Phoenicians. 
We  shall  first  dwell  on  ancient  Egypt. 

In  the  year  '1191,  some  engineers  of  the  French  army  vv^ere  exca- 
vating, for  the  foundations  of  a  fort,  near  the  ancient  Egyptian  city 
of  Rosetta,  in  the  district  known  as  the  Delta,  through  which  the  Nile 
discharges  its  waters  into  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  At  several  feet 
below  the  surface,  they  discovered,  in  the  sandy  earth,  an  oblong  slab 
of  black  basalt  stone,  about  three  feet  by  two  and  a  half,  which  was 
covered  with  writing  and  symbolic  characters.  When  the  French 
were  captured  by  the  British  at  Alexandria,  this  stone  was  given 
up  to  their  commander^  carried  to  London,  and  there  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  antiquaries  of  the  world.  It  was  found  to  consist  of  a 
triplicate  memorial  of  the  coronation  and  proclamation  of  an  Egyp- 
tian king  or  Pharaoh,  who  flourished  one  hundred  and  ninety-six 
years  before  the  Christian  era. 

The  first  record  of  the  event  is  in  hieroglyphics  or  symbols,  used 
in  the  mysterious  system  of  the  Egyptian  priesthood ;  the  second 
memorial  is  in  the  Demotic,  or  Encorial,  which  was  the  language  of 
the  common  people  of  Egypt ;  and  the  third  memorial  is  in  the  Greek 
language.     The  latter  purports  to  be  a  translation  of  the  two  preceding 


THE    DELUGE. NOAH. 


memonals,  proving,  for  the  first  time,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  men,  that 
the  symbolic  characters  found  on  the  old  monuments  of  Egypt  are,  in 
fact,  written  records.  Great  exertions  were  made  by  the  learned  of 
Europe  to  find  a  key  to  decipher  these  interesting  symbols,  which  had 
remained  sealed  history  to  the  most  learned  of  mankind  for  better  than 
two  thousand  years. 

At  length  the  task  was  accomplished  by  the  learned  French  antiquary, 
M.  CliampolUon  le  Jeune,  who,  in  conjunction  with  Dr.  Young  and 
some  other  learned  and  scitsntific  inquirers,  hit  upon  a  complete  key 
for  deciphering  the  monumental  records  of  ancient  Egypt ;  the  conse- 
quence of  which  has  been,  that  a  series  of  reports  have  been  read 
before  the  French  Institute,  and  published  to  the  world,  with  diagrams, 
explanations,  maps,  and  illustrative  drawings,  which  present  to  the  eye 
of  the  scholar  a  new  and  magnificent  historical  superstructure.  Proud 
may  the  Irishman  feel  at  this  singular  result,  for  it  confirms  the  truthful 
historians  of  his  own  country,  who  lived  and  recorded  her  glorious 
attributes  two  thousand  years  ago.  From  some  of  the  voluminous 
publications  on  ancient  Egypt,  recently  made  by  the  learned,  I  have 
condensed  into  a  brief  narrative  the  progress  of  civilization,  as  conducted 
by  two  of  the  chief  communities  of  ancient  times,  who  flourished  for 
unnumbered  centuries  after  the  deluge. 

The  original  traditions  of  every  nation  acknowledge  and  attest  that 
the  world  was  destroyed  by  a  deluge  ;  one  family,  only,  consisting  of 
eight  persons,  having  been  preserved.  The  time  when  this  event 
happened  is  variously  dated  by  the  traditions  and  histories  of  the 
numerous  primary  tribes  into  which  mankind  was  divided  long 
subsequent  to  that  event.  The  na7ne  of  the  head  of  the  favored  family, 
thus  preserved  from  all  creation,  is  difi^erently  pronounced  by  the 
descendants  of  these  primary  nations.  The  Hebrew  chronicles  and 
the  Christian  pronounce  it  Noah. 

Noah  remained  on  the  earth,  after  the  deluge,  three  hundred  and 
fifty  years.  He  was  lord  of  the  whole  earth.  His  three  sons,  Shem, 
Ham,  and  Japheth,  had  bestowed  on  them,  by  their  father,  the  most 
fertile  regions  of  the  east.  Ham,  and  his  son,  Mizraim,  with  their 
families,  proceeded  from  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  in  Asia,  to  the 
valley  of  the  Nile,  during  the  lifetime  of  Noah.  That  region  was 
bestowed  on  them  by  the  patriarch,  as  their  inheritance.  Egypt  was 
called  by  the  Egyptians  Khem,  or  Kah,  the  "  Land  of  Ham."  Such 
is   the    translation  of  symbols  on  the  old  monuments. 

Shem  and  Ham,  two  of  the  sons  of  Noah,  were  twins.     "Shem" 
2 


10     EGYPT  SETTLED  BY  THE  CHILDREN  OF  HAM. ORIGIN  OF  WRITING. 

means  "  fair  twin  ; "  "  Ham  "  means  "  swarthy  twin."  Though  the 
term  Ham  means  swarthy,  in  no  ancient  language  does  it  mean  blacJc. 
In  Ps.  xxviii.  51,  Egypt  is  designated  the  "  tabernacle  of  Ham."" 

Canaan  was  the  person  cursed  by  Noah;  he  was  the  fouith  son  of 
Ham ;  he  was  a  white  man,  yet  his  posterity  did  not  become  black : 
they  are  a  white  race.  The  offspring  of  the  fair  twin  "  Shem  "  were 
Israelites.  They  were  called  "  shems,"  or  "  strangers/'  in  Egypt. 
Mizraim,  the  son  of  Ham,  was  a  Caucasian,  in  physical  conformation  ; 
that  is,  well  proportioned  in  the  make  of  the  head,  with  sharp  features. 
The  Caucasian  race,  by  their  physical  and  mental  superiority,  extended, 
in  after  ages,  their  dominion  over  the  surrounding  nations.  The  records 
of  the  contemporary  nations,  which  grew  up  from  Noah's  family,  have 
nearly  all  perished.  Little  is  certainly  known  of  the  ancient  history  of 
the  Hindoos,  Chinese,  Assyrians,  Persians,  &;c.  he. 

Egypt  stands,  like  her  enduring  pyramids,  almost  the  sole  standard 
for  the  history  of  man,  from  the  destruction  of  the  earth  by  the  deluge 
to  the  present  time.  Amongst  the  first  settlements  on  the  banks  of  the 
River  Nile,  we  recognize  Thebes  as  the  earliest  gathering  of  people 
which  comes  up  to  our  idea  of  a  city.  Thebes  was  the  first  city  built 
by  Mizraim  and  his  successors.  It  was,  no  doubt,  like  all  other  cities 
in  their  commencement,  a  mere  village.  It  was  built  on  the  banks  of  the 
Nile,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  from  its 
discharging  mouths  into  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  The  city  of  Thebes 
was  for  many  ages  considered,  by  all  the  tribes  and  nations  surrounding, 
the  centre  of  knowledge,  religious  mysteries,  arts,  science,  and  celestial 
light.  The  Sanconiathon,  the  great  Phoenician  book,  kept  in  Tyre, 
as  well  as  other  ancient  works,  Hebrew  and  Phoenician,  record  that  the 
use  of  letters  was  either  invented  or  restored  by  a  descendant  of  Miz- 
raim, named  Thaat,  or  Thoth.  By  others  this  individual  (Thoili)  is 
considered  to  be  Phceneas,  or  one  skilled  in  the  science  o(  sounds.  Mr. 
Gliddon,  the  eminent  Egyptian  hierologist,  thinks  that  writing,  either  by 
symbols  or  letters,  was  known  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  before  the 
flood.  There  is  no  good  reason  to  doubt  the  proposition.  When  we 
know  that  animals  and  insects,  of  all  sorts,  are  secretly  directed  in  their 
operations,  by  the  unseen  hand  of  the  Creator,  by  tliat  law  which  we 
term  intuition,  or  instinct,  to  perform  for  themselves  those  acts  of 
provision  and  protection  which  surprise  us ;  when  we  observe  the 
precise  and  correct  geometrical  skill  displayed  by  the  spider,  who 
weaves  his  nets,  to  catch  his  food,  with  much  more  exactitude  than  the 
most  expert  and  instructed  fisherman  or  net  manufacturer ;   when  we 


INSTINCT    IN    INSECTS    AND    QUADRUPEDS,    StC.  11 

Study  the  labors  of  the  bee,  the  wisdom,  forethought,  and  science,  dis- 
played by  that  wonderful  creation  of  God,  —  how  humbled  do  we  rise 
from  the  contemplation  !  Whether  we  remark  on  the  wisdom  which, 
in  the  summer,  provides  food  for  winter ;  the  forethought  to  erect  a 
suitable  habitation  to  protect  itself  and  young  against  cold  ;  the  math- 
ematical science  evidenced  in  the  erection  of  those  habitations  and 
storehouses ;  the  conservative  sense  displayed  in  the  erection  of 
guards,  to  keep  pillaging  insects  from  entering  their  front  apertures,  or 
outer  doors,  —  we  feel  that  the  magnificent  social  economy,  practised 
by  this  insect,  cannot  be  dictated  by  self-will,  self-culture,  or  instruction 
derived  from  any  quarter. 

In  the  construction  of  the  honey-comb,  one  of  the  highest  principles 
of  mathematics  is  strictly  observed.  The  principle  is  called  maxima 
and  minima.  This  problem  had  long  been  unsettled  by  the  most 
learned  mathematicians.  The  celebrated  M'Claurin,  a  disciple  of  New- 
ton, by  a  fluxionary  calculation,  at  length  solved  the  problem,  and 
determined  the  proportions  of  a  certain  angle  ;  and  he  found,  by  the  most 
exact  measurement  the  subject  could  admit  of,  that  it  is  the  very  angle 
in  which  the  three  planes  in  the  bottom  of  the  cell  of  a  honey-comb  do 
actually  meet.  To  call  this  extraordinary  knowla^ge  by  the  name  of 
intuition,  or  instinct,  as  we  generally  do,  fails  to  convey  the  true 
definition.  We  should  call  it  divine  teaching.  When,  therefore, 
the  inferior  portion  of  animated  nature  evidences  the  eternal  presence 
of  a  divine  Creator,  and  a  divine  Teacher,  is  it  to  be  maintained  for  a 
moment,  that  man,  the  chief  work  of  his  hand,  should  be  denied  those 
advantages  conferred  on  insects  and  quadrupeds?  That  man  was 
blessed  at  different  periods,  before  and  since  the  deluge,  with  divine 
revelations  for  his  guidance  in  this  world,  is  attested  by  Scripture. 

Returning,  however,  to  the  early  science  manifested  by  the  ancients, 
we  find  the  art  of  indicating  ideas  by  man  to  man,  through  signs  and 
symbols,  was  very  early  known  to  the  Egyptians.  The  first  mode 
established  was  pictorial  marks.  The  figure  of  a  man  expressed  an 
idea.  The  varied  positions,  attitudes,  and  postures,  of  the  man  repre- 
sented variations  of  the  idea,  or  separate  ideas.  Parts  of  the  human 
body  also  denoted  thoughts  and  ideas ;  and  so  of  figures  of  quadrupeds, 
fishes,  birds,  trees,  mountains,  Stc.  The  creations  of  nature  were  thus 
used  by  the  early  scribes  and  linguists,  as  the  medium  of  indicating  their 
thoughts 

The  writers  of  this  symbolic  character  began  at  the  top  of  a  page  or  a 
monument,  and  carried  the  subject  downwards.     Square  obelisks  of  hewn 


12  SYMBOLIC    WRITING. 

Stone,  of  about  seventy  to  ninety  feet  high,  were  "erected  by  the  early 
kings  of  Egypt  in  front  of  their  pyramids,  on  which,  beginning  at  the  top, 
were  recorded,  in  symbol,  the  events  of  their  reigns.  Then  there  were 
different  sets  of  natural  objects,  which  were  used  at  discretion,  to 
represent  the  same  set  of  ideas. 

When  the  ideas  to  be  entableted  were  of  a  sublime,  celestial,  noble, 
chivalrous,  heroic  character,  the  most  noble  animals  and  the  grandest 
objects  of  creation  were  used  in  the  symbolic  alphabet.  When  they 
were  of  an  opposite  character,  —  when  scorn,  contempt,  or  hatred,  were 
to  be  imbodied,  —  the  meanest,  most  loathsome  reptiles  were  figured. 
The  Egyptian  scribes  were  expert  at  this  kind  of  writing,  and  are  said 
to  have  been  able  to  indite  as  quickly  as  a  man  could  speak. 

In  the  progress  of  the  art,  for  greater  expedition,  parts  only  of  the 
human  body,  and  parts  of  other  animals,  birds,  trees,  fishes,  &ic.,  were 
used,  the  suppressed  portion  being  understood;  and  thus  an  alphabet 
of  curves,  angles,  and  lines,  came  into  use,  perfectly  well  understood  by 
the  people  of  those  primeval  ages. 

Different  branches  of  the  human  family  used  different  marks  to  make 
up  their  alphabet ;  and  hence  that  variation  which  we  see  in  the  writing 
of  the  several  natlon|  of  the  earth.  Symbolic  writing,  after  being  used 
for  two  thousand  five  hundred  years,  ceased  generally  in  Egypt  about 
three  hundred  years  before  Christ. 

In  the  same  way  was  language,  or  the  sounds  of  the  human  voice, 
used  to  express  human  thoughts  or  ideas.  The  voices  of  animals  and 
birds,  as  well  as  men,  were,  by  the  ancients,  called  into  requisition  to 
form  a  dialect.  The  higher  we  mount  up  to  the  source  of  language, 
the  more  imitative  of  nature  shall  we  find  the  expression  of  ideas. 
Thus,  in  Egypt,  says  Gliddon, 

The  name  of  an  Ass       was   Yd,  from  his  bray ; 

".       "       "    "    Lion        "     Mooee,  from  his  roar ; 

"       "       "     "    Cow        "     Khc,  from  her  loiv ; 

"       "      '•    "    Frog       "      Croor,  from  his  croak; 

"       "      "    "    Cat         "      Chdoo,  from  her  mew; 

"       "       "  ,  "    Pig         "     Rurr,  from  his  grunt ; 

"  "  «  "  Serpent  "  Hoff,  from  its  hiss. 
There  are  very  many  other  words  traced  to  the  cries  and  chiruping 
of  birds ;  but  there  is  enough  in  the  above  example  to  explain  the 
simple  roots  of  language.  The  Irish  language,  of  which  I  shall  have 
much  more  to  say  hereafter,  was  constructed  upon  the  same  principles, 
in  very  remote  ages,  by  a  branch  of  the  Egyptian  family  called  Phce- 


EGYPTIAN    WORSHIP.  IS 

7iictans,  for  which  reason,  it  is  the  most  expressive  of  any  known 
language.  No  language  can  so  powerfully  express  the  varied  sensations 
of  adoration,  joy,  grief,  love,  anger,  merriment,  scorn,  contempt,  as  the 
Irish.     But  to  return. 

The  form  of  government  first  instituted  by  the  Egyptians  was  a 
hierarchy,  or  government  of  the  sacred  priesthood.  A  religious  pon- 
tificate was  established  at  Thebes.  The  system  of  discipline  established 
among  them  was  complex  and  matured.  Its  leading  characteristics 
were  political  forethought,  intellectual  discrimination,  equity,  and  moral- 
ity. It  extended  the  dominion  of  Egypt  over  the  nations  that  surround- 
ed it.  In  process  of  time  the  civil  power  of  the  Egyptian  priesthood 
was  struck  down  by  the  usurping  arm  of  a  military  chieftain,  and  then 
commenced  the  reign  of  the  kings,  or  "  Pharaohs." 

But  the  moral  power  of  the  priesthood  over  the  mind  remained  and 
endured,  owing  to  its  intrinsic  utility  to  the  happiness  of  man,  for  three 
thousand  years  ;  and  yielded  only  at  last  to  the  superiority  and  divine 
strength  of  the  Christian  system.  What  the  form  of  that  religion  was, 
which  thus  held  sway  for  so  long  a  period,  it  is  not  my  province  to 
describe.  Its  general  principles,  however,  may  be  glanced  at.  They 
were,  a  belief  in  a  divine  Author,  or  Origin  ;  the  sun  being  the  visible 
manifestation  of  that  Supreme  E^eing,  which  they  worshipped  by 
offerings  of  sacrifice :  they  believed  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul ;  in  a 
future  state ;  in  judgment,  rewards,  and  punishments ;  in  a  general 
resurrection  ;  and  also,  that  the  soul,  on  the  death  of  the  body,  passed 
immediately  into  some  other  animal,  —  bird,  fish,  or  insect,  —  according, 
to  the  "judgment"  of  Isis  and  Osiris,  (male  and  female  deities,)  in 
which  it  existed  for  a  certain  period,  passing  from  stage  to  stage,  to 
either  final  bliss  or  final  suffering,  or  extinction. 

A  system  of  celestial  adoration  and  belief,  which  enabled  an  enduring 
hierarchy  to  hold  subordinate,  for  three  thousand  years,  the  wild  passions 
of  a  warlike  and  powerful  people,  such  as  the  Egyptians  once  were, 
and  which  continued  its  sway,  after  their  fall,  in  spite  of  foreign  inva- 
sions, and  even  ages  of  slavish  submission  to  the  conqueror,  cannot  be 
viewed  by  the  most  Christian  man  with  any  other  feelings  than  those 
of  wonder  and  respect.  When  we  know  the  powerful  hold  it  had  on 
the  mind  of  the  Eastern  nations,  we  are  not  surprised  at  the  zeal  dis- 
played by  the  early  Christians  in  obliterating  the  literature  in  which  its 
mysteries  were  so  thoroughly  interwoven.  The  same  zeal  was  dis- 
played by  St.  Patrick  in  Ireland,  who,  with,  his  own  hands,  burnt 
several  hundred  volumes  of  Druid  literature,  consisting  principally  of 


14  EGYPTIAN    PRIESTHOOD    AND    THE    PHARAOHS. 

poetry,  which  was  so  fascinating  in  its  conception  and  measure,  yet  so 
impregnated  with  Druid  rites  and  doctrines,  that  the  apostle  deemed  its 
existence  dangerous  to  the  Christian  doctrine  he  had  just  promulgated. 

The  first  mlers  of  Egypt  were  the  priests.  They  united  in  their 
persons  sacred  and  temporal  authority.  This  form  of  government  is 
called  a  theocracy.  The  ministers  of  religion  were  also  ministers  of 
science  and  knowledge,  uniting  in  their  persons  two  of  the  most  influ- 
ential missions  with  which  man  can  be  invested  —  the  worship  of  the 
Deity  and  the  cultivation  of  the  human  intellect. 

This  theocracy  was  necessarily  despotic ;  and,  in  the  progress  of  the 
nation,  a  military  power  was  created  to  support  the  government. 

Society  was  then  divided  into  three  classes  —  the  priests,  the  military, 
and  ^^Q  people.  A  rivalry  soon  sprang  up  between  the  first  two.  The 
physical  power  being  in  the  hands  of  the  military,  a  military  chieftain  — 
a  soldier  of  fortune  —  seized  the  sceptre  of  dominion,  established  a  royal 
government,  and  made  the  throne  hereditary  in  his  line  of  descendants, 
through  a  long  future. 

This  first  Pharaoh  (a  term  which  meant  Icing)  is  known  as  Menes. 
He  began  his  reign  as  king  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt  about  two 
thousand  five  hundred  years  before  Christ.  That  the  Egyptians,  under 
their  Pharaohs,  became  a  mighty  nation,  and  held  that  position  for 
unnumberedages.  is  well  attested.  Egypt  held  subject  to  her  sway,  at 
one  period,  Palestine,  Syria,  Arabia,  Assyria,  Mesopotamia,  Asia  Minor, 
Libya,  Barbary,  and  other  remote  nations,  in  tribute  or  in  bondage. 
From  the  Old  Testament,  or  from  profane  history,  we  could  derive  only 
a  limited  or  partial  view  of  the  true  greatness  of  the  Pharaohs;  and  the 
present  race  of  Egyptians  are  themselves  totally  ignorant  of  events  to 
them  so  momentous. 

"But  when,"  says  Gliddon,  "we  are  enabled,  through  the  discov- 
eries of  hieroglyphical  science,  to  read,  translate,  and  understand  the 
legends  still  sculptured  on  Egypt's  vast  monuments,  and  decipher  the 
written  pages  of  her  crumbling  papyri,  we  are  enabled  to  bring  forward 
her  history  a  speaking  witness  of  her  glory." 

The  first  objects  in  Egyptian  prowess  which  attract  the  attention  of 
the  reflective,  are  those  stupendous  monuments  of  human  labor  and 
skill,  the  pyramids.  Properly  have  they  been  described  "one  of  the 
wonders  of  the  world."  They  are  strewed  along  the  banks  of  tlie  Nile, 
from  Memphis  back  to  the  junction  of  the  white  and  blue  forks  of  that 
great  river,  at  Meroe,  covering  a  line  of  fifteen  hundred  miles.  They 
are  so  numerous,  that  if  placed,  as  lighthouses,  ten  miles  apart,  they 


PYRAMIDS. 


15 


would  be  sufficient  to  surround  the  whole  coast  of  North  and  South 
America,  and  still  leave  a  heavy  balance.  And  yet  each  of  these 
monuments  seems,  to  our  eyes  and  senses,  as  if  it  were  the  work  of  an 
entire  nation  for  many  years. 

And,  more  singular  still,  the  stones  used  in  their  erection  were  all 
taken  from  one  quarry, — in  the  mountains  known  as  the  "Libyan  chain," 
—  carried  in  boats  against  the  current  of  the  river,  in  some  instances 
seven  or  eight  hundred,  or  a  thousand  miles ;  squared,  cut,  chiseled, 
and  then  raised  to  altitudes,  varying  with  the  size  of  the  erection,  from 
ninety  to  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  Calculations  have  been  made, 
by  the  learned,  as  to  the  number  of  tons'  weight  of  stone  which  were 
used  in  the  erection  of  those  extraordinary  piles. 

One  of  the  largest,  at  Memphis,  a  very  ancient  city  of  Egypt,  is  thus 
measured :  Height,  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet ;  square  feet  at  the  base, 
seven  hundred  and  forty-six  feet ;  cubic  feet  of  masonry,  thirty-two 
millions  and  twenty-eight  thousand  feet ;  tons'  weight  of  stone,  six  mil- 
lions eight  hundred  and  forty-eight  thousand,  of  good  limestone,  cut  into 
blocks  varying  from  two  to  five  feet  square ;  and  the  pile  covered  thir- 
teen acres  of  surface.  The  pyramids  which  stand  along  the  valley  of 
the  Nile  are  of  various  sizes.  The  total  number  (including  those  in 
Ethiopia,  a  remote  region  of  Upper  Egypt)  has  never  yet  been  accu- 
rately given.  About  one  hundred  and  eighty  have  been  numbered ; 
many  have  been  measured.  Some  are  built  entirely  of  stone ;  and  so 
accurate  and  so  exact  have  been  these  ancient  people  in  their  great 
works,  that  the  names  of  their  kings,  and  the  dates  of  their  erection, 
have  been  chiseled  into  the  stones,  in  the  symbolic  character  of  the 
time.  And  further;  duplicate  marks  have  been  cut  into  the  quarry 
bed  from  whence  the  stones  were  excavated. 

Some  of  the  largest  pyramids  were  built  of  sun-burnt  brick,  made  of 
the  alluvial  mud  washed  down  in  the  waters  of  the  Nile,  in  a  journey 
of  four  thousand  miles  from  the  interior  of  Southern  Africa.  (The 
source  of  this  river  no  white  man,  save  Bruce,  has  ever  yet  explored.) 

Brick-making,  in  ancient  Egypt,  was  a  business  which  employed 
great  numbers  of  the  people.  The  artificial  soil,  deposited  annually  over 
the  Egyptian  valley  by  the  periodical  overflowing  and  subsiding  of  that 
singular  river,  the  Nile,  has  ever  enabled  the  people  to  raise  abundance 
of  grain  without  much  labor.  And  the  kings  and  priests,  observing  the 
danger  of  permitting  the  people  to  simmer  in  idleness,  employed  them 
in  making  bricks,  quarrying  stone,  and  erecting  those  huge,  everlasting 
monuments  of  their  existence,  which  still    remain,  and   probably  will 


16  BRICK-MAKING    IN   EGYPT.  —  MUMMIES. 

during  the  full  period  assigned  to  the  earth  itself.  Each  of  those  pyra- 
mids was  erected  to  receive  the  remains  of  a  king  and  his  family,  and 
perpetuate  his  name  to  future  generations.  Within  each  there  is  found 
a  chamber,  or  chambers,  for  the  dead. 

The  sun-burnt  brick,  made  from  the  alluvial  deposit  of  the  Nile, 
seems  to  be  of  eternal  endurance.  Some  of  the  pyramids  are  built 
altogether  of  that  material,  bound  by  a  cement  mortar,  the  component 
parts  of  which  are  now  unknown.  It  was  the  custom  of  each  Pharaoh 
to  commence  his  pyramid  at  the  commencement  of  his  reign,  marking 
the  brick,  while  in  process  of  manufacture,  or  the  stone,  with  his  name 
and  degree,  and  to  continue  to  heap  layer  upon  layer,  according  to  true 
mathematical  principles,  until  a  square  pyramid  arose  before  his  own 
eyes,  which  was  to  perpetuate  his  name  and  deeds  to  posterity.  The 
great  object  of  the  Pharaohs  appears  to  have  been  to  excel  each  other 
in  the  size  of  their  pyramids.  Hence  the  labor  not  only  of  their  own 
people,  but  of  all  the  nations  they  conquered,  was  called  in  to  aid  in 
the  erection  of  those  stupendous  works. 

As  mausoleums  of  the  dead,  these  pyramids  present  other  features 
calculated  to  awaken  our  wonder.  The  process  of  embalming,  and  the 
materials  used  in  the  process,  have  long  since  become  a  mystery  to  the 
most  scientific  of  modern  men.  Since  the  French  possessed  themselves 
of  Egypt,  about  forty-five  years  ago,  and  forced  open  the  ancient  shrines 
to  the  inquiring  eyes  of  science,  thousands  of  embalmed  bodies  have 
been  brought  to  Europe,  which  had  been  preserved,  —  flesh,  bones, 
and  muscles,—  by  the  process  of  embalming,  for  full  four  thousand  years. 
And  the  travellers  of  the  present  day  assure  us  there  are  yet  millions 
of  these  preserved  bodies  within  the  pyramids  and  mausoleums  of 
Egypt. 

Mr.  Gliddon  exhibited  a  set  of  earthen  jars,  four  in  number,  as  speci- 
mens of  those  found  in  sets  nearly  alongside  every  embalmed  body. 
These  jars  contained  the  heart,  liver,  and  intestines,  of  the  deceased, 
which  were  drawn  out  preparatory  to  the  body  being  embalmed :  a 
composition  of  pitch,  lime,  and  some  other  ingredients,  was  then  intro- 
duced into  the  disemboweled  body.  It  was  next  swathed  in  pitched 
linen  or  cotton  cloth,  from  the  head  down  around  the  feet,  in  intermina- 
ble folds.  Between  each  layer  there  was  introduced  a  hot  liquid,  of  a 
pitchy  compound,  which  completely  bound  together  the  outside  coatings, 
and  rendered  the  body  within  impervious  to  air  or  moisture.  This  art  is 
now  totally  unknown. 

But  what  surprises  us  still  more,  is  the  degree  of  refinement  and 


SHROUDINGS. MANUFACTURES    OF    EGYPT.  17 

3xcellence  which  their  woven  textile  fabrics,  whether  of  linen  or  cotton, 
found  around  those  venerable  mummies,  plainly  indicate. 

The  microscope  has  been  applied  to  the  material  of  those  shroudings, 
to  ascertain  whether  the  thread  was  spun  from  cotton  or  from  flax ;  but 
the  most  accurate  and  scientific  observers  could  not  decide,  some 
alleging  them  to  be  from  a  cotton,  oihers  from  a  flaxen  fibre.  That 
the  art  of  spinning  and  weaving,  in  its  advanced  stage,  was  well  known 
to  those  ancients,  is  proved,  by  their  exhumed  shroudings,  beyond  all 
doubt  or  dispute. 

Within  the  pyramidal  chambers,  castings  of  the  dead,  in  clay,  have 
been  found,  which  display  a  high  degree  of  advancement  in  that  art. 
There  have  also  been  found  images  of  the  dead,  sculptured  in  stone, 
laid  by  the  side  of  the  deceased.  Millions  of  little  glass  images  of  their 
deities  Isis  and  Osiris  are  found  within  every  mausoleum  ;  some  of 
which  were  colored  in  the  manufacture,  and  all  of  which  evince  the 
existence  of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  glass-making,  a  thousand  years' be- 
fore the  period  hitherto  set  down  by  the  learned,  as  the  era  of  the  dis- 
covery of  that  art.  The  earthen  jars  found,  in  great  quantities,  amongst 
the  embalmed  dead,  prove  their  knowledge  of  pottery.  Specimens  of  the 
glass  and  earthen  ware,  manufactured  by  the  Egyptians  four  thousand 
years  ago,  have  been  exhibited  in  Europe  and  America ;  and  they 
equal  any  thing  of  the  same  kind  manufactured  in  the  present  time. 
Indeed,  the  glass  specimens  surpass  the  product  of  the  present  day.  for 
they  were  beautifully  colored  during  the  process  of  manufacture — a 
degree  of  refinement  to  which  moderns  cannot  aspire.  The  knowledge 
displayed  by  these  remote  people,  in  every  branch  of  science,  is  truly 
surprising.  They  were  the  inventors  of  the  arch,  in  architecture,  in  all 
its  variety,  a  thousand  years,  at  least,  before  either  Greece  or  Rome  had 
a  social  existence.  The'' Gothic'' arch  is  found  in  Egyptian  monuments 
which  date  before  the  time  of  Abraham.  The  pointed  arch  and  the 
circular  arcli  —  the  latter  used  in  watercourses  —  are  inventions  of  the 
Egyptian  age,  or  probably  of  ages  anterior  to  the  flood. 

The  Egyptians  quarried  and  hewed  the  hardest  granite  blocks,  some 
of  which  were  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  length, 
ten  feet  in  width,  and  eight  feet  in  depth.  These  were  conveyed  from 
the  Libyan  quarry,  hundreds  of  miles,  and  raised  several  hundred  feet, 
to  their  appointed  places  in  their  everlasting  piles. 

The  "  Doric  column,"  the  father  of  the  order  of  pillars,  erroneously 
attributed  to  the  Greeks,  is  simply  an  Egyptian  pillar,  shaped  from  the 
solid  block :  it  Is  fluted,  in  concave  hollows,  from  the  top  to  the  bottom ; 
3 


18  ARCHITECTURE. METRE. 

the  top  is  surmounted  by  a  simple  circular  capital ;  the  base  rests  on  a 
low,  square  pedestal.  Several  of  these  ancient  columns  are  still  to  be 
seen  among  the  ruins  of  Egypt,  which  were  erected  many  ages  previous 
to  the  existence  of  Athens  or  Rome. 

The  knowledge  of  metre,  or  measurement,  was  well  understood  by 
those  ancient  people.  On  the  blowing  up  of  one  of  the  monuments,  by 
Mohammed  Ali,  for  the  puqiose  of  getting  stone  to  erect  a  military  fort, 
a  wooden  measure  was  discovered  amongst  the  rubbish,  which  was 
found  to  be  two  cubits,  or  forty-two  inches,  long.  It  was  notched  in 
metrical  distances,  like  our  modern  rules,  by  fingers,  palms,  and  spans, 
and  proved  to  be  a  rule  or  measure,  which  belonged  to  one  of  the 
masons  employed  on  the  monument  three  thousand  five  hundred  years 
ago.  The  measure  dropped  from  the  woi'kman's  hand  amongst  the 
stones,  and  was  found  imbedded  in  the  mortar. 

This  invaluable  relic  of  ancient  art  is  in  the  custody  of  the  French 
embassy,  and,  I  suppose,  is  «ow  deposited  in  the  archives  of  that  nation. 

The  learned  explorers,  who  purchased  it  of  the  workmen,  applied  it 
to  many  of  the  entrances  and  chambers  of  the  pyramids.  It  proved  to 
be  the  measure  by  which  they  were  all  erected  ;  the  entrances  to  all  are 
equal  tp  two  cubits,  or  forty-two  inches  of  our  measure.  The  "  mhit " 
of  the  ancients  was  the  length  of  the  arm  of  a  full-grown  man,  from  the 
elbow  to  the  top  of  the  second  finger ;  the  "  span "  was  the  breadth 
described  by  stretching  asunder  the  thumb  and  second  finger ;  the 
"palm"  was  .the  breadth  of  the  four  fingers  of  the  hand,  without  the 
thumb;  the  " finger ''  was  simply  the  breadth  of  that  joint,  which  is 
something  less  than  an  inch;  the  "fiathom"  was  the  length,  from 
finger  to  finger,  of  a  full-grown  man's  arms  extended  at  opposite  sides. 

The  cuUt  was  the  common  term  of  measurement  amongst  the 
ancients.  There  were  the  royal  cubit  and  common  cubit,  which  diifered 
a  little  in  dimension  from  each  other.  The  cubit  was  the  measure  of 
ancient  Ireland  ;  the  doors  of  the  round  towers  are  exactly  two  cubits 
wide ;  that  of  Roscrea  is  three  feet  and  six  inches,  equal  to  two  cubits. 
The  legislative  hall  of  Tara  measured  two  hundred  and  fifty  cubits 
long.     The  ark  of  Noah  was  three  hundred  cubits  long. 

The  Egyptians  also  perfectly  understood  the  seasons,  and  the  revo- 
lutions of  the  heavenly  bodies  ;  they  fixed  the  year  to  consist  of  three 
hundred  and  sixty-five  days.  It  was  so  established  in  the  times  of 
Herodotus,  four  hundred  and  forty  years  before  Christ.  Plato,  the 
celebrated  Greek  philosopher,  who   studied  at  Heliopolis,  in  Egypt, 


EGYPTIAN    CALENDAR. ART.  19 

bears  testimony  to  the  early  establishment  of  a  calendar  amongst  them. 
Champollion  declares  that  the  dates  on  the  tombs  would  establish  the 
existence  of  a  national  calendar  in  Egypt  two  thousand  years  before 
Christ.  It  is  said,  moreover,  that  the  early  Egyptians  pledged  their 
kings  not  to  alter  their  calendar. 

The  round  towers  of  Egypt  and  of  India  should  here  receive  a  notice ; 
but  I  purposely  reserve  this  feature  of  Egyptian  antiquity  until  I  come 
to  treat  of  the  round  towers  of  Ireland,  they  being  the  emanation  of  a 
common  age  and  a  common  race. 

I  would  here  insert,  from  Mr.  Gliddon,  a  pithy  description  of  the 
state  of  arts  and  science  in  ancient  Egypt:  "Will  not  the  historian," 
he  says,  "  deign  to  notice  the  prior  origin  of  every  art  and  science  in 
Egypt,  a  thousand  years  before  the  Pelasgians  and  Phoenicians  studded 
the  isles  and  capes  of  the  archipelago  with  their  forts  and  temples,  long 
before  Etruscan  civilization  had  smiled  under  Italian  skies  ? 

"  Philologists,  astronomers,  chemists,  painters,  architects,  physicians, 
must  return  to  Egypt  to  learn  the  origin  of  language  and  writing  ;  of 
the  calendar,  and  solar  motion  ;  of  the  art  of  cutting  granite  with  a 
copper  chisel,  and  of  giving  elasticity  to  a  copper  sword  ;  of  making 
glass  with  the  variegated  hues  of  the  rainbow  ;  of  moving  single  blocks 
of  polished  granite,  nine  hundred  tons  in  weight,  for  any  distance  by 
land  and  water ;  of  building  arches,  round  and  pointed,  with  masonic 
precision,  antecedent,  by  two  thousand  years,  to  the  Cloaca  Magna 
of  Rome ;  of  sculpturing  a  Doric  column,  one  thousand  years  before 
the  Dorians  are  known  in  history ;  of  fresco  painting,  in  imperishable 
colors ;  and  of  practical  knowledge  in  anatomy.  Every  craftsman  can 
behold,  in  Egyptian  monuments,  the  progress  of  his  art  four  thousand 
years  ago  ;  and  whether  it  be  a  wheelwright  building  a  chariot,  a  shoe- 
maker drawing  his  twine,  a  leather-cutter  using  the  self-same  form  of 
knife  of  old  as  is  considered  the  best  form  now ;  a  weaver  throwing  the 
same  hand  shuttle  ;  a  whitesmith  using  the  identical  form  of  blowpipe 
which  is  but  lately  recognized  to  be  the  most  efficient ;  the  seal  engra- 
ver cutting,  in  hieroglyphics,  such  names  as  Shoopho's,  above  four 
thousand  three  hundred  years  ago ;  or  even  the  poulterer  removing  the 
pip  from  geese.  All  these  and  more  astounding  evidences  of  Egyptian 
priority,  now  require  but  a  glance  at  the  plates  of  Rosellini,  which  have 
been  engraved  from  original  scenes,  sculptured  into  the  enduring  monu- 
ments of  Egypt." 

As  to  tlie  advanced  state  of  learning,  and  the  great  numbers  of  written 


20  SCIENCE. LIBRARIES. HISTORIES. 

books  which  abounded  in  ancient  Egypt,  a  glance  or  two  will  disclose 
enough. 

Every  one  has  heard  of  the  destruction  of  the  celebrated  library  of 
the  Egyptian  city  of  Alexandria,  where  many  thousand  volumes  were 
destroyed  by  popular  fury,  during  the  career  of  Julius  Caesar  through 
Egypt,  fifty  years  before  Christ.  That  was  the  largest  and  most  valua- 
ble collection  of  antiquity ;  yet  Caesar,  while  defending  the  arsenal, 
could  not  save  it  from  destruction. 

The  Tyrian  and  Phoenician  annals  were  destroyed  by  Alexander  the 
Great.  Poems  of  all  sorts,  and  particularly  epic  poems,  were  common 
in  Egypt,  and  were  publicly  chanted  to  the  praise  of  deities  or  theiv 
heroes.  Homer,  it  is  said,  visited  Egypt  about  nine  hundred  years 
before  Christ ;  and  the  poet  Naucrates  charges  him  with  gleaning  from 
Egrjptian  bards  the  ideas  which,  with  such  sublimity  of  thought  and 
diction,  he  perpetuated  in  his  Iliad  and  Odyssey. 

Orpheus,  Pythagoras,  Plato,  and  Aristotle,  borrowed  much  of  their 
philosophy  from  the  Egyptians.  Plato  was  educated  in  Egypt. 
Whichever  way  we  turn,  amongst  the  literary  monuments  of  the  past, 
we  shall  behold  Egypt  the  fountain  of  science,  the  school  of  post-dilu- 
vian man.  —  Perhaps  this  is  the  best  place  to  pass  up  the  stream  of 
history  to  its  extreme  or  obscure  source,  and  note  the  great  remaining 
authorities  which  delineate  the  progress  of  mankind  to  modern  ages. 

The  Pentateuch  was  the  earliest  record  of  the  Jews.  It  was  looked 
upon  as  so  sacred,  that  every  letter  was  counted.  Yet,  when  the 
Christians  argued  from  that  very  book,  to  prove  the  divinity  of  Christ 
by  the  exactitude  of  the  patnarchal  prophecies,  the  Jews  then  interpo- 
lated their  o\\'n  sacred  chronicle.  The  Septuagint  was  a  translation 
into  Greek  of  the  Hebrew  Pentateuch,  which  was  performed  in  the 
reign  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  king  of  Egypt,  two  hundred  and  forty 
years  before  Christ,  when  seventy  learned  men  sat  in  the  Isle  of 
Phai'os,  Alexandria,  to  make  the  translation  from  a  copy  of  the  Law,, 
sent  by  the  high  priest  of  the  Israelites  to  Philadelphus,  at  the  latter's 
solicitation,  in  return  for  the  liberation,  by  that  monarcii,  of  one  hundred 
thousand  Jews.  The  Hebrew  copy  came  from  Jerusalem  to  Alexan- 
dria, written  on  parchment,  in  letters  of  gold.  The  Egyptians,  besides 
the  memorials  on  their  monuments,  kept  a  national  record,  called  "  the 
old  chronicle  :  "  this  is  lost.  A  fragment  only  of  the  writings  of  Mane- 
tho,  one  of  tiieir  most  celebrated  historians,  has  come  down  to  us. 

Manetho  was  a  learned  Egyptian,  a  native  of  the  eastern  Delta,  in 


FATHERS    OF    HISTORY.  21 

Lower  Egypt,  high  priest  and  sacred  scribe  in  Heliopolis,  who  lived 
about  two  hundred  and  sixty  years  before  Christ,  and,  at  the  request 
of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  composed,  in  the  Greek  language,  a  history 
of  the  kings  of  Egypt,  from  the  earliest  times  down  to  the  invasion  of 
that  nation  by  Alexander  the  Great,  three  hundred  and  thirty  years 
before  Christ.  One  only  fragment  of  his  history  has  come  to  us, 
which  is  copied  verbatim  into  Josephus's  work.  Moses  and  the  other 
writers  of  sacred  history  devoted  themselves  merely  to  a  history  of 
the  Jewish  family.  Moses  flourished  twelve  hundred  years  before 
Christ,  and  was  an  Egyptian,  educated  at  Memphis.  Eratosthenes  of 
Cyrene  was  the  superintendent  of  the  great  Alexandrian  library,  two 
hundred  years  before  Christ,  and  sixty  years  after  Manetho.  His 
original  work,  a  catalogue  of  Egyptian  kings,  has  perished,  except 
an  extract  preserved  by  Syncillas,  which  he  copied  from  another,  whose 
works  have  also  perished.  Herodotus  is  the  well-known  Greek  writer, 
styled  the  father  of  hisiory ;  he  was  in  Eg3^pt  about  four  hundred 
and  forty  years  before  Christ ;  his  visit  there  was  made  during  the 
dominion  of  the  Persians,  after  Egypt  had  fallen  fvom  her  pristine 
greatness.  He  prepared  a  historj^  of  his  travels,  and  the  best  account 
he  could  compile  of  Egypt,  which  lie  read  in  the  Olympic  circus, 
before  his  countrynven,  the  Greeks.  Jtilhis  Cctsar  wrote  sketches 
of  the  nations  he  had  conquered,  denominated  Commentai'ies,  about 
fifty  years  before  Christ.  Diodorus  the  Sicilian  wrote  forty  years 
before  Christ ;  and  the  next  great  authority  on  ancient  history  is  Jose- 
phiis,  the  well-known  Jevs'ish  historian,  who  wrote  at  Roine,  soon 
after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  one  hundred  years  after  Christ,  or  there- 
abouts. Then  followed  the  Christian  writer  and  prelate,  Clement  of 
Alexandria,  about  one  hundred  and  ninety  years  after  Christ  —  Strabo, 
Tacitus,  Pliny,  Polybius,  and  numerous  others  who  swell  the  stream  of 
history  by  their  writings.  I  shall  show,  in  the  proper  place,  the  early 
liistorians  of  Ireland,  who  wrote  of  that  ancient  nation  before  and  subse- 
quent to  the  days  of  Moses. 


22  THE    PHffiNICIANS. 


SECTION    III. 

The  Phoenicians.  —  Their  Cities,  Tyre  and  Aradin. —  Their  Dominion.  —  Helped  in 
the  Erection  of  Solomon's  Temple. — Mysteries  of  the  Phoenician  Priests.  —  The 
Greeks  taught  by  them.  —  The  Etrurians. — A  Colony  of  the  Phoenicians. — 
Character  of  the  Etrurians.  —  Irish  Language  derived  from  them.  —  Civilization 
and  Refinement  of  the  Etrurians.  —  The  Irisii  Language  the  Root  of  the  Lathi. — 
The  oldest  Manuscripts  in  Europe  in  the  Hand- writing  of  Irishmen.  —  Dr.  John- 
son's Letter. 

We  will  now  glance  at  that  branch  of  the  great  Eastern  family,  from 
which  Ireland  was  directly  peopled  ;  namely,  the  Phcenigians,  "  the 
people  of  the  waters,"  the  "  masters  of  the  seas,"  as  the  ancient  histo- 
rians invariably  designate  them. 

The  very  ancient  Phoenician  book,  denominated  the  "  Sanconiathon," 
or  "  Book  of  first  Time,"  contains  the  history  of  the  Phoenician  nation- 
It  was  translated  into  Greek,  from  the  old  Phosni  tongue,  (the  present 
Irish,)  by  Polybius,  the  Greek  historian,  who  wrote  under  Roman  aus- 
pices and  influence.  This  ancient  record  attributes  to  the  Phoenicians  a 
civilization  and  literature  prior  to  that  of  the  Egyptians.  The  most 
learned  of  the  modern  antiquarians  have  not  yet  settled  the  question^ 
whether  the  Phoenicians  or  the  Egyptians  are  entitled  to  the  honor  of 
priority  in  the  discovery  of  the  radical  arts  and  sciences  ;  more  time, 
and  still  more  extensive  inquiries,  are  required  to  fix  this  pbint  with 
greater  certainty.  Whilst  the  inquiry  goes  on,  which  cannot,  terminate 
as  it  may,  affect  the  history  of  Ireland  in  the  slightest  degree,  we  shall 
view  an  outline  sketch  of  the  Phoenician  people,  who  were  the  first 
chief  settlers  of  Ireland,  as  shall  hereinafter  be  most  fully  proved  by 
Irish  historians,  corroborated  by  foreign  contemporary  writers,  of  every 
age,  and  almost  of  every  nation,-by  identity  of  language,  letters,  cus- 
toms, religion,  buildings,  coins,  weapons,  dress,  &c.  Stc. ;  and  who 
continued  in  Ireland  to  be  an  independent,  and,  in  the  words  of  the 
great  Dr.  Johnson,  "  an  illustrious  .race,"  for  upwards  of  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  years ;  '•'  the  teachers  of  the  West,  the  ardent 
cultivators  of  lettei-s,  arts,  and  piety." 

The  Roman  writer  Strabo  says  the  ancient  Phoenicians  had  settle- 
ments in  the  Belirin  Islands,  in  the  Persian  Gulf.  In  these  islands 
were  places  called  Tyre  and  Aradin.  This  brings  the  Phoenicians 
very  near  the  cradle  of  the  human  race,  the  point  of  dispersion  after 
the  flood.     "That  they  were  the  Sabeans,  and  that  their  object  of 


THEIR   DOMINION. TYRE.  23 

adoration  was  the  sun,  will,"  says  Sir  William  Betham,  "  appear  here- 
after." 

The  principal  territory  occupied  by  the  Phoenicians,  when  their 
power  began  to  swell,  was  the  lands  now  known  as  Syria  and  the  Delta, 
on  the  south  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  with  Sicily,  Italy,  Spain,  and 
Gaul,  on  the  opposite  side.  It  is  certain  that  the  communities  of  men, 
which  grew  up  on  the  borders  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  were  direct 
emanations  from  this  people,  or  were  instructed  by  them  in  laws, 
religion,  and  arts.  It  is  also  admitted  by  all,  that  the  Phoenicians  were 
a  nation  contemporary  with  the  Egyptians. 

The  latter  occupied  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  covering  some  ten  or 
twelve  hundred  miles  from  its  discharging  points  into  the  sea,  towards 
its  source.  The  Phoenicians  occupied  a  portion  of  the  Delta,  and 
the  neighbor  region  of  Syria.  The  Egyptians  and  Phcenicians  were 
distinct,  but,  as  abundantly  appears,  very  friendly  nations.  The  Egyp- 
tians, residing  in  the  interior  country,  devoted  themselves  to  agriculture, 
science,  and  war.  The  Phoenicians,  occupying  the  sea-shores,  devoted 
tliemselves  to  the  navigation  of  the  seas,  to  manufactures,  to  the  dis- 
covery of  foreign  lands,  to  the  extension  of  dominion,  and  to  the  propa- 
gation of  letters,  religion,  Sic.  &c. 

The  celebrated  city  of  Tyre  was  one  of  the  Phoenician  seats  of  manu- 
facture, and  continued,  for  many  ages,  the  chief  seat  of  manufactures  for 
the  whole  world.  The  textile  fabrics  of  that  ancient  city,  and  the  beau- 
tiful colors  which  the  Phoenician  artisans  imparted  to  them,  had  been,  for 
many  ages,  the  admiration  of  all  other  nations.  The  "  Tyrian  purple," 
famous  in  all  history,  so  infatuated  the  Roman  ladies,  that  large  fortunes 
were  expended  in  decorating  a  single  family ;  and  so  far  did  this  infatu- 
ation extend,  that  the  emperors  issued  proclamations  which  forbade  any 
but  the  imperial  family  to  assume  the  precious  color  in  their  dress. 
The  city  of  Tyre,  which  ever  excited  the  jealousy  of  both  Rome  and 
Greece,  was  at  length  destroyed  by  the  ruthless  arms  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  about  three  hundred  and  thirty  years  before  Christ. 

We  are  informed,  in  holy  writ,  that  "  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre,  sent  his 
servants  to  congratulate  Solomon  on  his  being  made  king  of  Israel. 
Solomon  then  sent  to  Hiram  to  announce  his  intention  of  building  a 
temple  to  the  God  of  Israel,  and  requesting  his  assistance  to  cut  the 
timber,  and  quarry  the  stones.  Great  stones  were  quarried,  hewn,  and 
squared,  by  the  workmen  of  Hiram,  and  the  temple  was  erected  by 
Phoenician  workmen,  for  which  Solomon  bound  himself  to  pay  Hiram, 
every  year,  twenty  thousand  measures  of  wheat,  and  as  many  of  oil, 
together  with  twenty  cities,  called  to  this  day  "  of  the  land  of  Cabul." 


24       MYSTERIES  OF  PHffiNICIAN  PRIESTS. GREEKS  TAUGHT  BY  THEM. 

"  To  the  PhcEnicians  may  be  traced,"  says  Sir  William  Betbam,  in 
his  recent  very  able  and  learned  work  on  the  ancient  Celtse,  "  nearly 
the  entire  mythological  system  of  the  ancients."  That  enlightened 
nation  confined  its  religious  adoration  to  one  divinity.  According  as 
each  new  art  was  discovered,  — such  as  the  nature  of  metals,  the  science 
of  sailing  in  ships,  the  knowledge  supplied  by  observations  of  the  stars^ 
anoon,  the  art  of  writing,  &.c.  k,c.,  —  each  discoverer  was  almost  dei- 
fied ;  for  it  was  supposed  he  was  gifted  with  a  divine  revelation.  Hence 
originated  the  long  list  of  "  gods  "  and  goddesses,  who  ai'e  supposed  to 
preside  over  the  sea,  the  arts,  letters,  war,  and  of  which  I  shall  say  a 
few  words  presently.  But  their  chief  adoration  was  directed  to  one 
Supreme  Being,  whom  the  priests  identified  in  the  gorgeous  sun. 

The  mysteries  of  the  Phoenician  priests  were  elaborately  constructed, 
and  artfully  calculated  to  engage  the  affections  and  obedience  of  the 
human  mind.  The  Cabiric  mysteries  and  ceremonies  of  Samothrace, 
Lnhros,  and  Masos,  so  celebrated  among  the  ancients,  are  still  continued 
to  our  days,  under  the  name  of  freemasonry.  The  Sanconiathon 
demonstrates  that  the  Phoenician  priests  allegorized  all  the  discoveries 
of  learning,  transforming  the  discoverers  into  mystical  deities ;  and, 
perceiving  the  anxiety  of  men,  both  their  own  people  and  foreigners, 
for  these  allegorical  mysteries,  "  delivered  them,"  says  the  text,  "  to 
their  successors,  and  to  foreigners."  And  thus  originated  that  porten- 
tous and  overwhelming  system  of  idolatry,  which  eventually  overspread 
the  nations  of  antiquity,  and  which  yielded  only  at  last  to  the  pure  re- 
ligion of  the  cross.  From  such  simple  elements  proceeded  the  complex 
system  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  mythology,  which  has  ever  continued 
to  lead  captive  the  imaginations  of  even  the  educated  portion  of  the 
human  race. 

The  Phoenicians,  when  they  first  visited  the  Grecian  isles,  in  ships 
moved  by  the  wind,  were  considered,  by  the  Greeks,  divinities,  or  supe- 
rior beings.  The  Greeks  were  then,  and  continued  for  several  subsequent 
centuries  to  be,  a  barbarous  people.  They  were  regarded  as  "  barba- 
rians" by  the  Egyptians.  The  first  dawn  of  letters  was  shed  upon  them 
by  their  teachers,  the  Phoenicians  and  Egyptians.  Other  nations,  that 
grew  up  on  the  borders  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  received  the  allego- 
ries, mythology,  literature,  and  civilization,  of  the  Phoenicians,  and 
then  fabricated  local  or  individual  systems  upon  then),  according  to  the 
whims  and  fancies  of  the  several  hierophants,  or  learned  scribes,  who 
undertook  to  interpret  these  mysteries  to  their  respective  followers. 
The  extensive  number  of  divinities  created  by  the  imaginative  and 
polished  Phoenicians,  the  various  attributes  conferred  on  each,  enabled 


THE    ETRURIANS    A    COLONY    OF    THE    PHffiNICIANS.  .    25 

the  priests  and  scribes  to  form  an  extensive  system  of  illusive  divinity, 
which  gave  full  occupation  to  the  human  mind,  and  attracted  the 
uninitiated  around  their  shrines  and  altars,  to  receive  their  instruction,  or 
to  offer  them  obedience  or  worship. 

Stupendous,  amongst  the  colonies  of  the  Phoenicians,  stood  the 
Etrurians,  who  occupied,  on  the  opposite  shore,  the  land  of  "  ancient 
Etruria,''  known,  in  after  ages,  as  the  seat  of  the  Roman  empire,  and 
latterly  as  Ttali/.  I  here  take  from  the  able  work  of  Sir  William  Betham, 
already  referred  to,  an  entire  page,  descriptive  of  ancient  Etruna. 

"  The  attention  of  the  British  public  has  been  much  directed  to 
Etruscan  antiquities  by  the  exhibition,  a  few  years  since,  In  Pall  Mall, 
London,  of  the  magnificent  specimens  of  sarcophagi,  fictile  vases, 
bronzes,  gold  ornaments,  and  other  remains  of  ancient  Italy,  brouglit  to 
England  by  Seignior  Campanari.  The  inscriptions  excavated  in  Etru- 
ria  were  not  inaptly  termed,  by  Professor  Buckland.  a  kind  of  geological 
literature.  The  works  of  Etruscan  art  demonstrate  high  civilization,  and 
a  progress  of  the  human  mind  equal  to  the  most  elevated  point  of  any 
Greek  or  Roman  civilization,  or  even  of  modern  Improvement.  The 
human  face  divine  of  their  statuary  and  painting  exhibits  a  noble  physi- 
ognomy, a  dignity  and  refinement  of  character,  equal  to  the  admirable 
excellence  of  the  manipulation.  The  prow  of  a  ship  was  their  national 
emblem,  and  the  dolphins,  and  other  maritime  emblems  on  their  coins, 
bronzes,  statuary,  fictile  vases,  and  pottery,  declare  their  devotion  to, 
and  great  progress  in,  navigation  and  commerce.  The  articles  of  elabo- 
rate workmanship  in  gold  and  silver  declare  their  sumptuous  and 
gorgeous  magnificence,  as  well  as  their  progress  in  that  department  of 
the  arts ;  while  their  painting  and  sculpture,  and  indeed  all  their 
remains,  evince  a  highly  civilized,  refined,  and  glorious  people,  both  by 
land  and  sea ;  a  people  like  the  magnificent  inhabitants  of  Tyre  and 
Phoenicia,  described  by  the  prophet  Ezekiel,  of  which  people  the 
Etruscans  were  assuredly  colonists  ;  for  they  were  the  only  ancient 
people  of  the  world  answering  such  a  description. 

"  These  wonderful  remains  of  so  polished  and  highly  civilized  a  race, 
occupying  a  period  of  ages  unJcnoum  to  history,  whose  very  name  is 
doubtful,  fill  the  mind  with  surprise  and  admiration.  Their  inscriptions 
declare  their  literate  character.  So  polished  a  people  must  have  had 
authors  and  historians.  Some  noble  statues  are  represented  with 
inscribed  volumes  or  rolls  in  their  hands.  Where  are  these?  They 
were  capable  of  every  effort  of  the  human  mind,  equally  with  any  age 
or  country  ;  yet,  except  a  few  words  to  be  found  in  the  Roman  writers, 
4 


26  CHARACTER    OF    THE    ETRURIANS. 

the  people  who  succeeded  ihem  in  their  beautiful  country,  absolutely 
nothing  intelligible  has  come  down  to  us.  If  their  sepulchres  exhibit 
so  much  greatness,  refinement,  and  dignity,  what  splendor  might  be 
expected  in  their  temples,  theatres,  public  buildings,  palaces,  and  the 
habitations  in  which  they  lived,  moved,  and  acted  !  These  were  above 
ground.  Their  successors,  the  Romans,  ruthless,  ignorant,  and  barba- 
rous, have  obliterated  nearly  every  trace  of  them,  if  we  except  their 
stupendous  architecture,  some  magnificent  speciriiens  of  which  have, 
by  their  magnitude,  defied  the  ruthless  efforts  of  the  barbarians,  and 
resisted  their  puny  efforts,  while  they  attributed  their  erection  to  super- 
natural agency.  Such  has  ever  been  the  fate  of  civilized  nations,  when 
conquered  by  barbarians.  The  fall  of  the  Roman  empire,  in  turn, 
produced  the  "  dark  ages ; "  the  Anglo-Saxons  destroyed  all  traces  of 
Roman  literature  in  Britain.  The  hostile  disposition  exhibited  by  all 
barbarous  people  against  civilization  and  literature,  has  been  very 
remarkable.  Omar,  who  destroyed  the  Alexandrian  library,  was  a 
correct  specimen  of  the  ferocious  and  ignorant  barbarian  of  all  ages." 

Sir  William  then  quotes  from  the  Quarterly  Review,  1833,  a  passage 
on  this  nation.  "  Etruria  is  one  of  the  great,  and,  as  yet,  unsolved 
problems  of  ancient  history.  It  is  clear  that,  before  the  Romans,  there 
existed  in  Italy  a  great  nation,  in  a  state  of  advanced  civilization,  with 
public  buildings  of  vast  magnitude,  and  works  constructed  on  scientific 
principles,  and  of  immense  solidity,  in  order  to  bring  the  marshy  plains 
of  central  and  northern  Italy  into  regular  cultivation.  They  were  a 
naval  and  commercial  people,  to  whom  tradition  assigned  thejiavigation, 
at  one  period,  of  the  Mediterranean.  Their  government  seems  to  have 
been  nearly  allied  to  the  Oriental  theocracies :  religion  was  the  domi- 
nant principle,  and  the  ruling  aristocracy  a  sacerdotal  order." 

He  then  enters  into  an  elaborate  history  of  this  extinct  nation,  which 
he  justly  builds  upon  the  inscriptions  on  their  coins,  on  their  tombs,  on 
their  vases,  on  their  bronze  mirrors  or  specula,  on  their  tables  of  bronze, 
that  have  been,  within  the  last  few  years,  dug  up  from  beneath  the 
classic  earth  of  Italy,  over  which  the  Roman  conquerors  trod,  uncon- 
scious, in  their  eflxjrts  to  obliterate  the  memory  of  this  people,  of  the 
existence  of  subterranean  evidences  which  would,  in  other  ages,  meet 
the  eye  of  posterity,  and  deprive  Rome  of  the  honors  of  originating  arts, 
science,  and  mythology,  which  she  so  zealously  and  so  unjustly  strove 
to  assume  at  the  expense  of  her  teachers,  the  Etrusco-Pho^nicians. 

This  great  nation,  with  its  history,  was  involved  in  the  deepest 
mystery,    until  a   critical   knowledge   of  the   ancient   Irish  languao-e, 


LANGUAGE  OF  THE  ETRURIANS  PROVED  TO  BE  IRISH.      27 

acquired  late  in  life,  by  Sir  William  Betham,  enabled  that  profound 
scholar  and  antiquarian  to  perceive,  that  all  their  inscriptions,  memorials, 
and  devices,  were  written  in  the  ancient  Irish  character  ;  and 
that  through  the  Irish,  and  the  Irish  tongue  alone,  could  he  unlock  the 
hidden  history  of  that  polished,  illustrious  people,  who  once  filled  Italy, 
Gaul,  Spain,  and  Ireland,  with  memorials  of  their  arts  and  labor,  which 
still  remain,  outliving  the  countless  generations  of  man,  that  have  washed 
over  them  as  the  ocean  beats  over  the  lasting  rocks  of  Erin's  old  prom- 
ontories. 

Sir  William  gives  upwards  of  fifty  plates  of  accurate  drawings  of 
many  of  their  ancient  coins,  curiosities,  weapons,  bronze  mirrors,  together 
with  the  literal  inscriptions  found  on  the  seven  tables  of  bronze  —  inscrip- 
tions called  by  the  learned  the  "  Eugubian  Tables."  There  are  several 
mythological  engravings  on  ancient  pieces  of  metal,  which  are  given,  and 
translated  first  from  the  old  Etrusco-Phoenician  language  into  modern 
Irish,  and  then  from  the  Irish  into  modern  English.  In  presenting  a 
drawing  of  a  magnificent  statue  in  alabaster,  found  in  one  of  the  ancient 
vaults  of  Etruria,  Sir  William  thus  writes :  — 

"Although  the  number  of  plates  has  already  exceeded  what  was 
contemplated,  I  cannot  resist  the  temptation  of  placing  in  this  work  one 
of  a  recumbent  figure  of  a  man,  which  formed  the  covering  of  a  sar- 
cophagus, now  in  the  museum  at  Volterra.  It  is  doubtless  a  portrait  of 
the  deceased,  who  was,  according  to  the  expression  of  Catullus,  a  corpu- 
lent Etruscan  — '  obesus  Etruscus.' 

''  It  is  not  easy  to  imagine  a  finer  formed  head,  or  a  countenance 
more  expressive  of  a  brilliant  intellect,  a  cultivated,  well-stored  mind,  and 
a  benevolent  heart,  than  the  one  here  presented.  The  ring  on  his  left 
hand,  and  the  gold  chain,  or  torque,  round  his  neck,  declare  him  a 
man  of  high  rank.  He  was  a  writer,  as  appea.rs  from  the  volume  in  his 
hand.  His  head  is  encircled  with  a  wreath  of  oak  leaves ;  the  counte- 
nance fills  us  with  bitter  regret  that  the  productions  of  the  mind  of  such 
a  man  should  be  lost  forever.  How  many  ages  of  progressive  civiliza- 
tion must  have  passed  away  to  have  produced  such  a  head,  and  a 
pencil,  or  chisel,  capable  of  making  it  live  to  our  days !  Where  is  the 
Greek  or  Roman  statue  which  throws  this  into  the  shade,  and  exhibits 
a  higher  style  of  excellence  in  art,  or  one  of  which  any  age  might  be 
prouder  ?  His  very  obesity  is  a  proof  of  civilfzation.  He  was  a  benefac- 
tor to  his  country  by  his  writings  :  probably  his  nation,  anxious  to  do  him 
honor,  erected  this  monument  to  his  memory.  Anonymous  as  he  is  to 
us,  his  merits  will  not  be  altogether  unappreciated ;  for  they  caused  the 


28  CIVILIZATION    AND    REFINEMENT    OF    THE    ETRURIANS. 

conception  and  execution  of  a  piece  of  art  which  would  do  honor  to  any 
•people.  We  are  unable  to  unroll  his  volume,  or  to  develop  the  beau- 
ties of  his  mind  ;  but  we  can  conceive  what  such  a  development  of 
intellect  and  expression  of  countenance  might  be  capable  of;  and  it  adds 
to  our  regret  that  the  mental  productions  of  such  a  people  should  have 
been  so  completely  annihilated  by  the  barbarous  policy  of  their  con- 
querors. The  Phoenician  and  Etruscan  writings  were  the  only  means 
by  which  the  early  history  of  man  could  have  come  down  to  our  days. 
The  sacred  writings  are  but  a  history  of  one  family,  only  incidentally 
refemng  to  other  nations.  The  '  Sanconiathon '  was  a  recital  of  the 
progress  of  the  human  mind  in  its  mental  development,  and  of  its  dis- 
coveries in  science,  literature,  and  arts." 

Sir  William,  in  another  part  of  his  works,  shows  the  ruthlessness  with 
which  the  Roman  barbarians  destroyed  every  visible  work  of  art  or 
utility,  erected  by  the  Etrusco-Phoenicians.  The  stupendous  works 
erected  to  bring  the  marshy  plains  of  Italy  into  cultivation  are  still 
lasting  monuments  of  the  genius  and  power  of  these  people,  who  had 
passed  away  before  the  Greeks  and  Romans  emerged  from  barbarism, 
or  had  learned  to  write.  The  Greeks  and  Romans  did  not  know  their 
own  origin  ;  much  less  were  they  qualified  to  give  an  account  of  their 
predecessors.  The  senate  of  Rome  ordered  the  books  written  by 
Numa  Pompilius  to  be  burned,  four  hundred  years  after  his  death  — 
a  strong  testimony  against  their  literary  taste  and  judgment.  What  must 
the  feelings  of  an  Irishman  be,  who  reads  these  pages,  and  is  informed 
by  them  that  his  remote  ancestors  were  some  of  these  illustrious 
Etrusco-Phoenicians,  who  brought  with  them  into  Ireland  the  language, 
literature,  arts,  and  sciences  which  they  possessed  ?  and  further,  when 
the  fires  of  learning  were  extinguished  by  both  Greek  and  Roman  con- 
querors throughout  the  East,  that  to  the  learned  descendants  of  the 
Phoenicians,  who  flourished  in  Ireland,  "  in  the  holy  island  of  the 
West,"  were  they  indebted  for  many  of  the  wandering  torches  that  re- 
kindled the  sacred  flame  of  literature  throughout  the  Roman  and  Greek 
dominions?  —  all  which  shall  duly  appear  as  we  proceed. 

As  to  the  language  of  the  ancient  Irish,  Betham  has  the  following 
luminous  passage  in  his  book  :  "  It  is  repugnant  to  common  sense  to 
suppose  that  this  remote  island  was  the  means  by  which  civilization 
was  communicated,  in  the  heghming,  to  the  countries  surrounding  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  and  the 'East,  which  seems  to  be  implied  when  we 
assert  that  the  roots  of  many  words  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  are  to 
be  found  in  the  Irish  language  ;  but  if  we  are  able  to  show  that  this 


THE    IRISH    LANGUAGE    THE    ROOT    OF    THE    LATIN.  29 

language  is  the  same  as  that  spoken  by  the  people  who  occupied  Italy, 
and  the  countries  bordering  on  that  sea,  before  Greece  or  Rome  were 
heard  of,  the  absurdity  vanishes,  and  the  fact  ceases  to  surprise.  A 
man  will  laugh  in  your  face  if  you  assert  that  the  Latin  is  mostly 
derived  from  the  Irish ;  but  if  you  are  able  to  show  that  the  Etruscan 
inhabitants  of  Italy  spoke  the  same  or  a  kindred  language  before  the 
Latin  had  existence,  if  he  be  not  convinced,  his  sarcasm  and  ridicule 
will  certainly  be  deprived  of  all  its  point." 

The  above,  and  a  few  other  passages,  which  I  shall  just  now  quote 
fi'om  the  same  able  and  honest  author,  are  more  than  sufficient  to  awake 
the  dullest  mind  to  a  consideration  of  the  vast  literary  and  artistical  inter- 
ests, wrapped  in  the  neglected  literature  and  history  of  Ireland.  "The 
manuscripts  of  the  ancient  nations  of  Europe  were  destroyed  by  bar- 
barous conquerors.  The  Danes  were  the  only  invading  enemies  of  the 
ancient  Irish  ;  and,  never  having  possessed  more  than  detached  spots 
here  and  there  on  the  coast,  had  no  opportunity  of  possessing  or  destroy- 
ing, universally,  the  books  of  Ireland.  The  policy  of  England  has  been 
to  make  war  against  the  Irish  language ;  but  they  have  not  been  able  to 
annihilate  Irish  literature.    There  still  remain  manuscripts  of  more 

REMOTE  ANTIQ.UITy"  IN  IrELAND  THAN  IN  ANY  OTHER  COUNTRY,  NOT 

ONLY  IN  THE  Irish,  BUT  IN  THE  Latin  TONGUE ;  and  the  oldest  iu 
the  libraries  on  the  continent  are  the  production  of  Irishmen,  who  were 
the  teachers  of  the  early  ages  of  Christian  Europe,  as  well  in 

LEARNING  AS  RELIGION." 

There  are  in  the  library  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  many  Latin  manu- 
scripts, on  vellum,  of  very  great  antiquity  ;  among  them  a  copy  of  the 
Gospels,  called  the  "  Book  of  St.  Patrick,"  of  the  fifth  century  ;  an- 
other copy  of  the  Gosp&ls,  called  the  "  Book  of  Kells,"  a  magnificent 
volume,  written  in  uncials,  beautifully  and  elaborately  illuminated,  on 
the  space  leaves  of  which  are  entered  deeds  and  grants  from  the  Irish 
raonarchs,  long  before  the  English  invasion.  The  Irish  manuscripts 
at  the  abbey  of  St.  Gall,  in  Switzerland,  are  of  very  remote 
antiquity;  "and,"  continues  Sir  W.  Betham,  "indeed  the  most 
ANCIENT  MANUSCRIPTS  IN  EuROPE  locre  ivritteii  by  Irishmen  or 
their  disciples."  The  old  manuscript  discovered  in  the  Irish  monas- 
tery of  Bobbio,  or  Babia,  Italy,  is  certainly  of  the  fourth  century. 
These  facts  ought  to  have  due  influence  on  the  minds  of  the  learned, 
in  removing  the  blind  prejudices  which  throw  a  doubt  upon  Irish 
literature. 

Sir  William  again  quotes  one  of  Dr.  Johnson's   letters  to  Charles 


30     THE    OLDEST    MANUSCRIPTS    IN    EUROPE    WRITTEN    BY    IRISHMEN. 

O'Conor,  to  mark  the  anxiety  felt  by  that  erudite  scholar,  in  relation 
to  Irish  history  and  the  Irish  language. 

"  To  Charles  O'Conor,  Esq.  : 

"  Sir,  —  I  have  lately,  by  favor  of  Mr.  Faulkner,  seen  your  account 
of  Ireland,"  (alluding  to  a  short  dissertation  published  by  Mr.  O'Conor,)' 
and  cannot  forbear  to  solicit  a  prosecution  of  your  design.  Sir  William 
Temple  complains  that  Ireland  is  less  known  than  any  other  country, 
as  to  its  ancient  state.  The  natives  had  but  little  leisure,  and  less 
encouragement  for  inquiring;  and  strangers,  not  knowing  the  language, 
ha^'e  had  no  ability.  I  have  long  wished  that  the  IrisJi  literature  were 
cultivated.  Ireland  is  known  by  tradition  to  have  been  once  the  seat 
of  piety  and  learning ;  and  surely  it  would  be  very  acceptable  to  all  those 
who  are  curious,  either  in  the  origin  of  nations  or  the  affinities  of 
language,  to  be  further  informed  of  the  revolutions  of  a  people  so 
ancient,  and  once  so  illustrious.  What  relation  there  is  between 
the  Welsh  and  Irish  language,  or  between  the  language  of  Ireland  and 
that  of  Biscay,  deserves  inquiry.  Of  those  unextended  tongues  it 
seldom  happens,  that  more  than  one  are  understood  by  any  one  man  ; 
and  therefore  it  seldom  happens  that  a  fair  comparison  can  be  made.  I 
hope  you  will  continue  to  cultivate  this  kind  of  learning,  which  has  too 
long  lain  neglected,  and  which,  if  it  be  suffered  to  remain  in  oblivion  for 
another  century,  may  perhaps  never  be  retrieved.  As  I  wish  well  to 
all  useful  undertakings,  I  will  not  forbear  to  let  you  know  how  much 
you  deserve,  in  my  opinion,  from  all  lovers  of  study,  and  how  much 
pleasure  your  work  has  given  to, 

"  Sir,  your  most  obliged  and  most  humble  servant, 

"  Samuel  Johnson. 

"  London,  JIj)ril  9,  1757." 

These  undoubted  testimonies  of  our  former  position  amid  the  nations 
encourage  me  to  perform  the  labor  of  wading  through  immense  masses 
of  material,  furnished  by  the  events  of  thousands  of  by-gone  years,  and 
should  prompt  the  reader,  if  he  be  a  lover  of  literature,  or  have  an  Irish 
heart  in  his  bosom,  to  peruse  these  pages  with  attention,  and  learn  from 
the  facts  put  forward  the  illustrious  character  of  the  Irish  nation  —  a 
nation  that  yet  lives,  in  all  her  ancient  piety  and  glory,  her  learning 
and  poetry,  in  the  persons  of  her  0'Connell,her  Mac  Hale,  her  Mathew, 
and  her  Moore ;  and  lives  in  all  her  ancient  bravery,  in  her  countless 
millions  of  courageous  children,  at  home  and  abroad. 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


31 


DEAR    HARP    OF    MY    COUNTRY. 

BY    MOORE. 

When  Moore  composed  his  inspiring  songs,  Ireland  was  prostrate,  and  her  bard 
wrote  in  tears,  breatliing  only  the  sighs  of  suffering  and  despair.  Yet  the  tears 
of  the  bard  fell  upon  and  irrigated  the  land  he  mourned,  and  there  grew  from  the 
sacred  earth  a  crop  of  undaunted  heroes  to  vindicate  her  freedom.  Were  Moore's 
career  to  begin  now,  his  songs  would  express  the  sentiments  of  resolve  and  defiance 
which  proudly  characterize  the  Irish  nation.  This  feeling  will  be  to  some,  I  hope, 
an  apology  for  presuming  to  add  a  verse  to  the  following  song,  which  Moore  wrote 
at  a  period  of  his  life  when  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  resign  the  lyre  of  his 
country — a  resolution  which,  however,  he  found  himself  unable  to  keep.  The 
stanza  which  I  have  added  is  printed  in  Italic. 

In  Moderate  Time,  with  much  Warmth  of  Expression. 


n'^ 


^^ 


i^ 


-^ — — 


5: 


^ 


1.     Dear  Harp  of  my  country!    in    darkness    I  found  thee;  The 

■# — I 1^~ 


— ^"^'^^ ^ 


-T— ^ ^— ^— >■ 


cold  chain  of       si  -  lence  had    hung    o'er   thee   long,    When 


proudly,   my  own      isl  -  and    Harp,    I      unbound  thee,     And 


gave  all    thy  chords     to   light,    free  -  dom,  and  song.       The 


:t=:p?-=-^-pi: 


p 


W 


=^E 


-~^-f- 


warm  lay     of  love,     and  the     light    note  of    gladness,      A 


— — -jt — #~     ^ — r-r-n^i    ^ — ^ — »^ — ~         i 


-  -  wa  -  ken     thy   fond  -  est;   thy  live  -  -  li  -  est  thrill ;   But  so 


32 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


-#-- 


-t^— ti- 


, 1^ KT IN 1^ KT- r- 

_«_-Jz^_i — ? — j — zq — 


oft      hast  thou  ech  -  oed   the     deep  sigh  of    sad  -  ness,   That 


e  en 


-"9 9 

in     thy     mirth    it 


steal     from  thee  still ! 


2. 


Dear  Harp  of  my  country,  farewell  to  thy  numbers ; 

This  sweet  wreath  of  song  is  the  last  we  shall  twine: 
Go,  sleep  with  the  sunshine  of  fame  on  thy  slumbers, 

Till  touched  by  some  hand  less  unworthy  than  mine. 
If  the  pulse  of  the  patriot,  soldier,  or  lover, 

Have  throbbed  at  our  lay,  'tis  thy  glory  alone ; 
I  was  but  as  the  wind  passing  heedlessly  over. 

And  all  the  wild  sweetness  I  waked  was  thy  own. 

3. 

With  Animation. 

^ut  the  Harp,  that  so  long  hath  been  silent  and  weeping. 

Resigned  by  its  master  in  gloom  and  despair, 
Shall  again  be  brought  forth  from  the  shrine  where  'tis  sleeping^ 

And  with  glad  notes  of  freedom  enliven  the  air ; 
When  the  voice  of  the  brave  ivith  its  echoes  shall  mingle, 

In  the  clangor  of  arms,  or  the  transport  of  glee, — 
For  the  millions  ivho  love  it  will  shortly  assemble 

To  proclaim  that  their  nation  again  shall  be  free. 


CUSHLAMACHREE.      [darling  of  my  heart.] 

BY     MR.    CHARLES     PHILLIPS, 

(the    eloquent    IRISH    BARRISTER.) 


P 


e-zt 


1.     Dear    E  -   -  rin,   how      sweet  -  ly     thy   green   bo  -  som 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


33 


p— I    r 


:p=£ 


ri   -   ses,     An   em   -   e  -  raid      set      in    the   ring     of     the 


a^ 


^ 


sea !     Each    blade        of  thy    meadows    my    faith-ful    heart 

T^^rZZ. 


'r —  I r' 


-S- 


pri  -  zes,  Thou  Queen     of  the  West,  the  world's  Cushla  -  ma  - 


=3=C3=i-_»: 


-S i 


--^-hi 


T" 


chn 


Thy   gates     o  -  pen  wide   to   the    poor     and  the 


~9        I        W 

1       g       r~ 


"H" 


"I #" 


-'t-s=: 


stranger:    There  smiles  hospi  -  tal  -  i  -  ty,    heart -y     and 

T 


;5:^-f 


~1^- 


:r: 


J?: 


T" 


'{ ^ 


H 


_^i^i 


free  ;    Thy  friendship  is   seen    in  the  moment  of  danger,  And  the 

I 


^ 


wan  -  derer 


welcomed    with    Cush  -  la  -  ma  -  chree ! 


2. 


Thy  sons  they  are  brave ;    but,  the  battle  once  over, 

In  brotherly  peace  with  their  foes  they  agree  ; 
And  the  roseate  cheeks  of  thy  daughters  discover 

The  soul-speaking  blush  that  says  Cushlamachree  ! 
Then  flourish  forever,  my  dear  native  Erin, 

While  sadly  I  wander  an  exile  from  thee  ; 
And  firm  as  thy  mountains,  no  injury  fearing. 

May  Heaven  defend  its  own  Cushlamachree ! 


LECTUEE    II. 


The  Heathen  Deities  proved  to  have  been  Phcenician.  —  Hercules.  — Tinia.  —  Druid 
Fires  in  Ireland,  in  Honor  of  Tinia.  —  Apollo.  —  Minerva. —Phoenician  Mariners. 
—  Their  first  Discoveries. —  lo  Ptean.  —  The  Irish  Language  the  Key  of  Ancient 
Mythology.  —  Neptune.  —  Birth  of  Minerva.  —  Mercury.  —  V  ulcan.  —  Charun.  — 
Venus.  —  Pandora's  Box.  —  Castor  and  Pollux. —  Ethis.  —  Eris.  —  Mars.  —  Plu- 
tus. — Bacchus.  —  Herodotus's  Opinion  on  the  Greek  Deities.  —  Janus.  —  Prome- 
theus, Discoverer  of  the  South. —  The  Hydra.  —  Scylla  and  Charybdis. — Jupiter 
Sancus.  —  The  Seanchus  of  the  ancient  Irish.  —  Confirmation  of  Irish  Tradition 
and  History,  by  the  Etruscan  Inscriptions  and  Roman  Writers. 

It  was  the  belief,  for  a  long  period,  in  the  schools,  that  the  magnifi- 
cent system  of  mythology  which  comprehends  the  divinity  worship  of 
the  ancients  was  invented  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  Sir  William 
Betham  demonstrates  that  the  whole  of  those  deities  grew  from  the 
inventions  and  discoveries  of  the  Phoenicians.  The  man,  with  that 
people,  who,  by  his  discoveries,  made  any  addition  to  the  stock  of  human 
knowledge,  was  deemed  inspired,  and  was  revered  after  his  death  as  a 
secondary  or  den)igod.  The  art  which  he  invented  was  considered  by 
his  followers  as  under  his  protection.  The  succeeding  practitioners  and 
cultivators  paid  him  homage,  and  invoked  his  aid. 

HERCULES. 

Hercules  was  considered  the  hero  of  the  sun,  or  of  light.  He  was  sup- 
posed by  the  Phoenicians  to  influence  and  direct  all  their  affairs.  He  ruled 
the  waves,  conquered  their  enemies,  and  surmounted  all  their  difficulties 
by  sea  and  land.  "  The  Greek  hero  Heracles,  and  the  Latin  Hercules, 
were  evidently  adopted,"  says  Betham,  "  from  an  imperfect  notion  of 
the  true  meaning  of  the  Phoenician  fiction  ; "  and  he  then  quotes  as  fol- 
lows, from  Herodotus :  "  Being  anxious  to  know  as  much  as  could  be 
ascertained  with  certainty  of  these  things,  I  sailed  to  Tyre,  in  PhcBnicia, 
because  I  had  heard  that  in  that  city  there  was  a  temple  dedicated  to 
Hercules.  I  saw  that  temple  ;  it  was  enriched  with  many  magnificent 
donations ;  and,  among  others,  with  two  pillars,  one  of  fine  gold,  the 
other  of  emerald,  which  shines  at  night  in  a  surprising  manner.  Con- 
versing with  the  priests  of  this  god,  I  inquired  how  long  this  temple  had 
been  built.  I  found  these  also  to  differ  from  the  Greeks ;  for  they 
assured  me  the  temple  was  built  at  the  same  time  with  the  city,  and  that 
two  thousand  three  hundred  years  were  already  passed  since  the  foun- 


TINIA. APOLLO.  NERF.  35 

dation  of  Tyre.  I  saw  also  at  Tyre  another  temple,  dedicated  to  the 
Thaslan  Hercules ;  and  when  I  arrived  at  Thasus,  I  found  there  a 
temple  of  Hercules,  built  by  those  Phoenicians  who  founded  that  city, 
during  the  expedition  they  made  in  search  of  Europe,  [i.  e.,  in  a 
voyage  of  discovery  to  Europe,]  which  was  five  generations  before  Her- 
cules, the  son  of  Amphitryon,  appeared  in  Greece." 

TINIA. 

The  Phoenician  coins  and  inscriptions  represent  Tinia  as  the  sun, 
the  first  moving  cause,  the  creator  of  all.  Teinne,  in  the  Irish  lan- 
guage, signifies  "  fire  of  the  air,  or  sky  ;  "  and  in  Ireland,  the  worship  of 
the  sun,  or  Tinia,  was  anciently  held  on  midsummer-day,  twenty-fourth 
of  June.  After  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  the  feast  was  identified 
with  the  feast  of  St.  John  the  Baptist. 

Before  Christianity,  the  Irish  Druids  kindled  two  fires,  with  great 
.  incantations  and  mystery,  and  drove  their  cattle  between  them  to  defend 
them  against  pestilence  and  murrain.  These  they  called  BeUtaine, 
and  Baltine,  that  is,  the  Jire  of  the  god  Baal. 

It  is  probable  that  the  early  Phoenicians  worshipped  the  true  God, 
as  Baal  Tinne,  or  the  lord  creator  of  all  things,  having  derived  that 
idea  from  the  original  revelation  of  God  to  man.  In  process  of  time,  the 
sun,  as  the  most  glorious  and  splendid  of  visible  objects,  became  the 
supposed  demonstration  of  the  substance  of  the  Deity;  and,  as  men  are 
apt  to  be  attracted  by  matter,  they  worshipped  the  sun  as  the  image  of 
God,  created  by  himself. 

APOLLO, 

according  to  the  Phoenicians,  was  the  north  star ;  the  fixed  polar  star, 
round  which  the  other  stars  revolved  in  perfect  order  and  harmony  ; 
which  idea  caused  them  to  create  him  "  god  of  music."  The  north 
star  is  spoken  of  in  the  Etruscan  inscriptions,  as  the  guiding  sign  by 
which  the  ships  were  steered,  when  out  of  sight  of  land. 

NERF,  NERVA,  (MINERVA.) 

Sir  William  Betham  presents  us  with  several  engravings  of  mirrors, 
medals,  tombs,  &c.,  in  which  are  imbodied  the  mysteries,  gods,  and 
inscriptions,  of  the  Phoenicians. 

Mirrors.  —  As  this  term  may  require  explanation,  I  may  mention 
that  the  mirrors  found  in  the  tombs  of  the  Phoenicio-Etruscans, 
throughout  Italy,  which  have  lain  there  three  thousand  five  hundred 


36  NERF,    NERVA. 

years,  exhibit  a  knowledge  of  the  ait  of  engraving,  in  the  ancient  work- 
men, which  surprises  the  philosopher.  These  mirrors  were  formed  of 
steel,  highly  polished.  Tiie  shape  was  that  of  a  small  frying-pan. 
The  -concave  side,  brightly  burnished,  was  that  which  reflected  the 
features  of  Phoenician  beauty.  On  the  convex  side  was  generally 
engraved  some  national  emblem,  growing  out  of  the  discoveries  and 
successes  of  their  adventurous  mariners.  The  engravings  on  these  steel 
mirrors  remain  very  perfect ;  and  surprisingly  so,  when  the  length  of 
time  they  have  lain  in  the  earth  is  taken  into  account.  They  are  now 
deposited  in  several  museums  in  Italy  and  other  places,  and  have 
afforded  plenty  of  food  for  reflection  to  the  learned.  (See  the  work  of 
Mrs.  Hall  on  Etruria.) 

Nerf  was  the  goddess  of  the  moon  and  sea.  Her  Greek  name  of 
Athena  arose  from  the  Phoenician  story  of  her  being  born  from  the  h^ ad 
of  Tinia,  the  supreme  god,  pronounced  still,  by  the  Irish,  Thvna, 
Anna  was  the  name  which,  according  to  Cormac's  Glossary,  the  ancient 
Irish  annexed  to  the  idea  and  attributes  of  Minerva.  And  Strabo,  the 
Roman  writer,  alleges  ''the  mother  of  the  gods  was  worshipped  in  au 
island  near  Britain,  in  the  saaae  way  as  in  Sumothrace." 

When  the  Phoenician  mariners  first  ventured  to  sail  over  the  ocean  by 
the  light  of  the  moon  at  night,  their  success  was  hailed  as  a  new  triumph 
over  the  waves.  Medals  commemorating  the  event  weve  cast ;  public 
manifestations  of  joy  were  indulged  in  ;  and  hence  originated  the  public 
shout  or  cry  of  lo  Paan,  (as  appears  by  the  inscriptions  on  their 
medals,)  which  the  Greeks  and  Romans  practised,  without  being  aware 
of  the  original  cause.  The  name  of  Minerva  has  been  involved  in  con- 
siderable mystery,  and  must  have  remained  so,  but  for  the  light  thrown 
upon  it  by  the  translation  of  the  writings  on  the  Eugubian  Tables, 
and  on  the  Etruscan  coins  and  medals,  which  could  never  have  been 
deciphered,  says  Sir  William  Betham,  but  through  the  key  presented 
in  the  Irish  language. 

The  prefixing  of  Mo  (good)  to  the  Phoenicio-Ii-ish  name  Nerf,  forms 
the  Roman  Minerva;  and  the  Irish,  in  after  ages,  prefixed  this  epithet 
to  their  Christian  saints.  St.  Cohnan  is  called  Mo  Cholmock ;  St. 
Braccan,  Mo  Braccan ;  i.  e.,  St.  Colman,  or  Good  Colman ;  St. 
Braccan,  or  Good  Braccan.  And  the  term  Naom,  (holy  one,)  applied 
to  Nerf,  in  the  Eugubian  Tables,  is  also  given  lo  the  Christian  saints. 
Naom  is  the  Irish  word  for  a  saint,  or  holy  person. 

Minerva  is  represented,  in  the  inscriptions  and  medals,  accompanied 
by  an  owl,  because  she  flies  by  night ;  i.  e.,  a  ship  sailing  by  night  as 


HERMES. SETHLAUS.  37 

well  as  by  day.  Neptune  was  a  god  created  by  the  ignorance  of  the 
Greeks,  who,  not  knowing  the  meaning  of  the  association  of  Minerva 
with  an  owl,  on  the  medal,  created  from  the  ship  a  deity,  which  they 
called  Neptune.  Herodotus  says,  (Euterpe,  268,)  "  The  Egyptians 
affirm  that  they  know  not  the  names  of  Neptune,  Castor  and  Pollux, 
nor  ever  received  them  into  the  number  of  their  gods."  The  name  of 
Neptune  is  made  up  from  corruptions  of  the  Phoenician  and  Etruscan 
names  of  a  ship.  Minerva  is  represented,  in  most  cases,  as  accom- 
panying Hercules  in  all  those  actions  which  are  called  his  labors  — 
represented  by  our  ideas  of  wisdom  of  design  ;  the  good  or  great  science, 
or  vigorous  exertion  in  performance.  Minerva  is  sometimes  denominated 
Pallas,  as  the  lord  or  lady,  ov  supreme  goddess  oilight,  intelligence,  and 
wisdom.  The  serpent,  from  its  wise  and  subtle  attributes,  has  been 
almost  always  found  in  the  representations  of  Minerva.  In  one  of  tlie 
Etruscan  mirrors  there  is  a  beautiful  allegorical  engraving,  picturing  the 
birth  of  Minerva,  from  the  head  of  the  supreme  god  Tinia.  The 
group,  consisting  of  male  and  female  deities,  expresses  the  perfection  in 
art  which  these  ancients  had  attained,  a  thousand  years  before  Rome 

existed. 

HERMES,   OR   MERCURY. 

Hermes,  araong  the  Phcenicians  and  Etruscans,  was.  the  god  of 
mining,  trade,  and  wealth.  The  name  originally  expressed  the  idea  of 
a  journey,  voyage,  message,  or  the  v/ind  —  swift  as  the  wind  in  flight. 
He  is  represented  naked,  with  wing;ed  sandals  to  liis  feet,  and  a  winged 
cap  on  his  head  ;  he  has  in  his  hand  two  serpents,  entwined  together. 
His  name  is  spelled  on  Etruscan  coins  several  ways.  From  this  charac- 
ter the  Greeks  created  their  Hermes^  and  the  Romans  their  Mercurius. 
The  early  Romans  borrowed  the  name  and  attributes  of  the  god  from 
their  neighbors,  the  Etruscans,  He  is  sometin>es  i-eprese^ited  as  the  god 
of  eloquence- 

SETHLAUS^   OR   VULCAJNf. 

Sethlaus  is  the  name  given  to  the  god  of  metals.  He  was  called 
Vulcan  by  the  Romans,  who  were  ambitious  to  append  their  own  names 
to  all  things,  real  or  ideal,  which  they  unjustly  appropriated  from  other 
nations.  The  name  of  Sethlaus  grew  from  the  circumstance  of  his 
having  been  a  digger  of  holes  in  the  earth,  in  search  of  metals.  He  is 
represented,  in  die  Etruscan  engraving  of  the  birth  of  Minerva,  (already 
alluded  to,)  with  a  hammer  in  his  hand,  as  just  having  made  an  incision 
in  the  head  of  Tinia,  (the  supreme,)  out  of  which  Minerva  sprang, 
completely  armed  and  accoutred. 


38      CHARUN. LARAN,  TURAN. CASTURAND    CASATRA. ETHIS. 

CHARUN. 

Charun  appears  in  almost  all  sculptures  of  funeral  processions  on  the 
Phoenicio-Etruscan  tombs.  He  is  represented  with  a  severe,  ferocious 
countenance,  generally  winged  and  buskined,  his  ears  like  those  of  a 
wolf.  He  is  generally  represented  as  accompanied  by  another  winged 
male  figure,  with  a  benevolent  countenance,  clothed  and  buskined, 
carrying  a  torch,  who  seems  to  be  the  friendly  guide  to  the  departed 
soul,  while  Charun  follows,  and  sometimes  appears  to  hinder  and  coun- 
teract the  benevolent  acts  of  the  good  spirit.  His  ferocious  countenance 
indicates  his  malevolent  character.  His  boat  seems,  says  Sir  William 
Betham,  to  have  been  of  Greek  or  Roman  invention  ;  for  in  all  the 
Etruscan  sepulchral  sculptures  it  does  not  once  appear. 

LARAN,   AND   TURAN,   (VENUS.) 

Laran  was  the  god  of  beauty,  of  symmetry,  and  love.  He  is  repre- 
sented on  the  back  of  a  mirror  with  Turan,  the  goddess  of  beauty ;  both 
naked,  but  sandaled,  with  Apollo  and  Minerva  on  the  other  side.  The 
goddess  Turan  is  represented  by  the  Greeks  as  rising  from  the  sea, 
and  they  call  her  Venus.  Turan  is  sometimes  represented,  in  the 
allegorical  sculptures  'of  the  Phoenicio-Etruscans,  stooping  over  a 
box,  the  lid  of  which  she  is  opening.  From  this  the  Greek  fable  of 
Pandora  is  probably  derived.  From  the  inscriptions  may  be  gathered 
the  meaning  of  identifying  the  goddess  of  beauty  with  the  Pandora  box, 
which  represented  the  idea  of  the  troubles  which  have  arisen  among 
men  for  the  possession  of  female  beauty.  Turan  was  represented  as 
holding  the  box  of  love,  which  she  occasionally  opened  amongst  men, 
when  she  wished  to  generate  discord. 

CASTUR  AND  CASATRA,  (CASTOR  AND  POLLUX.) 

The  Castur  or  Casatra  of  the  Phoenicians  is  the  Castor  of  the 
Greeks.  He  is  engraved,  in  the  ancient  mirrors,  dressed  in  a  cloak  and 
cap,  armed  with  a  spear,  but  with  naked  legs  and  feet,  and  appeared 
a  voyager  or  pilot.  Among  the  Greeks,  Castor  is  represented  in  com- 
pany with  Poltuke,  (Pollux.)  Tlieir  names  indicate  their  characters  of 
messengers  or  guides,  navigators,  &c.  Sir  William  Betham  explains  at 
length  a  mirror  in  which  Pohuke  is  represented  describing  his  voyages 
and  adventures  to  the  king  of  the  earth. 

ETHIS 
is  represented  as  the  goddess,  or  emblem,  of  justice.     She  is  a  serious 


ERIS. MAMERS. SOMMANO. ANNA    PERENNA. BACCHUS.       39 

female  figure,  with  wings  on  her  shoulders ;  the  emblem  of  a  celestial 
being,  clothed  and  sandaled,  with  a  necklace  and  cap  on  her  head. 

ERIS, 

the  goddess,  or  emblem,  of  history,  is  represented  on  a  mirror.  She  is 
naked,  except  a  scarf  thrown  round  her ;  she  also  wears  a  necklace,  and 
pointed  crown  on  her  head.  In  her  left  hand  she  holds  a  style,  or 
point,  for  writing.  Eris  is  the  Greek  name  for  Juno,  the  goddess  of  the 
air ;  but  the  style  in  her  hand  indicates  her  character  as  writer  of  history. 

MAMERS,  (MARS.) 

Mamers  was  the  Etruscan  god  of  terrible  war.  To  him  was  given 
to  wife  Neriene,  or  Evil  Strength,  viz.,  the  destroying  sword. 

SOMMANO,   (PLUTUS.) 

Sommano,  or  Sorano,  was  the  father  of  the  inferior  regions,  the 
minister  of  death.     This  was  Plutus. 

ANNA    PERENNA 

was  the  mother  of  fruitfulness.  Anna,  according  to  Cormac's  Glossary, 
was  the  mother  of  the  Irish  gods  —  the  mother  also  of  food. 

BACCHUS. 

Under  this  head,  Sir  William  Betham  introduces  a  lengthy  translation 
from  Herodotus,  giving  that  ancient  writer's  opinion  on  the  origin  of 
most  of  these  deities,  from  which  I  make  the  following  extract:  — 

"  But  what  origin  is  to  be  assigned  to  each  of  these  gods,  whether 
they  always  existed,  and  in  w^hat  form,  was,  till  very  lately,  unknown ; 
and,  to  use  a  common  expression,  till  yesterday,  [Herodotus  lived, 
and  wrote  these  remarks  nearly  two  thousand  three  hindred  years 
dgoJ]  I  am  of  opinion  that  it  was  Hesiod  and  Homer,  who  lived  about 
four  hundred  years  before  me,  who  introduced  the  genealogy  and 
history  of  the  gods  among  the  Greeks,  gave  them  their  names,  and 
assigned  to  each  his  functions,  honors,  and  attributes.  The  other  poets, 
who  have  been  supposed  to  be  more  ancient,  I  think  lived  after  Hesiod 
and  Homer.  What  I  have  before  related  I  heard  from  the  priestesses 
of  Dodona.  The  Egyptians  were  the  first  inventors  of  festivals,  cere- 
monies, and  transactions  with  the  gods  ;  all  which,  I  am  persuaded,  the 
Greeks  borrowed  from  that  people,  because  they  appear  to  have  been 
very  ancient  among  the  Egyptians,  and  very  recently  introduced  into 
Greece. 


40  JANUS. 

"  The  PhcEnicians  and  Syrians,  who  inhabit  Palestine,  acknowledge 
that  they  received  the  circumcision  from  the  Egyptians.  Whether  the 
Ethiopians  took  this  custom  from  the  Egyptians,  or  the  Egyptians  from 
them,  is  a  matter  too  ancient  and  obscure  for  me  to  decide.  Yet  I  am 
inclined  to  believe  the  Ethiopians  took  the  custom  from  the  Egyptians, 
because  we  see  that  none  of  the  Phoenicians,  who  have  any  commerce 
with  the  Greeks,  continue  the  practice  of  circumcising  their  children. 
From  Bacchus,  who  is  said  to  have  been  the  son  of  Seraele,  the  daugh- 
ter of  Cadmus  the  Tyrian,  [Phoenician,]  to  our  time,  about  one  thousand 
six  hundred  years  have  passed  ;  from  Hercules,  the  son  of  Alcmene, 
about  nine  hundred  ;  from  Pan,  who,  the  Greeks  say,  was  the  son  of 
Mercury  and  Penelope,  not  more  than  eight  hundred,  which  is  less  thaii 
they  reckon  from  the  siege  of  Troy." 

Herodotus  then  gives  a  list  of  the  deities  wliom  the  Greeks  created;, 
amongst  which  are  the  Graces  and  the  Nereides.  That  ancient  author 
states  that  Vesta,  Themis,  and  Juno,  were  derived  from  the  Pelasgi, 
(Phoenicians,)  and  concludes  his  remarks  with  the  following  remarkable 
sentence:  "  Let  every  man  embrace  whatever  opinion  he  thinks  right ;  1 
have  stated  mine.  I  am  convinced  that  the  Greeks  had  not  heard  of 
these  gods  until  they  became  acquainted  with  the  names  of  the  other 
gods,  because  they  ascribe  their  generation  to  no  higher  a  period." 

JANUS. 

The  Roman  account  of  this  god  is,  of  all  their  fables,  the  most  con- 
fused and  unsatisfactory.  Like  the  Greeks,  they  had  a  misty  notion  of 
something  being  meant  by  the  bifronted  head  on  the  Etruscan  coins, 
which  they  heard  that  people  call  lanus,  or  some  name  of  like  sound  ; 
and,  seeing  a  double-faced  head  upon  them,  they  concluded  that  it  musS 
have  related  to  an  ancient  king  or  deity.  Various  were  their  opinions 
of  the  origin  and  attributes  of  this  deity.  Some  attributed  to  him  the 
discovery  of  the  year ;  others,  the  power  of  creating  war  or  peace.  In 
the  latter  light  he  was  viewed  and  worshipped  by  the  Romans.  They 
erected  a  temple  to  him  in  Rome,  which  was  kept  open  during  war, 
and  closed  during  peace.  This  temple  was  closed  only  three  times  in 
seven  hundred  years ;  namely,  once  under  Numa,  once  after  the  first 
Punic  war,  and  once  under  Augustus.  But  the  double-faced  heads 
found  medaled  on  the  Phoenicio-Etruscan  coins  are  now  proved,  by 
their  inscriptions,  to  be  a  symbol  of  the  first  Phoenician  ship  which  had 
sailed  to  the  south,  and  to  the  north  of  the  Mediterranean  Straits. 


PROMETHEUS.  THE    HYDRA. SCYLLA    AND    CHARYBDIS.  41 


PROMETHEUS. 

Prometheus  was  created  by  the  Phoenicians  from  the  allegory  which 
they  built  up  on  their  discovery  of  the  south  seas.  The  gods,  as  we 
have  seen  in  the  great  Phoenician  book,  the  Sanconiathon,  were  no 
other  than  the  discoveries  made  in  science  by  their  learned  men.  By  a 
certain  voyage  to  the  south,  made  by  Promathe,  the  constellation  of 
Gemini,  in  the  heavens,  was  fully  developed.  Promathe  was  styled, 
in  the  Phoenician  language,  a  very  good  god.  He  is  represented  as 
climbing  up  to  heaven,  and  from  thence  bringing  down  fire,  which 
meant  nothing  more  than  sailing  to  the  south,  by  which  new  stars  and 
constellations,  and  a  warm  climate,  were  discovered. 

The  confining  of  Prometheus  to  a  rock,  and  his  delivery  by  Hercules, 
were  most  likely  the  adventures  of  a  nautical  discoverer,  who,  absent 
from  his  country  through  some  accident  happening  to  his  ship,  and  unable 
to  return,  was,  after  some  years,  discovered  and  brought  back  by  subse- 
quent voyagers,  of  whom  Hercules  was  the  emblem.  The  vulture  or 
eagle,  represented  as  preying  on  his  liver,  expresses  symbolically  the 
trouble  or  vexation  attending  such  a  situation,  which,  although  distress- 
ing, did  not    extinguish  the    hope  of  relief,  and  of  returning   to   his 

country. 

THE  HYDRA 

is  the  allegory  of  the  Phoenician  mariners  passing  in  their  ships  round 
ridges,  or  points  of  headland.  As  soon  as  one  headland  is  passed, 
one  of  the  heads  of  the  hydra  is  conquered  ;  and,  that  difficulty 
over,  another  arises  in  the  horizon,  and  immediately  presents  itself  to 
the  coasting  mariner. 

Thus  the  heads  were  apparently  interminable,  until  Hercules  (the 
personification  of  the  manners)  had  doubled  all  these  capes,  by 
exploring  the  whole  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  eventually 
passed  the  straits  into  the  ocean.  Hercules  applied  ^re  to  those  heads, 
to  render  them  harmless ;  that  is,  the  mariners  erected  fire  beacons, 
which  were  kept  burning  at  night  for  their  guidance  along  the  Mediter- 
ranean shores.     The  Greeks  made  a  very  pretty  nursery  story  of  this 

allegory. 

SCYLLA  AND   CHARYBDIS. 

Charybdis   was,  to    the    Phoenicians,   a   dangerous   whirlpool,   of  a 
furious  and  appalling  character ;  Scylla  a  perpendicular  rock,  close  at 
hand  to  the  whirl.     This  explanation  deprives  Scylla  and  Charybdis 
6 


42  JUPITER. SANCUS. 

of  all  their  poetry  and  mystical  character,  and  describes  them  as  any 
simple  and  unsophisticated  sailor  would. 

JUPITER. 

The  Jupiter  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  —  styled  the  father  or  ruhr 
of  the  gods  —  is  the  Tinia  of  the  Phoenicians. 

The  Hesperides  were  the  islands,  to  the  south  of  the  Mediterranean 
Sea,  where  grew  the  golden  apples  —  orai}ges. 

The  fables  about  Hercules'  killing  the  dragon  which  watched  this 
fruit  is  explained  by  his  conquering  the  difficulties  of  long  voyages,  in 
quest  of  those  southern  islands. 

The  Titans,  and  numerous  other  Greek  divinities,  originated  in  the 
nautical  enterprise  and  adventure  of  the  Phoenicians.  It  would  require 
an  entire  volume  to  enter  fully  into  their  history,  and  to  show  in  detail 
how  small  is  the  claim  of  either  Greece  or  Rome  to  the  merit,  whatever 
it  may  be,  of  building  up  the  beautiful  series  of  allegories,  from  which 
have  grown  the  fascinating  creations  of  the  endless  family  of  heathen 
gods  and  goddesses :  which  are  chiefly  to  be  attributed  to  the  intellect- 
ual and  enterprising  Phoenicians,  as  also  are  the  appellations  and  charac- 
ters of  various  stars  and  constellations  in  the  heavens.  I  will  conclude 
my  remarks  on  this  head,  which  are  altogether  condensed  from  the 
elaborate  writings  of  Sir  William  Betham,  with  his  history  of 

SANCUS. 

The  Sabines,  according  to  Varro  and  Ovid,  had  a  deity  called 
Sancus,  or  Sangus.  He  was  adopted  by  the  Romans  as  dius  Fidius. 
The  Italian  author  translates  his  from  the  Latin  sanctus,  (the  holy  one,) 
and  makes  him  son  of  Jove.  He  is  also  said  to  have  been  the  national 
god  of  the  Umbri.     The  Greeks  made  him  the  same  as  Hercules. 

There  is  not,  perhaps,  a  stronger  proof  of  the  identity  of  the  Etruscan 
with  the  Gaelic  language,  than  the  name  of  this  deity.  Nor  can  it  be 
better  illustrated  than  in  the  following  translation  of  a  passage  in  a 
commentary  on  the  Brehon  laws,  in  the  Irish  language,  quoted  in 
O'Reilly's  Irish  Dictionary,  under  the  word  Seancus,  the  precise  name 
of  the  supposed  Sabine  deity  :  — 

"  Seanchus,  that  is,  old  cause  ;  that  is,  a  very  old  cause,  and  every 
cause  appertaining  to  antiquity,  as  senex  custodia ;  that  is,  old  guardian- 
ship, or  keeping  secure.  Seancur,  that  is,  sensus ;  Castigatorius,  that 
is,  collected  intelligence  arranged  in  order  —  the  old  head  of  knowledge 


THE    SEANCHUS    OF    THE    ANCIENT    IRISH.  43 

or  law.  What  the  aforesaid  great  Sheanchus  states  is,  that  Sheanchus 
is  the  term  applied  to  perfect  knowledge  among  the  learned,  as  gene- 
alogies, such  as  Genesis,  which  is  in  truth  genealogical  histor3\  Law 
books  were  the  origin  and  foundation  of  the  Irish  Sheanchus  books. 
The  delineation  or  ramifying  all  true  history  is  called  dinseanchus, 
that  is,  accurate  and  corroborated  history.  Poetry  without  fabulous 
embellishment,  grammar,  and  the  elements  of  education,  among  the 
learned  of  Ireland,  were  so  called. 

•'  Sheancus  constitutes,  both  in  name  and  matter,  the  original  laws  of 
Ireland.  They  are  sometimes  called  Fenechus,  because  they  regulated 
the  Fenians  [Phoenicians]  and  their  colonies.  It  was  the  foundation  of 
the  knowledge  of  the  tribes  of  Erinn,  and  points  out  their  oi'igin,  for  the 
Erenachs  [Irish]  derive  their  name  from  Fhcnius,  Farsaid,  Phenius 
the  mariner,  or  oftheproio  of  a  sMj)."" 

On  this  definition  of  the  term,  Sir  William  makes  the  following  com- 
ment: "Sheanchus,  the  old  cause  or  first  cause,  was  the  epithet  properly 
applied  to  Tinia,  the  supreme  god  ;  and  all  the  epithets  in  the  foregoing 
translation  are  equally  applicable.  In  this  commentary  on  the  old  laws 
of  Ireland,  we  have  all  the  attributes  of  Sancus,  and  even  his  name  set 
forth  and  explained  by  a  writer  who  lived  some  centuries  ago,  in  the 
west  of  Europe,  in  the  then  almost  unknown,  and  altogether  neglected, 
Ireland.  A  commentary  written  to  explain  a  difficult  and  obsolete 
term,  unknown  to  the  vulgar  of  that  day,  respecting  the  old  laws  of 
Ireland,  is  an  evidence  above  suspicion,  clear  and  irrefragable. 

"  The  Seanchus  was  also  called  Feenechus,  because  the  Irish  derived 
their  knowledge  of  it  from  their  ancestors,  the  Fenicians,  or  Phoenicians, 
of  whom  they  were  a  colony.  Could  any  evidence  be  more  direct  and 
conclusive?  We  find  the  language  and  traditions  of  Ireland 
IN  perfect  accordance  with  the  statements  of  the  Roman 
writers,  and  all  extraneous  testimony." 

It  is  said  by  the  same  learned  authority,  that,  in  distant  ages,  a  colony 
from  Ireland  found  the  American  continent.  O'Halloran  notes  it  dis- 
tinctly as  having  occurred  in  the  twelfth  century.  A  Highlander  at 
Quebec,  a  few  years  ago,  who  understood  the  Gaelic,  acted  as  interpret- 
er between  some  Indian  tribes  and  the  governor  of  Canada ;  and  I  find 
a  curious  document  published  in  the  papers  lately  from  the  Indians,  in  the 
western  part  of  New  York,  in  which  they  use  the  same  word  to  express 
the  idea  of  historian,  viz.,  "  sago  senota,^'  used  by  the  ancient  Irish. 

*****  *  *  The  Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser  says  that 
the  General  Council  of  Seneca  Chiefs,  recently  held  at  Cattaraugus,  have  nominated 
and  adopted  Col.  Stone,  editor  of  the  Commorcial  Advertiser,,  a  chief  of  the  tribe; 
In  pursuance  of  a  resolution  in  council,  to  that  effect,  it  was  unanimously  agreed 


44  IDENTITY    OF    THE    ANCIENT    IRISH    AND    PHCENICIANS. 

that  he  be  received  into  the  clan  of  the  TVliite  Heron,  and  be  hereafter  known  by 
the  name  of  Sa-go-sen-o-ta,  meaning  the  man  who  perpetuates  the  exploits  of 
brave  men. 


SECTION    II 


Discovery  of  Ireland  by  the  PhcEnician  Mariners.  —  The  Eugubian  Tables.  —  Identity 
of  the  ancient  Irish  and  the  Phoenicians.  —  First  Ship  that  touched  Ireland.  — 
Wexford  Harbor.  —  River  Slaney. — The  Island  dedicated  to  Nerf.  —  Called  the 
Holy  Island.  —  Translation  of  the  Eugubian  Tables.  —  Gillia  Keavin.  —  First 
Settlers  in  Ireland. —  Pdlar  of  Hercules. — Erected  by  Breogan.  —  Stanzas  from 
Gillia  Keavin.  —  Landing  and  Death  of  Ith.  —  Arrival  of  the  chief  Milesian 
Fleet.  —  Negotiation  with  the  old  Inhabitants.  —  Battles  of  Kerry  and  Meath. — 
Death  of  Scota.  —  The  Damnonii.  —  Tiieir  Settlement  in  Connauglit  and  Cornwall. 

In  the  foregoing  remarks  I  have  briefly  sketched  the  general  character 
and  position  of  the  great  Phoenician  family.  I  will  now  trace  their 
adventurous  migrations  to  Ireland. 

By  the  discoveries  in  the  tombs  of  Italy,  made  within  the  last  few 
years,  we  are  put  in  possession  of  unerring  data  to  trace  the  direct 
connection  of  the  ancient  Irish  with  the  Phoenicians.  The  "'  Eugubian 
Tables,"  found,  in  the  year  1422,  amongst  the  tombs  of  Italy,  at  the 
base  of  the  Apennine  Mountains,  contain  records  highly  interesting  to 
the  Irish  anticparian.  The  material  of  those  tables  was  bronze,  or 
mixed  metals ;  and  on  them  were  engraved,  in  the  old  Phoenician 
(Irish)  language,  detailed  accounts  of  the  discovery  of  Ireland  by  the 
mariners.  "  Many  passages  in  these  inscriptions,"  says  Sir  W.  Betham, 
"were  found  so  palpably  Irish,  as  to  leave  little  doubt  that  the  whole 
was  of  possible  interpretation  by  means  of  the  Irish  language." 

These  interesting  relics  of  the  past  consist  of  seven  bronze  tables. 
They  seem  to  have  been  erected  in  some  public  place  in  the  Phoenician 
cities,  for  the  direction  of  mariners  who  sailed  to  Ireland.  The  in- 
scriptions found  on  them  were  enigmas  to  the  world,  until  Sir  William 
Betham,  through  his  acquired  knowledge  of  the  ancient  Irish  language, 
translated,  and  proved  from  the  record,  the  identity  of  the  ancient  Irish 
with  the  Phoenician  people  —  an  identity  which  extended  to  language, 
customs,  religion,  arts,  sciences,  manufactures,  commerce,  &z;c. 

These  tables  describe  the  first  land  touched  on  reaching  Ireland. 
The  Tuscar  Rock,  which  stands  in  the  ocean  in  front  of  Wex- 
ford, was  the  first  object  they  saw.  Sir  William  occupies  several 
pages  of  his  work  with  the  inscriptions  in  the  old  Phoenician  charac- 


THE    TUSCAR    ROCK.  45 

ter,  which  he  gives  in  columns,  —  in  juxtaposition  with  which,  he 
places  a  translation  into  the  common  or  familiar  Irish  language,  and 
then  a  literal  translation  of  each  sentence  into  English.  The  writing 
on  the  Eugubian  Tables  runs  from  right  to  left,  contrary  to  our  present 
custom.  I  regret  there  is  no  Irish  type  in  America,  to  enable  me  to 
print  the  Irish  characters  after  Sir  William's  copy. 

The  following  few  extracts  from  his  condensed  translations  will 
serve  to  give  some  idea  of  the  nature  of  those  inscriptions.  The 
inscriptions  on  the  tables,  No.  1  to  5,  exhibit  the  following  outline :  — 

A  Phoenician  vessel  proceeded,  in  a  strong  current,  along  the  coast 
of  Spain,  beyond  Cape  Ortegal,  then  called  the  Nortliern  Headland  of 
the  ocean,  on  which  it  appears  a  fire  beacon  was  kept  burning  for  the 
benefit  of  mariners  at  night.  The  vessel  proceeded,  for  twelve  days, 
in  a  direction  due  north,  observed  by  the  polar  star,  when  they  saw 
land,  and  came  to  a  point  which  they  named  Car-na,  or  the  Turn.  In 
another  place  it  is  called  Tus-cer,  or  the  First  Turn,  being  the  first 
deviation  from  the  direct  northern  track.  Tliey  saw  also  a  large,  black 
rock,  in  the  middle  of  the  sea.  They  went  round  this  point,  and  got 
into  smooth  water,  and  were  free  from  the  heavy  seas  and  swells  they 
had  so  long  encountered.  They  called  this  Car-na-ser-tus-cer,  or  the 
free  turn  of  the  first  deviation.  That  point  of  land  bears,  to  this  day, 
the  name  of  Carnasoire  Point,  and  the  rock  the  Tuscar  Rock.  The 
peninsula  is  now  the  parish  of  Carne,  in  the  county  of  Wexford.  The 
mariners  soon  discovered  the  entrance  to  the  River  Slaney,  which  they 
entered  in  safety.  The  flux  and  reflux  of  the  tides  are  described  with 
extraordinary  accuracy,  —  declared  to  be  governed  by  a  certain  law, 
and  influenced  by  the  moon.  They  dedicated  the  country  to  Nerf, 
(Minerva,)  by  the  guidance  of  whose  wisdom  they  had  made  the 
discovery ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  coins  of  bronze  are  still 
extant  which  were  made  to  commemorate  this  discovery.  (Engravings 
of  those  coins  are  given  in  Sir  William's  book.)  This  land  was  dedi- 
cated to  Nerf  as  it  was  the  first  land  discovered  in  the  west  of  Europe, 
and  was  likely  to  lead  to  other  undiscovered  countries. 

It  was  thus  Ireland,  in  those  remote  ages,  was  called  a  Holy  Island, 
viz.,  "  the  illustrious  holy  one  of  the  sea,  the  holy  guiding  one  of  the 
sea,  even  Nerf"  All  the  points  and  circumstances  of  this  voyage 
are  marked  out  on  the  metal  tables  with  extraordinary  accuracy. 

I  give  a  few  verses  of  Sir  William's  translation  from  the  tables,  but 
would  remark  that  there  are  two  hundred  and  fifty  pages  of  his  book 
occupied  with  the  translations  of  this  singular  record  of  antiquity. 


46  TRANSLATION    OF    THE    EUGDBIAN    TABLES. 

TABLE   I. 
TRANSLATION. 

"  1.  O  PhcEnicians,  this  is  a  statement  of  the  night  voyage  to  Came, 
[the  Turn,]  and  of  the  manner  of  going  with  great  science  over  by  the 
waters  of  the  ocean. 

"  2.  At  first  the  waves  were  strong  and  swelling,  which  continued 
for  a  long  way  from  the  land,  but  the  knowledge  of  the  movino-  cause 
which  acted  on  the  sea,  in  the  lonely  course. 

"  3.  From  this,  on  the  voyage,  and  with  the  moon's  light  at  night,  all 
the  way  to  Came,  by  this  valuable  knowledge  it  is  when 

"  4.  Day  is  away,  but  with  the  moon  it  was  a  certain  and  safe  course 
in  the  sea  a  long  way  from  the  coast,  with  the  course  of  the  tides, 
both  to  and  from  that  place. 

"  5.  The  currents,  both  day  and  night,  and  the  moon's  light,  will  be 
favorable  all  the  way  to  sea.  Indeed,  in  the  night,  during  the  voyao-e 
at  sea,  the  moon  will  give  light,  and  thus  day  and  night  will  be  in  it. 

"  6.  Great  will  be  the  influence  of  the  moon  on  the  curi'ent,  when 
steering  for  a  long  way  from  the  mouth,  both  in  going  out  and  returnino- 
home. 

"  7.  O  Phoenicians,  it  is  very  safe  and  secure  navigation  this  long 
distance,  steering  the  course,  by  the  moon's  light,  to  the  port  in  that 
island  Phoenician,  and 

"  8.  From  thence  to  return  by  the  same  course,  the  same  long  dis- 
tance on  the  ocean,  in  the  absence  of  day  when  there  is  moon." 


The  contents  of  these  bronze  tables,  from  which  I  make  the  above 
extract,  are  given  at  great  length  in  Sir  William's  book  ;  but,  as  the 
matter  is  more  a  study  for  the  learned  antiquarian  than  the  general 
reader,  I  shall  not  quote  further,  but  pass  on  to  the  next  link  in  the 
historic  chain. 

Giolla  Keavin,  Cormac,  Declan,  and  other  ancient  historians  of  Ire- 
land, who  wrote  a  thousand  years  ago,  have  left  behind  them  manuscripts, 
compiled  and  copied  from  manuscripts  still  more  ancient,  that  existed 
in  their  time,  which  give  a  history  of  the  Milesian  families,  by  which 
Ireland  was  settled  about  thirteen  hundred  years  before  the  birth  of 
Christ.  Whether  the  island  was  partially  peopled  by  previous  adven- 
turers from  the  Phoenician  stock,  or  from  a  less  enlightened  race,  we 
have  no  means  of  knowing.  Still  less  have  we  any  means  of  deter- 
mining the  probable  period  when  the  island  was  first  visited  by  human 


FIRST    SETTLERS    OF    IRELAND.  47 

beings.  The  conjectures  of  historians  are  given,  speculations  and 
theories  are  raised  ;  but,  it  must  be  confessed,  the  first  peopling  of 
Ireland  extends  so  far  back  into  the  dim  twilight  of  antiquity  and 
tradition,  that  a  candid  writer  must  acknowledge  his  incapability  to 
define  the  period,  or  trace  up  the  family,  which  poured  the  first  small 
stream  of  human  life  into  her  fertile  valleys. 

The  Eugubian  Tables,  from  which  I  have  made  extracts,  belong  to 
an  age  thirteen  or  fourteen  hundred  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ. 
That  the  tide  of  emigration  from  the  south-east  of  Europe  began  then 
to  set  in  towards  Ireland,  is  quite  reasonable  to  suppose.  The  traditions 
found  existing  amongst  the  first  settlers,  by  the  Milesian  colony,  state 
that  the  island  was  peopled  three  hundred  years  before  their  arrival. 
This  would  fix  the  arrival  of  the  first  adventurers  about  sixteen  cen- 
turies beford  Christ.  Tlie  first  settlers  of  every  country  are  less 
mindful  than  their  successors  of  the  refinements  or  luxuries  of  life.  It 
is  quite  reasonable  to  suppose  the  very  first  setders  of  Ireland,  like 
other  pioneers  of  civilization,  felt  interested  only  in  the  affairs  of  imme- 
diate existence,  and  heeded  little  the  duty,  which  they  owed  posterity, 
of  transmitting,  on  stone  or  brass,  a  memorial  of  their  enterprise.  That 
they  were  Phoenicians  is  a  supposition  more  likely  to  be  true  than  any 
other.  The  discovery  of  the  island  itself  \\'as  regarded  by  the  Phoe- 
nician mariners  and  people  with  as  much  sur])rise  and  joy  as  the  discov- 
ery of  America  by  Columbus  was  regarded  by  Spain  and  all  Europe. 

All  that  we  have  certainly  vouched  by  the  Eugubian  brass  tables, 
are,  the  facts  that  the  "  Holy  Island"  in  the  west  was  discovered  twelve 
days'  sail  due  north  of  Cape  Ortegal,  in  Spain  ;  that  the  rock  in  the 
front  of  Wexford,  known  ever  since  as  the  Tuscar,  was  the  first  object 
observed  by  the  overjoyed  mariners ;  that  this  rock  looked  like  a 
ship  turned  upside  down  in  the  water ;  that  the  River  Slaney  was 
entered  by  the  mariners,  and  the  navigation  of  the  river  was  described 
as  perfecdy  safe,  — "  sailing  in  and  out  on  the  flowing  and  ebbing  of 
the  tide."  The  point  on  the  Spanish  coast  from  whence  they  started 
is  marked  out  with  extraordinary  accuracy.  Cape  Ortegal  is  called 
the  Three  Hills,  which,  indeed,  is  the  figure  it  exhibits  from  the  sea. 
In  the  front  of  this  bay,  standing  on  a  short  peninsula,  is  the  famous 
Pillar  of  Hercules,  erected,  as  it  is  written,  by  Breogan,  the  Phcsnician. 
It  was  built  as  a  watchtower,  on  which  a  light  was  kept  burning,  to 
guide  the  mariners  in  their  traffic  to  and  from  Ireland.  The  Pillar  of 
Hercules  has  survived  the  shocks  of  countless  generations.  In  the  days 
of  the  Romans,  it  was  deemed  a  work  of  great  antiquity.     When  that 


48  STANZAS    FROM    CILLIA    KEAVIN. 

overwhelming  power  destroyed  tlie  Carthaginians,  who  sprang  from, 
or  were  a  continuation  of,  the  Phoenicians,  they  consecrated  this  pillar 
to  their  tutelar  god  Mars,  which  proved  clearly  enough  that  they  knew 
not  the  object  for  which  it  was  originally  erected,  which  was  to  direct 
the  operations  of  commerce,  not  of  war. 

The  merchants,  composing  the  board  of  trade  of  Galicia,  have 
erected,  in  1809,  a  new  pillar,  two  hundred  feet  high,  around  the  old 
one ;  the  object  of  which  is  precisely  the  same  as  that  of  the  original 
erection,  viz.,  to  guide  mariners  at  sea.  Much  has  been  written  re- 
specting this  tower.  The  traditions  in  Spain,  respecting  its  founder 
and  those  of  Ireland,  singularly  coincide,  and  offer  additional  evidence 
of  the  truthfulness  of  Irish  history.  In  the  "  Annals  of  the  Four 
Masters,"  the  "  BooTc  of  Ballymote,''^  the  Leabhar  Gabhaltas,  or  "  Book 
of  Conquests,"  the  last  of  great  antiquity,  now  in  the  Royal  Irish 
Academy,  are  found  several  allusions  to  this  pillar,  which  was  the  first 
erection  of  the  city  of  Brigandsia,  aftei'wards  Corunna.  It  was 
sung  by  Giolla  Cannhan.  ov  Keaviu,  a  very  ancient  Irish  poet,  in  a  long 
historical  poem,  which  records  the  adventures  of  the  family  oi  Breogan, 
the  renowned  Milesian  chief  who  built  this  tower,  and  whose  sons  led 
the  first  considerable  colony  to  Ireland. 

I  give  from  Sir  William  Betham's  translation  the  two  following 
stanzas :  —  , 

39. 

"  Great  skirmishes  and  battles  were  fought 
Against  the  renowned  Spanish  hosts. 
By  Breogan,  of  deeds  and  battles ; 
By  him  was  founded  Brigandsia.f 


43. 

"  Ith.  the  son  of  Breogan,  of  generous  fame, 
Was  the  chief  who  came  to  Ireland ; 
He  was  the  chief  man  tvith  a  tribe, 
Of  the  valiant  and  powerful  race  of  Gael." 

The  historians  acquaint  us  that  Ith,  with  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  followers,  landed  In  Ireland  about  one  thousand  two  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ ;  and,  being  suspected  by  the 
earlier  inhabitants  to  be  either  a  spy  or  an  Invader,  they  attacked  and 

t  The  meaning  of  the  term  Brigandsia  Is,  the  mountain  most  remote;  and  the 
founding  alluded  to  the  tower,  rather  than  a  town. 


AKRIVAL    OF    THE    CHIEF    MILESIAN    FLEET.  49 

killed  him  and  the  majority  of  his  followers,  a  few  only  escaping,  who 
reached  their  ships,  and  returned  to  Brigandsia,  (Corunna.)  Among 
those  who  escaped  was  Lughaigh,  the  son  of  Ith,  who  carried  back  his 
dead  father's  body,  and  exhibited  it  to  the  posterity  of  Breogan.  "  Then 
Lughaigh,  the  son  of  Ith,  went  to  Tuir  Breoghan,  [or  Corunna,]  and 
showed  his  father's  dead  body  unto  the  posterity  of  Breoghain." 

And  the  relatives  and  friends  of  Ith  resolved  to  avenge  their  father's 
death.  Accordingly  they  summoned  all  the  forces  they  could  com- 
mand, and,  according  to  the  old  text,  "  they  ship  dieraselves  at 
Corruna,  or  Tuir  Breoghain,  in  Galicia,  leaving  Spain  among  the 
forraigners,  like  a  boane  among  a  company  of  quarrelling  curres,  and  to 
sea  they  goe,  in  thirty  shippes,  each  whereof  carried  thirty  valiant  men, 
besides  their  women,  and  a  number  of  the  vulgar  sorte,  under  their  forty- 
nine  commanders,  viz.,  eight  sons  of  Breoghain, '^  Sec.  he. 

The  text  goes  on  to  desci'ibe  the  commanders  and  the  families  from 
whence  they  sprang,  and  informs  us  that  "  they  all,  with  their  forces, 
arrived  safe  at  the  haven  of  Wexford,  then  called  Jubhir  Slaine." 
This  landing  took  place  in  1264  before  Christ.  [As  it  begins  the 
authenticated  history  of  Ireland  under  the  Milesians,  I  shall  hencefor- 
ward observe  a  chronological  notation  in  my  historic  narrative.  The 
letters  B.  C.  I  shall   mean   to  express  the  words   '•'  before    Chi-ist,"] 

They  summoned  the  rude  inhabitants  to  surrender  the  government. 
To  this  a  reply  was  returned,  stating  that  they  had  no  notice  of  this 
hostile  invasion,  and  of  course  were  not  prepared  to  resist  it  ;  that  it 
was  contrary  to  the  rules  of  war  to  take  them  thus  by  surprise,  but,  if 
they  would  give  proper  time  to  collect  troops,  they  would  put  the  fate 
of  their  country  on  a  single  battle. 

After  much  negotiation,  the  following  condhions  were  agreed  to: 
That  the  invaders  should  speedily  return  to  their  ships ;  their  ships  clear 
the  coasts ;  after  which,  if  they  made  good  their  second  landing,  the 
Damnonii  (the  name  of  the  prior  inhabitants)  would  deem  it  an  equita- 
ble invasion,  and  either  submit  or  oppose  them,  as  they  found  most 
convenient. 

This  was  agreed  to  by  both  sides,  and  faithfully  adhered  to  by  the 
Milesian  chiefs.  They  conveyed  all  their  troops  and  provisions  on 
board,  and  put  to  sea  with  their  whole  fleet.  When  they  were  fairly 
in  the  main  ocean,  they  tacked  about ;  but  a  storm  coming  on,  produced 
dreadful  consequences  ;  several  vessels  were  lost ;  five  of  the  eight  sons 
of  Milesius  were  drowned,  besides  many  ladies  and  captains. 

A  portion  of  the  fleet,  thus  shattered,  made  a  landing  at  the  port  now 
7 


50  THE    MILKSIAN    AND    DAMNONIAN    BROTHERS. 

known  as  Drogheda,  on  the  north-eastern  coast  of  Ireland.  Another 
portion  relanded  in  Kerry,  near  Tralee.  A  bloody  battle  took  place,  in 
the  latter  place,  in  which  the  women  fought,  as  well  as  the  men.  Scota, 
the  widow  of  Milesius,  with  other  ladies,  fell  in  the  action,  and  the 
place  of  her  death  is  marked  to  this  day,  and  known  as  Scotha's  Hill. 
The  Milesian  army  were  the  victors,  and  then,  joining  their  companions 
in  Drogheda,  gave  battle  to  the  northern  inhabitants  on  the  plains  of 
Meath. 

The  Milesians  vi^ere  commanded  by  three  brothers,  and  the  Damnonii 
were  also  commanded  by  three  brothers.  The  battle  raged  all  day  with 
about  equal  success  on  both  sides.  The  opposing  princes  eagerly  sought 
each  other,  through  numbers  of  wounded  and  dying.  At  length  they 
met.  The  fate  of  Ireland,  like  that  of  Rome  in  the  days  of  the  Horatii, 
hung  on  the  swords  of  these  contending  brothers.  The  three  native 
chieftains  fell  by  the  hands  of  their  invading  opponents.  The  invaders 
were  now  the  victors. 

The  Danaans,  or  Damnonii,  aftej-  ruling  Ireland  for  one  hundred 
and  ninety-five  years,  were  completely  subdued.  Some  tribes  passed 
over  to  Devonshire  and  Cornwall,  in  England,  carrying  with  them 
the  customs  and  language  of  their  race.  Others  of  them  settled  beyond 
the  River  Shannon,  in  the  west  of  Ireland,  now  known  as  Connaught, 
where  they  were  permitted,  undisturbed,  to  establish  their  own  form 
of  government  and  elect  their  chiefs ;  which  distinct  law  and  govern- 
ment continued  in  force,  in  Connaught,  from  that  period  to  the  third 
century  of  the  Christian  era.  But  these  old  settlers  were  not  persecuted 
by  their  conquerors  ;  their  properties  were  not  confiscated  ;  their  gov- 
ernment was  not  abolished  by  the  ruthless  hand  of  their  invaders. 
Such  a  mode  of  settling  a  country  was  reserved  for  more  enlightened 
times. 

The  Milesian  adventurers  thus  became  masters  of  Ireland,  by  the 
laws  of  the  most  honorable  warfare ;  and  their  sway  continued  in  their 
successors  for  the  unprecedented  space  of  two  thousand  four  hun- 
dred YEARS. 


LECTUKE    III. 


FROM    1260   TO   860    B.   C. 

Government  established  by  the  Milesians.  —  The  Island  divided  between  Heber  and 
Herejnon.  —  Amberghin,  the  chief  Druid. —  Heber  and  Heremon  quarrel.  —  Heber 
slain. —  Heremon  proclaimed  King.  —  Erects  the  Palace  of  Tara.  —  Suppresses 
Rebellion.  —  Arrival  of  the  Tribe  called  Picts.  — Family  of  Milesius  refuse  them 
an  Inheritance.  —  Names  assumed  by  the  Milesians.  —  Picts  settle  in  ancient 
Caledonia. —  Seek  the  Liberty  of  marrying  the  Milesians. — Agree  that  the  new 
Colony  shall  be  subject  to  the  Milesian  King.  —  Death  of  Heremon. —  Names  of 
nineteen  Kings,  who  reigned  in  the  Course  of  four  hundred  Years.  —  Improvements 
in  the  Island. —  Advanced  State  of  Arts  and  Literature.  —  The  Law  of  Colors. — 
Ancient  Mode  of  dyeing.  —  Dress  of  the  Kings.  —  Gold  and  Silver  Helmets,  Ves- 
sels, &c.  —  Ambassador  sent  to  Greece.  —  Reign  of  Ollamh  Fodhla.  —  Assembles 
a  Parliament  at  Tara.  —  Dimensions  of  the  Hall.  —  Order  of  taking  Seats.  —  Pro- 
vincial Division  of  the  Kingdom.  —  Druid  Ceremonies  before  the.  Commencement 
of  Business.  —  Sheanechies'  Reports.  —  Rules  which  governed  the  Sheanechics. — 
Law  of  Hospitality.  —  Duty  of  the  Hospitaler.  —  Betagli  Lands. —  Hospitality  in 
Christian  Ireland  cherished  still  by  the  People. —  Irish  Law  of  Gavel. —  English 
Law  of  Primogeniture. — Contrasted.  —  Nature  of  the  British  Aristocracy.  —  Law 
of  Primogeniture  in  the  United  States  abolished.  —  Origin  of  Trial  by  Jury.  —  Altled 
the  Great  educated  in  Ireland.  —  The  whole  System  of  Irish  Law  transferred  by  him 
to  England. —  Remarkable  Coincidences.  .  .  . —  Ancient  Sheanichea  the  pres- 
ent Recorder.  —  Chief  Court  of  Tara.  —  Laws  of  Tara.  —  Origin  of  Corporations.  — 
Commentators  on  and  Compilers  of  Irish  Laws.  —  Ollamh  Fodhla's  History  of  the 
Milesians.  —  Laws  of  Heraldry.  —  Arms  of  Ireland.  —  Ladies'  Assemblies  in  Tara. 
—  Palace  of  the  Ladies. — The  Harp.  —  Songs:  "The  Harp  that  once  through 
Tara's  Halls."  —  Savourneen  Deelish.  —  Come,  raise  a  Cheer  for  Erin  ! 

B.  C.  1260.  The  leaders  of  this  successful  colony  now  turned  their 
attention  to  the  subject  of  its  government  and  permanent  establish- 
ment. Hcber-Fionn  and  Heremon,  brothers,  and  children  of  Milesius, 
as  chiefs  of  the  colony,  divided  the  island  between  them.  Heber 
enjoyed  the  sovereignty  of  all  the  southern  part ;  Heremon  enjoyed 
Leinster  and  the  northern  districts.  Some  of  these  districts  were  sub- 
divided amongst  their  sons,  and  secondary  chiefs,  according  to  rank 
and  merit.  The  province  of  Connaught  was  given  to  the  old  settlers, 
commonly  called  the  Belgse  or  Firboigs,  and  Danaans. 

A  third  son  of  Milesius,  Amhergin,  claims  our  attention.  He  was 
chief  of  the  order  of  learned  persons,  who  were  called  ollamhs,  that  is, 
doctors  —  professors  of  religious  ceremonies  and  literature.  He  was  a 
Druid;  a  priest  and  teacher  of  that  stupendous  system  of  mythology, 
which  prevailed  throughout  the  entire  family  of  the  Phoenicians,  and 
their  contemporaries,  the  Egyptians.  That  system  of  religious  obser- 
vance and  worship,  if  we  may  so  call  it,  was  introduced  into  Ireland  by 
the  Milesian  colony,  the  chief  Druid  being  Amhergin,   or,  as  some 


52  HEREMON  SOLE  MONARCH  OF  IRELAND. 

write  it,  Amberghin,  brother  of  the  successful  warriors.  A  universal 
obedience  was  yielded  to  the  priest  and  to  the  ceremonials.  Our 
imaginations  will  aid  the  historian  in  conceiving  and  picturing  the  gran- 
deur, solemnity,  and  fascination,  of  these  superbly  gorgeous  ceremonies, 
performed  in  a  country  newly  conquered,  and  in  presence  of  the  very 
heroes  and  priests  who  had  led  the  colony  on  to  victory,  and  to  the 
possession  of  the  most  fertile,  most  fruitful  land  yet  acquired  by  Phoe- 
nician enterprise. 

B.  C.  1250.  The  brothers,  Heber  and  Heremon,  were  not  destined 
to  enjoy  very  long  the  fruits  of  their  success.  A  few  yeai-s  passed  over, 
when  the  wife  of  Heber  threw  a  covetous  eye  on  a  lovely  vale,  situate 
on  the  border  of  her  husband's  dominion,  that,  by  the  first  partition- 
had  fallen  to  the  share  of  Heremon,  and  which,  from  its  rare  beauty, 
had  attracted  the  special  care  and  cultivation  of  the  latter's  wife.  The 
wife  of  Heber  urged  him  to  demand  of  his  brother  this  favored  spot. 
It  was  refused  :  an  appeal  to  arms  succeeded  the  negotiation.  The 
wife  of  Heber  urged  him  on  to  battle.  He  levied  his  followers,  and  led 
them  to  the  plains  of  Gesiol,  in  Leinster.  Here  he  was  met  by  his 
brother,  at  the  head  of  a  hardy  band,  when  that  memorable  battle 
was  fought,  which  gave  victory  to  Heremon,  and  which  lost  to  the 
ambitious  queen  of  Heber,  her  husband,  her  crown,  and  her  territory. 
Heremon  was  then  proclaimed  sole  monarch  of  Ireland.  Giraldus 
Cambrensis,  who  wrote  in  1176,  quoting  from  the  old  books  to  which 
he  had  access,  has  the  following  passage  in  reference  to  this  event :  — 

"  After  several  battles,  and  doubtful  events  of  war,  between  the 
brothers,  victory  fell  at  length  to  Heremon  ;  and  in  one  of  those  battles,. 
Heber,  his  brother,  being  slain,  Heremon  became  sole  master  of  the 
kingdom,  and  was  the  first  monarch  of  the  Irish  people,  who  inhabit  the 
kingdom  to  this  day." 

Heremon,  now  being  sole  monarch  of  Ireland,  built  a  splendid  residence 
on  a  gentle  eminence  in  the  present  county  of  Meath,  which  he  dedicat- 
ed to  his  queen.  Tea,  and  denominated  the  palace  of  Tea,  or  Tealtha. 
It  was  also  called  Tara,  and  again  Temora.  This  palace  was  enlarged 
at  several  periods,  and  became,  for  unnumbered  generations,  the  resi- 
dence of  the  monarchs  of  Ireland.  I  shall  have  frequent  occasion  to 
speak  of  Tara,  and  therefore  reserve  a  particular  description  of  this  far- 
famed  palace  of  kings  for  a  niore  advanced  stage  of  this  narrative. 
The  government  established  by  Heremon  was  a  simple  monarchy. 
His  reign,  though  short,  was  beset  with  difliculties.  Although  he  pro- 
vided for  the  sons  of  his  fallen  brother,  by  conferring  on  them  tracts  of 


AKRIVAL    OF    THE    TRIBE    CALLED    PICTS.  53 

their  father's  territory,  and  otherwise  actively  employed  himself  in 
establishing  law  and  order,  he  did  not  escape  the  troubles  of  rebellion. 
Some  of  his  chieftains  were  the  leaders  of  an  unnatural  revolt,  which, 
however,  he  suppressed.  In  addition  to  this,  he  was  plagued  with 
the  warlike  incursion  of  a  colony,  called  Picts,  who  came  from  one  of 
the  Grecian  islands  of  Thrace  to  seek  a  settlement  in  Ireland.  They 
were  strangers  to  the  Milesian  tribes,  and  excited  commotion  on  their 
arrival ;  for  it  was  the  custom,  amongst  the  ancients,  to  look  with  sus- 
picion on  strange  tribes  —  to  refuse  to  mix  or  reside  with  them. 

The  Milesians  —  Chnna  Mileag  —  that  is,  the  children  of  Milesius 
—  were  divided  into  four  tribes,  viz.,  those  of  Heber,  Heremon,  Ir,  and 
1th.  They  preserved  their  race  pure,  and  made  no  alliance  with 
strange  tribes,  nor  with  tlie  lower  orders,  or  vassals  of  their  own.  They 
formed  four  great  families,  who  were  descended  from  the  same  father. 
'^  They  preserved,"  says  the  Abbe  M'Geoghegan,  "  their  genealogies 
carefully,  and  knew  the  whole  line  of  their  ancestors  down  to  the  chief 
of  their  tribe.  This  precaution  was  essential  in  regard  to  the  succes- 
sion to  the  throne,  because  it  was  required  that  those  who  aspired  to  it 
should  be  descended  from  one  of  the  tribes."  Each  tribe  possessed, 
in  the  beginning,  their  own  portion  of  the  island,  and  each  portion  was 
divided  into  lands  and  lordships,  possessed  by  the  different  branches  of 
the  tribe.  Each  tribe  had  vassals  and  farmers  to  cultivate  their  lands 
and  tend  their  flocks.  Every  one  was  called  by  his  name.  They 
did  not  take  the  name  of  castles,  or  villages,  like  the  nobles  of  the 
present  day,  but  usually  added  to  their  names  that  of  their  fathers,  with 
the  adjective  Mac,  which  signifies  son,  viz.,  Mac  Mahon,  the  son  of 
Mahon.  RoIIin  says,  the  custom  of  the  East  was  to  add  to  the  name 
of  the  son  that  of  the  father.  For  instance,  Sardanapalus  is  composed 
of  Sardan  and  Pal,  which  means  Sardan  son  of  Pal.  This  custom 
was  followed  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  In  Muscovy,  the  same 
practice  is  observed  to  this  day.  The  Fitz,  formerly  made  use  of 
among  the  Saxons,  in  England,  meant  the  same  thing.  Fitzgevd\<\, 
Fitzsxmonii,  mean  the  son  of  Gerald,  the  son  of  Simons.  The 
present  race  of  Thompso7W,  Johnsons,  Jacksows,  &.c.,  are  emanations 
of  the  same  idea. 

Returning  to  the  Picts,  we  find  that  the  feelings  of  the  Milesians 
were  strongly  opposed  to  their  settlement  in  Ireland.  King  Heremon 
pointed  out  to  them  the  opposite  coast,  now  known  as  Scotland,  which 
was  then  either  not  peopled  at  all,  or  by  very  few  indeed.  The 
Pictish  adventurers  agreed  to  go  thither,  but,  being  without  women  or 


5.1  CALEDONIA  A  COLONV  OF  IRELAND. 

children,  ihey  sought  of  King  Heremon  Uberty  to  obtain  wives  from 
amongst  his  subjects  ;  and  they  agreed  that  the  government  of  the  new 
settlement  should  be  subject  to  the  Irish  monarch  and  his  successors. 
To  attest  the  sincerity  of  their  intentions,  and  to  afford  a  guaranty  for 
the  faithful  observance  of  their  engagements,  they  pledged  themselves  to 
encourage  the  continuance  of  this  connection  by  means  of  matrimonial 
alliances,  and  that  the  children  alone  of  Irish  women  should  succeed  to 
the  hereditary  oflices  connected  with  the  government,  religion,  educa- 
tion, or  military  system  of  the  colony.  To  this  stipulation  the  king 
agreed,  anrl  from  that  period  to  the  times  of  Columb  Kille,  in  the  sixth 
century  of  the  Christian  era,  this  compact  was  faithfully  adhered  to  on 
both  sides.  Caledonia  was  a  colony  tributary  to  Ireland,  and  sent 
deputations  to  the  parliament  of  Tara.  This  alliance  rendered  Cale- 
donia, in  after  ages,  impregnable  to  the  Roman  arms,  and  enabled 
that  colony,  by  the  aid  of  the  Irish  legions,  to  preserve  its  independ- 
ence against  all  invasions,  for  better  than  two  thousand  years.  The 
colony  was  called  Scoto,  after  the  mother  country,  Ireland.*  Ireland 
was  then,  and  for  many  subsequent  ages,  called  Scotia  Major,  or  the 
Great  Scotia,  and  the  colony  of  Caledonia  v.'as  called  Scotia  Minor, 
i.  e.,  the  Lesser  Scotia.  The  alliance  was  formed  and  bound  by  the 
ligaments  of  blood  and  interest:  indeed,  both  people  were  one 
family  ;  spoke  the  same  language  ;  were  governed  by  the  same  laws  ; 
fought  for  their  mutual  defence  in  the  same  legions  ;  cultivated  the 
same  music  ;  practised  tlie  same  religious  ceremonies,  customs,  he,  all 
which  shall  be  shown  and  sustained,  with  ample  proof,  in  the  course  of 
this  narrative. 

On  the  death  of  Heremon,  after  a  reign  of  thirteen  years,  he  was 
succeeded  by  his  three  sons,  who  agreed  to  divide  the  duties  of  supreme 
government  between  them  ;  each  ruling,  alternately,  during  one  year. 
In  the  progress  of  their  government  they  were  interrupted  by  the  sons 
of  Heber,  who,  with  their  forces,  overthrew  the  power  of  the  sons  of 
Heremon.  Various  hostile  struggles  lor  supreme  government  now 
ensued  between  those  rival  houses,  which  were  attended  by  much 
bloodshed.  Although  the  old  historians  go  into  lengthened  detail  of 
those  battles,  I  do  not  think  that  the  peaceful  spirit  of  the  present  age 
calls  for  a  very  circumstantial  account  of  such  deplorable  occurrences. 
I  shall  therefore  pass  rapidly  onward  to  that  period  of  our  history,  when 
these  physical  contests  were  partially  abated  by  the  establishment  of  the 
triennial  assemblies  of  Tara. 

The    princes  who  filled   the  throne  of  Ireland,  from  the   death  of 
*  The  Milesian  brothers  denominated  the  island  Scoto  in  honor  of  their  mother 
who  had  fallen  in  its  conquest. 


IMPROVEMENTS    IN    THE    ISLAND.  55 

Hevemon  to  the  time  of  Ollamh  Fodhla,  were  Muimhne,  Luighne, 
Laiskne,  Irial,  Eithrial,  Conmaol,  Tighcrmnas,  Eochaidth,  Cearman, 
Eochaidth  II.,  Fiachadth,  Eochaidth  III.,  Aongus,  Eadhna,  Rothe- 
achta,  Scadhna,  Fiachadth  II.,  Muincheamboin,  and  Aldergoid ;  viz., 
nineteen  kings  during  the  space  of  about  four  hundred  years. 

In  the  course  of  these  four  hundred  years,  the  island  increased  con- 
siderably in  its  population,  importance,  foreign  traffic,  &;c.  The  forests 
of  oak,  with  which,  we  are  informed,  the  whole  face  of  the  country 
was  originally  covered,  had  been  nearly  all  cut  down.  Agriculture  had 
progressed  under  the  care  of  royal  husbandmen.  The  Phoenicians, 
from  which  people  these  settlers  had  directly  emanated,  were  still 
the  leading  nation  of  Europe  and  the  East,  and  had  kept  up  a  con- 
siderable traffic  with  the  Milesians  of  Ireland.  Rome  had  not  yet 
begun  even  an  embryo  existence  ;  and  the  islands  of  Hellas  —  i.  e., 
the  Greek  islands  —  had  only  begun  to  emerge  from  the  most  un- 
lettered barbarism.  Although  the  Milesian  princes  battled  among 
themselves  for  political  or  supreme  sway,  as  most  of  the  ancients  did, 
yet  art,  science,  literature,  manufacture,  &;c.,  progressed  under  them 
with  an  expansive  speed,  which  does  not  at  all  surprise  us  when  we 
recollect  the  degree  of  refinement  and  advancement  their  immediate 
progenitors  had  maintained  for  many  previous  centuries. 

During  the  reign  of  Tighemmas,  (included  in  the  nineteen  kings,) 
literature,  arts,  and  agriculture,  flourished.  The  old  bards  and  his- 
torians celebrate  this  monarch  for  having  introduced  the  scale  and 
degrees  of  colors  to  be  worn  by  the  several  orders  of  the  people.  By 
him  it  was  ordained  that  princes  of  the  blood  royal  were  to  have  seven 
colors  in  their  garments.  The  monarch  was  known  by  his  mantle  of 
yellow  and  purple,  for  green  had  not  yet  become  the  national  color. 
The  vesture  of  the  Druids,  ollamhs,  bards,  and  artists,  was  variegated 
by  six  dyes  ;  that  of  the  nobility  and  knights  by  jioe  ;  of  betachs,  or 
keepers  of  the  houses  of  free  hospitality,  by  four ;  of  commanders  of 
battalions,  three ;  of  private  gentlemen,  two ;  and  of  peasantry  and 
soldiers,  one.  The  provisions  of  this  regulation  were  observed  for 
many  ages  with  the  most  rigid  attention.  The  regulation  had  scrip- 
tural authority  to  sustain  it ;  for  it  existed  among  the  chosen  of  God. 
We  are  told  that  "  Jacob  loved  Joseph  more  than  all,  his  children, 
because  he  was  the  son  of  his  old  age,  and  he  made  him  a  coat  of 
many  colors.^''  The  national  observance  of  this  custom  tended  to  induce 
the  cultivation  of  colors  amongst  the  people.  The  authority  of  foreign 
writers  exists,  which  proves  that  the  Irish  carried  the  art  of  dyeing  to 


56 


DRESS    OF    THE    IRISH. 


great  perfection.  Bishop  Nicholson,  a  learned  authority,  tells  us  they 
understood  the  composition  of  the  celebrated  Tyrian  purple,  which 
was  extracted  from  a  small  shell-fish  found  in  abundance  round  the 
Irish  coast.  Red,  purple,  and  crimson,  are  frequently  mentioned  by 
the  old  poets  in  their  descriptions  of  the  attire  of  their  heroes.  The 
learned  and  accomplished  English  author,  Colonel  Vallancey,  says,  on 
this  head,  "  Though  the  garb  of  the  ancient  Irish  was  simple  in  its 
fashion,  yet  the  materials  of  which  it  was  composed  were  of  the  most 
costly  quality.  Their  kings  wore  mantles  of  an  immense  size,  gen- 
erally nine  ells,  of  yellow  and  purple  silk,  which  were  studded  with 
gems  and  precious  stones.  Their  helmets,  shields,  and  ensign  staffs, 
were  of  pure  gold,  as  the  country  abounded  with  that  precious  metal." 
The  learned  Dr.  O'Conor  also  refers  to  that  period  in  the  following 
passage:  "The  dress  of  the  ancient  Scots  [Irish]  was  plain  as  their 
manners.  The  fashion  of  their  vesture  was  admirably  adapted  to  the 
manners  of  a  martial  nation,  and  it  received  very  litde  change  through 
all  ages ;  it  helped  to  display  action,  and  exhibited  the  actor  in  the 
most  advantageous  manner ;  it  bears  a  perfect  resemblance  to  the 
costume  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  [who  must  have  fashioned  after  the 
Phoenicians,  their  superiors  in  manufacture  and  art.]  One  piece  of  the 
dress  covered  the  legs  ,and  thighs  of  the  wearer  very  closely.  The 
hraccon,  or  vest,  was  fastened  v/ith  golden  clasps,  and  so  conveniently 
contrived  as  to  cover  the  breast  better  than  any  modern  garment,  while 
the  close  sleeves  of  a  flowing  mantle  gave  the  soldier  all  the  advantages 
he  could  require  in  the  use  of  arms.  Over  the  whole  they  wore  a 
fallung,  or  wide  cloak,  which  covered  them  from  the  sun  and  rain,  in 
time  of  inaction  ;  and  in  time  of  war  it  served  them  for  a  bed  in  the 
field  tents.  I  have  seen  a  representation  of  these  dresses  in  the 
carving  on  the  king  of  Connaught's  tomb,  [Feidlim  O'Connor,]  in  the 
abbey  of  Roscommon,  and  I  am  certain  that  the  remains  of  this  species 
of  dress  are  still  preserved  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland." 

These  and  other  testimonies  sustain  us  in  believing  the  advanced  de- 
gree of  maturity  to  which  civilization,  art,  and  manufacture,  had  arrived 
at  that  period  amongst  the  ancient  Irish.  In  the  reign  of  this  prince, 
also,  were  many  mines  of  great  value  discovered  and  opened  in  Ireland. 
Some  goblets  have  been  found  in  the  bog  of  Allen,  which  were  made 
in  the  reign  of  Tighernmas,  and  their  sculptured  devices  afford  a  proof 
of  the  proficiency  of  the  ancient  Irish  in  the  working  of  metals,  &c. 
Dr.  Warner  says,  referring  to  this  era  in  our  history,  that  "  gold  and 
silver  must  have  been  very  plenty  in  this  country  in   ancient  times,  as 


AMBASSADOR  SENT  TO  GREECE.  57 

all  the  knights  wore  golden  helmets,  and  chains,  and  shields  of  the 
same  precious  metal."  A  bit  of  a  bridle,  of  solid  gold,  of  ten  ounces, 
which  was  found  in  digging  some  ground,  was  sent  as  a  present  to 
Charles  the  First,  by  the  Earl  of  Straftbrd.  The  same  nobleman  sent 
also  an  ingot  of  silver  to  the  royal  mint,  from  the  mines  of  Tipperary, 
which  weighed  three  hundred  ounces,  and  a  crown  of  gold  was  also 
found,  and  many  other  evidences  of  ancient  wealth  and  art.  Heraldry 
and  heraldic  orders  had  been  introduced  into  the  customs  of  the  gentry 
and  chiefs,  which  were  more  generally  observed  by  those  classes  in 
subsequent  times. 

Another  of  the  nineteen  kings,  viz.,  Eithrial,  wrote  the  history  of  his 
ancestors,  from  the  great  Phenius  down  to  his  own  days.  "  According 
to  Colgan  and  Molloy,"  says  Pepper,  ''  this  work  of  our  royal  his- 
torian existed  in  the  archives  of  Tara,  until  St.  Patrick,  in  the  too 
ardent  glow  of  his  Christian  zeal,  committed  it  to  the  flames,  with  very 
many  more  of  our  antique  works."  O'Halloran  says  that  King  Eith- 
rial sent  an  embassy  to  Greece,  consisting  of  many  learned  men,  at 
the  head  of  which  was  the  Druid  Abaris,  who  instructed  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Hellas  in  many  of  the  arts  and  sciences  then  familiar 
to  the  Irish.  Tiiis  embassy  proceeded  to  Egypt,  to  explore  the  rich 
mines  of  knowledge  existing  there,  and  returned  through  the  Phoenician 
territories,  carrying  back  to  Ireland  great  additions  to  the  national 
science  and  knowledge.  Diodorus,  quoting  Heccatacus,  the  Egyptian 
writer,  confirms  this.     See  ••'  Round  Towers,",  further  on. 

B.  C.  9:20.  We  now  come  to  the  reign  of  Ollamh  Fodhla.  This 
prince,  memorable  for  the  wise  institutions  which  he  founded  in  Ireland, 
came  to  the  throne  of  the  Milesian  kings  after  a  bloody  contest.  He 
was  of  the  line  of  Ir:  was  crowned  with  the  utmost  grandeur  as  KinK 
Eochaidh,  which  was  his  real  name  ;  but,  being  a  prince  of  profound 
acquirements,  and  having  been,  before  his  elevation,  one  of  the  bardic 
order,  he  assumed  the  name  of  Ollamh  Fodhla,  viz.,  Learned  Doctor, 
or  Doctor  of  Ireland.  His  reign  constitutes  the  most  memorable 
epoch  in  the  annals  of  the  ancient  Milesians  :  he  saw  and  deplored 
the  strife  which  continued  to  grow  from  the  opposing  and  ambitious 
impulses  of  rival  chieftains ;  he  had  witnessed  the  frequent  acts  of  in- 
justice practised  by  local  petty  chieftains  on  their  vassals,  and  he  had 
the  wisdom,  as  well  as  magnanimity,  to  propose  a  tribunal,  before  which 
he,  as  well  as  all  other  men  in  the  country,  must  bow  —  to  which  all 
should  be  responsible.  This  tribunal  consisted  of ''the  assembly  of  the 
estates" which  this  great  man  proposed  should  meet  every  third  year  at 
8 


58  HALL  OF  TAKA. ORDEK  OF  TAKING  SEATS. 

the  palace  of  Tara.  It  was  composed  of  the  provincial  princes,  nobles, 
Druids,  brehons,  bards,  artists,  and  workers  in  metals.  This  parliament 
was  assembled  under  the  grandest  order  of  ceremonies  ;  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  members,  who  consisted  of  a  thousand  persons,  an 
t'xtensive  hall  was  erected,  principall)^  of  oak,  the  fronts  of  which  were 
supported  by  richly  carved  and  ornamented  pillars  of  the"  same  wood. 
This  national  hall  was  five  hundred  feet  long,  sixty  wide,  and  one 
hundred  high.  It  had  fourteen  principal  entrances,  many  of  which 
opened  into  banqueting  rooms,  libraries,  and  courts  of  judgment.  This 
extensive  erection  of  wood  gave  place,  in  the  third  century  of  the 
Christian  era,  to  a  magnificent  edifice  of  marble,  raised  by  the  pro- 
found scholar  and  king,  Cormac ;  of  which  more  in  its  place. 

In  this  great  assembly  the  utmost  decoruni  was  observed  ;  each 
member  had  his  place  presciibed  ;  his  shield  of  arms  was  fixed  over  his 
seat ;  the  princes  of  the  royal  Milesian  blood  had  their  seats  next  the 
monarch ;  the  provincial  kings  had  seats  immediately  around  his 
person.  Ireland  had  been,  at  this  time,  divided  into  the  provinces  of 
Leinster,  Munster,  Connaught,  and  Ulster,  over  each  of  which  there 
was  a  provincial  king,  or  governor,  who  reigned  both  by  election  and 
by  blood.  The  monarch  of  Ireland  was  generally  chosen  by  the  voice 
of  the  assembly  from  these  four  princes ;  his  power  extended  over  all 
Ireland,  while  theirs  extended  only  over  their  respective  districts.  It 
was  the  practice  of  the  Irish  kings  to  suggest  or  name,  during  their 
lifetime,  their  successors  in  the  monarchy,  which  nomination  required 
to  be  approved  by  the  national  assembly. 

The  members,  sitting  under  their  respective  armorial  shields  and 
standards,  the  provincial  princes,  and  the  monarch  in  the  midst,  must 
have  exhibited  a  splendid  spectacle  to  a  free  and  enthusiastic  people. 
When  we  consider,  that  this  legislative  body  consisted  of  nearly  one 
thousand  persons,  and  that  the  people,  to  whom  they  gave  laws,  did  not 
exceed  two  millions,  we  may  then  foim  some  idea  of  the  democracy  of 
that  assembly,  and  proudly  contrast  that  feature  with  any  modern 
parliament  or  house  of  legislation  in  the  world. 

Business  commenced  in  the  parliament  of  Tara  with  great  solemnity. 
The  Druids  were  occupied,  for  three  days  previous  to  its  commence- 
ment, in  offering  their  mysterious  sacrifices  to  the  sun  and  moon.  Those 
ceremonies  were  performed  in  the  view  of  thousands :  there  were 
numerous  trains  of  virgins,  called  vestals  of  the  moon,  who  assisted  at 
the  ceremonies,  attired  in  white  dresses  richly  adorned  with  gems  and 
precious  stones.     After  these  ceremonies  had  passed  away,  the  mem- 


RULES    WHICH    GOVEHNEO    THE    SHEANACHIES.  59 

bers  were  called  to  their  duties  by  a  flourish  of  musical  instruments. 
Their  first  business  was  to  call  on  the  Sheanachics,  or  provincial 
historians,  to  read  their  reports  of  all  public  occurrences,  crime,  or 
oppression,  from  their  respective  districts.  These  Sheanachies  were 
selected  from  the  most  trustworthy  :  they  had  lands  app)'opriated  to 
tiieir  use,  and  were  rendered  perfectly  independent  of  their  prince. 
They  were  expected  to  utter  nothing  that  was  not  strictly  correct.  The 
Sheanachie  was  liable  to  severe  punishment,  expulsion  from,  the  legisla- 
ture, and  even  death,  if  found  guilty  of  the  slightest  deviation  from  truth. 
The  learned  and  celebrated  Primate  Usher  says  of  this  class  of  pubhc 
officers,  "  The  Brehon  Fileas  [Sheanachies]  were  commissioned  to  set 
down  in  writing  every  remaikable  transaction  worth  recording  thai 
happened  in  the  kingdom,  as  well  as  in  the  neighboring  states,  agreeably 
to  the  truth  of  the  facts.  And,  lest  any  error  or  false  insinuation  should 
creep  in,  or  be  introduced,  they  were  bound,  in  the  general  convention,  or 
in  the  presence  of  the  chief  monarch  and  a  select  committee  of  the  nobili- 
ty and  Druids,  to  produce  their  writings  every  three  years,  when,  after  a 
diligent  examination,  and  having  expunged  every  fact,  which  appeared 
either  uncertain  or  of  doubtful  authority,  from  the  record,  none  was  pre- 
served but  that  which  was  sanctioned  by  the  votes  of  all,  as  worthy  of 
the  great  Psalter  of  Tara ;  so  culled  because  it  was  compiled  in  verse 
to  aid  the  memory,  and  to  guard  against  corruptions  and  falsifications." 

Each  province  sent  its  Sheanachie  before  the  assembly,  and  that 
which  he  reported,  when  undisputed,  was  committed  to  the  great  book 
of  Tara,  called  the  Sheanachie  More,  or  Great  Antiquity ;  otherwise 
the  Psalter  of  Tara.  This  chief  record  was  carried  on  by  the  Mile- 
sians, from  the  beginning  of  their  power  in  Ireland,  after  the  manner  of 
their  ancestors,  the  Phoenicians,  who  kept  their  national  history,  from  die 
infancy  of  primeval  time,  in  the  record  named  Sanconiathon. 

When  all  those  reports  were  heard  and  recorded  in  the  great  book, 
tlien  was  the  assembly  called  upon  to  make  suitable  laws  to  repress 
criine,  to  regulate  the  enterprise  or  stimulate  the  industry  of  the  people. 
Prominent  amongst  the  ancient  laws  which  emanated  from  Tara  was 
the  celebrated  law  of  hospitality.  This  provided  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  public  places  of  entertainment,  at  suitable  distances  from  each 
other,  where  the  traveller  was  ever  sure  to  find  food  and  a  home.  Lib- 
eral grants  of  land  were  made  by  the  state,  and  by  princes,  for  this 
purpose.  TbiC  officer  appointed  to  administer  the  national  hospitality 
was  called  the  betagh,  (that  is,  hospitaler,)  and  the  lands  he  occupied 
were  called  the  hally  betagh.  He  was  enjoined  to  keep  grazing  in  his 
pastures  six  herds  of  cattle,  each  herd   to   number  one  hundred  and 


60  LAW    OF    HOSPITALITY. 

twenty  head,  and  to  have  seven  ploughs  continually  working  in  his 
fallows.  He  was  to  have  food  at  all  times  prepared  for  those  who 
travelled,  or  were  in  want.  There  was  no  such  thing  known,  for  ages 
upon  ages,  in  Ireland,  as  a  public  inn,  hotel,  or  other  such  establishment, 
in  which  a  charge  was  made  for  entertainment.  This  public  custom 
continued  in  Ireland  many  centuries,  even  long  after  its  connection 
with  England ;  at  least  through  three  fourths  of  the  kingdom,  which, 
until  the  sixteenth  century  of  the  Christian  era,  had  never  submitted 
to  the  English  crown.  There  were  eighteen  hundred  of  those  houses  in 
the  province  of  Munster.  In  the  reign  of  James  the  First,  the  Irish 
attorney-general  of  that  monarch,  namely,  Sh'  John  Davies,  reported, 
under  his  own  hand,  to  his  royal  master,  that,  z'/t  the  single  county  of 
Monahan,  there  then  were  ninety-six  thousand  acres  ofbetagh  lands  ; 
all  of  which  were  duly  seized  by  his  religious  majesty,  and  divided,  with 
other  similar  lands,  amongst  his  canting  followers.  When  Ireland  be- 
came Christian,  the  lands  which,  in  pagan  times,  were  thus  administered, 
passed  into  the  management  of  the  Christian  priestiiood.  Hospitality 
ever  after  appeared  as  the  handmaid  of  Religion.  The  people  imbibed 
the  social  virtue  as  a  tenet  of  their  faith,  and  entwined  it  in  the  code  of 
their  religious  observances.  It  has  descended  to  their  children,  and  is 
practised,  even  in  their  fall,  as  one  of  their  most  paramount  duties. 
The  dwelling  of  the  humblest  peasant  in  Ireland,  like  that  of  the 
proudest  lord,  bears  testimony  to  the  prevalence  of  this  exalted  virtue. 
Every  traveller  who  visits  Ireland  bears  a  hearty  attestation  to  this. 
Go  into  the  poorest  cottage  at  meal-time,  —  the  board  may  be  poorly 
furnished,  —  the  dish  may  consist  of  potatoes  only,  —  whatever  it  is, 
you  are  welcome  to  a  share  of  it ;  for  hospitality  is  part  of  the  na- 
tional sentiment  of  Ireland ;  and  O,  may  that  Christian,  godlike  vir- 
tue never  abandon  the  hearts  of  her  children  in  exile,  wheresoever 
chance  or  persecution  may  drive  them  ! 

The  next  important  law  that  emanated  from  Tara  was  the  law  of 
gavel.  This  was  a  law  which  obliged  the  rich  parent  to  divide,  at  his 
death,  all  his  property,  share  and  share  alike,  amongst  his  children. 
The  jurist,  the  true  poUtical  economist,  and  the  democrat,  will  acknowl- 
edge this  law  to  be  amongst  the  very  best  that  could  be  devised,  to 
subdivide  masses  of  property  amongst  a  people.  They  must  ac- 
knowledge it  to  be  the  very  wisest  of  human  devices  for  repressing  the 
growth  of  an  aristocracy.  To  estimate  truly  the  value  of  this  law,  we 
should  weigh  it  with  its  opposite,  the  law  of  primogeniture.  That  cele- 
brated baron  law  was  instituted  in  England  by  William  the  Conqueror, 
hi  the  eleventh  century,  and  transferred  to  Ireland  after  her  complete 


IRISH    LAAV    OF    GAVEL. LAW    OF    PRIMOGENITURE.  6 1 

connection  with  the  British  crown,  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  law 
of  primogeniture,  or  entail,  prohibits  the  owners  of  the  chief  estates  in 
Britain,  or  Ireland,  from  seUing  any  portion  of  them,  dividing  them 
amongst  children,  or  any  way  disposing  of  them,  except  by  the  aristoc- 
racy-sustaining regulations  which  it  prescribes.  These  compel  the 
parent,  at  his  death,  to  bequeath  the  whole  of  his  land  estate  to  his  next 
male  heir,  to  the  manifest  deprivation  of  the  rights  of  his  other  children. 

Every  man  can  see,  by  this  comparison,  how  well  calculated  was  the 
old  Irish  law  of  gavel  for  diffusing  wealth,  and  distributing  amongst  the 
people  the  social  and  political  power  which  it  always  confers.  Every 
man,  also,  can  estimate  the  aid  which  the  law  of  primogeniture  offers  to 
tyranny,  by  concentrating  vast  property  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  by 
giving  that  few  unlimited  power,  which  the  few  have  never  failed  to 
use  to  debauch  the  press,  corrupt  the  legislature,  demoralize  public 
sentiment,  and  oppress  the  people.  If  we  would  thoroughly  understand 
its  nature,  let  us  observe  its  action  in  Britain  and  Ireland.  The  whole 
surface  of  those  kingdoms  is  owned  by  about  five  thousand  prime  pro- 
prietors in  fee.  The  joint  population  of  Britain  and  Ireland  amounts  to 
some  seven-and-lwenty  millions,  and  these  five  thousand,  with  their 
families,  by  their  compact  action  and  great  wealth,  contrive  to  fill  the 
two  houses  of  parliament  with  themselves  and  their  nominees.  It  has 
been  proved  that  the  British  house  of  commons  contains  four  hundred 
members,  out  of  six  hundred  and  fifty-eight,  who  are  directly  returned 
to  parliament  by  the  landed  interest.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that 
the  British  house  of  lords  is  made  up  nearly  entirely  of  the  landed 
aristocracy  ;  and  this  faction  have  continued,  and  do  continue,  to  rob  the 
people  of  both  nations  of  twenty  millions  sterling  per  annum  by  their 
corn  tariff,  and  of  forty  millions  sterhng  per  annum  by  their  national 
debt,  which  they  borrowed  to  preserve  their  estates,  and  which  they 
compel  the  people  to  pay. 

The  law  of  primogeniture  prevailed  in  the  American  states  as  long  as 
they  were  subject  to  the  same  British  faction.  On  the  establishment 
of  American  independence,  the  British  law  of  primogeniture  was 
abolished,  and  the  Irish  law  of  gavel  was  substituted.  Up  to  the  year 
1800,  the  law  of  primogeniture  lingered  in  Virginia  and  Kentucky ;  but 
at  present  there  is  not  a  remnant  of  that  tyrannic  law  remaining  in 
existence  throughout  the  entire  Union. 

Equalling  the  foregoing  in  importance,  and  springing  from  the  same 
source,  was  the  trial  of  the  twelve  men,  or,  in  other  words,  the 
trial  by  jury.     That  was,  and  is,  essentially  an  Irish  law.    Leland,  who 


62  ALFRED    THE    GREAT    EDUCATED    IN    IRELAND, 

though  he  was  writincr,  to  screen  the  English  Government,  tells  us, 
in  the  preface  to  his  History  of  Ireland,  that  among  the  old  Brehon 
laws  of  Ireland  was  one  which  referred  all  disputes  about  land  to  the 
decision  of  twelve  men.  All  personal  disputes  in  those  ages,  under  the 
head  of  '•' offences  against  the  person,"  were  decided  by  wager  of 
battle,  or  personal  combat.  The  law  of  the  twelve  men  prevailed  in 
Ireland  for  many  ages  before  the  time  of  King  Alfred.  That  truly  great 
prince  and  his  brother  were  driven  into  exile  by  the  Danes.  They 
were  received  in  Ireland,  and  were  educated  in  the  collegti  of  Mayo, 
where  Alfred  not  only  acquired  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  whole 
system  of  Irish  jurisprudence,  but  learned  also  to  play  well  on  the  Irish 
harp,  which  proved  of  the  utmost  service  to  him  in  his  celebrated  con- 
flicts with  the  Danes.  It  is  related  of  that  great  prince,  that  he  entered 
the  Danish  quarters  disguised  as  a  wandering  harper,  and  played  so 
admirably  on  the  instrument,  that  he  obtained  their  confidence,  and 
made  himself  acquainted  with  all  their  plans,  which  knowledge  he 
communicated  to  his  countrymen,  who  were  thereby  inspired  to  make 
that  vigorous  effort  which  freed  his  country,  during  his  life,  from  the 
Danish  yoke. 

The  whole  superstructure  of  Irish  law  was  transferred  by  Alfred  to 
England,  including  the  law  of  gavel,  the  trial  of  the  twelve  men,  the 
chief  court  of  judgment.  The  great  boolc  of  maxims,  commonly  called 
the  Doomsday  Boole,  which  still  remains  in  the  archives  of  Oxford, 
was  modeled  after  the  Psalter  of  Tara.  The  only  merit  due  to 
King  Alfred,  in  reference  to  the  trial  by  jury,  is,  he  extended  the  Irish 
law  of  the  twelve  men  to  all  questions  relating  to  the  person,  as  well 
as  to  property.  I  may  add  here  that,  when  Alfred  was  firmly  estab- 
lished on  the  throne  of  his  fathers,  he  brought  over  Irish  preceptors,  and, 
amongst  others,  the  celebrated  iJn'^ma,  under  whose  management  he 
founded  the  university  of  Oxford  —  that  Oxford  which  has,  in  latter  years, 
so  frequently  poured  out  its  hireling  venom  on  Ireland  and  Irishmen. 

Tile  office  of  the  Sheanachie  comprehended  other  duties  than  the 
recording  of  public  occurrences.  The  Sheanachie  was  a  petty  judge  in 
his  district,  and  decided  on  matters  of  secondary  importance.  Thii. 
officer  is  still  continued  in  the  British  and  American  constitution,  in  the 
person  of  the  recorder.  The  duties  performed  at  present  by  tht 
recorders  of  London,  Dublin,  and  New  York,  are  not  very  dissimilar  to 
tliose  performed  by  the  ancient  Sheanachics  of  Ireland.  The  great 
book  of  antiquity  kept  at  Tara,  called  the  Sheanachie  More,  was  a  rec- 
ord of  all  the  maxims  of  law  and  government,  which   had  grown   from 


CHIEF  COURT  OF  TARA.  63 

the  experience  of  ages.  It  was,  in  fact,  the  code  of  common  law,  the 
maxims  of  which  had  grown  into  proverbs,  and  were  turned  by  the 
bards  into  verse,  the  better  to  fasten  them  in  the  memories  of  the 
people. 

The  estates  of  Tara  instituted  a  chief  court,  before  which  all  ap- 
peals, disputes,  and  complaints,  from  every  part  of  the  kingdom,  were 
brought  for  final  adjudication.  The  most  careless  observer  will 
recognize,  in  that  ancient  Irish  tribunal,  the  origin  of  the  present  Courts 
of  Chancery  of  England  and  Ireland,  and  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  In  the  first  session  of  the  assembly  of  Tara,  it  was 
established,  says  the  Abbe  M'Geoghegan,  as  a  fundamental  law  of  the 
land,  that,  every  three  years,  the  king,  nobility,  and  principal  men  in 
the  kingdom,  should,  under  certain  penalties,  repair  in  person,  or,  in 
case  of  sickness  or  any  other  obstacle,  send  proxies  to  Tara  at  the 
time  fixed,  there  to  deliberate  on  the  necessities  of  the  state,  to  establish 
laws,  and  confirm  or  change  the  old  ones,  as  the  general  welfare  might 
require.  It  was  afterwards  decreed  by  the  assembly  that  each  lord 
should  maintain,  at  his  own  expense,  a  judge  and  historian,  to  whom  he 
should  assign  a  portion  of  land  sufficient  for  the  maintenance  of  their 
family,  so  that,  free  from  all  domestic  embarrassments,  they  might 
devote  their  time  exclusively  to  their  employment.  The  business  of 
the  historian,  who  was  a  sort  of  notary,  was  to  preserve,  in  writing,  a 
record  of  their  genealogies,  alliances,  and  noble  actions,  which  was  pre- 
sented, every  three  years,  to  the  national  assembly,  to  undergo  the 
criticism  of  a  committee  of  nine,  viz.,  three  princes,  three  Druids,  and 
three  historians  :  an  abstract  of  these  things,  to  give  them  validity,  was 
registered  in  the  Psalter  of  Tara.  This  custom  of  examining  the 
annals  of  private  families,  and  enrolling  them  in  the  Psalter  of  Tara, 
lasted,  without  interruption,  till  the  twelfth  century  of  the  Christian  era, 
and  without  any  change,  except  that,  when  the  pagan  j)riesthood  was 
abolished  by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  in  the  fifth  century,  the  three 
Druids  were  replaced  by  three  bishops.  So,  when  St.  Patrick  assist- 
ed as  judge,  with  other  bishops,  at  one  of  those  assemblies,  he  had  all 
the  ancient  books  of  the  Milesians  brought  before  him,  and,  having 
examined  them  all  very  carefully,  he  approved  of  the  Psalter  of  Tara, 
with  several  other  histories,  written  long  before  his  time,  and  at  the 
same  time  condemned  and  burnt  one  hundred  and  eighty  volumes  of 
the  bardic  compositions. 

Besides  the  public  offices  created  in  the  assembly  of  Tara,  every 
lord  or  chief  had  a  physician,  poet,  and  musician,  to  each  of  whom  he 


64  ORIGIN    OF    CORPORATIONS. 

assigned  a  certain  portion  of  land.  These  lands,  like  those  of  the  judges 
and  historians,  were  considered  sacred,  and  were  exempt  from  all  taxes 
and  impositions,  even  in  time  of  war,  like  those  of  the  Dmid  priests  of 
Egypt  —  a  convincing  proof  of  the  taste  of  the  Milesians  for  the 
politer  arts  in  those  remote  times.  Wise  laws  were  also  enacted  to 
maintain  the  public  peace.  All  violence  against  members  of  the 
assembly,  during  the  session,  was  prohibited  under  pain  of  death.  The 
same  sentence  was  pronounced  against  those  guilty  of  murder,  violation, 
and  robbery,  without  the  monarch  having  the  power  to  pardon. 
Copies  of  these  ordinances  were  distributed  amongst  all  the  private 
judges  in  the  kingdom,  to  serve  as  rales  in  the  administration  of 
justice. 

A  celebrated  regulation  was  instituted  for  mechanics.  They  ap- 
pointed sixty  of  each  trade  in  every  district  to  inspect  and  govern  the 
others.  No  one  was  allowed  to  work  at  any  trade  without  having  been 
approved  of  by  these  commissioners,  who  were  called,  in  the  language 
of  the  country,  "  Jollamuidh,"  which  signifies  expert  in  their  art  or 
profession.  Such  was  the  first  organization  of  bodies  of  trades  and 
mechanics  in  Ireland  ;  and  such  was  the  origin  of  corporations,  first 
instituted  for  the  management  of  trades,  and  subsequently  for  the  man- 
agement of  town  and  city  affairs.  The  English  are  indebted  to  Ireland 
for  their  corporate  institutions,  but  have  not  the  honesty  to  admit  it :  on 
the  contrary,  they  would  rather  acknowledge  themselves  indebted  for 
these  institutions  to  the  Romans,  their  conquerors,  than  to  the  Irish, 
their  ancient  allies.  But  justice  will  be  done  to  ancient  Ireland,  never- 
theless, by  the  enlightened  opinion  of  mankind.  Ireland  was  familiar 
with  those  laws  and  institutions  ere  Carthage  or  Rome  had  yet  been 
cities,  ere  Greece  was  honored  by  Solon  and  Lycurgus  ;  three 
centuries  before  Rome  received  from  the  Athenians  the  laws  of  the 
twelve  tables.  I  extract  entire  from  the  Abbe  M'Geoghegan  the 
following  gratifying  paragraph  :  — 

"  About  the  time  of  our  Saviour  the  learned  in  the  jurisprudence  of 
the  country  began  to  make  collections  of  the  laws,  and  to  commit  them 
to  Vvriting,  several  of  which  are  mentioned  by  their  historians.  In  the 
time  of  Conquovar,  king  of  Ulster,  who  began  to  reign  some  years 
before  the  Christian  era,  Forchern  and  Neid-IMac-Aidnha,  two  cele- 
brated poets,  composed  a  dialogue  on  the  laws.  The  same,  with 
Athirne,  chief  poet  of  Conquovar,  were  the  authors  of  the  axioms  of 
the  laws,  called  '  judicia  coslestia,'  [celestial  judgments,]  as  the  axioms 
of  the  sages  of  Greece  were  called  '  dicta  sapientium.'      Fearadach, 


COMMENTATORS    ON    AND    COMPILERS    OF     IRISH    LAWS.  65 

the  monarch,  and  Moran,  his  judge,  were  celebrated  for  their  justice  and 
their  writings  on  the  laws.  Modain-Mac-Tolbain,  judge  under  Con- 
stantine,  surnamed  Keadcaha,  made  a  collection  of  laws,  called  'Meill- 
breatha.'  Fiothall,  or  Fithic  Fiorgothia,  one  of  the  legislators  at  Tara, 
under  Cormac,  surnamed  Ulfada,  has  left  a  treatise  upon  laws  entitled 
'  Fiondsuith.'  King  Cormac  and  Cairbre,  his  son.  made  a  code  of  laws, 
called  *  Dula,'  which  was  divided  into  three  parts,  and  contained  regula- 
tions on  various  matters. 

"  All  those  works  on  law,  with  many  othei-s  of  the  same  nature, 
were  collected  in  the  eighth  century,  and  formed  into  one  body  of  laws, 
by  three  brothers,  Faranan,  Boethgal,  and  Moeltul,  the  first  of  whom 
was  a  bishop,  the  second  a  judge,  and  the  third  a  poet  and  antiquarian. 
This  collection  was  called  '  Brathaneimhadh,'  signifying  '  sacred  judg- 
ments.' The  matter  it  contained  is  briefly  explained  in  the  following 
Irish  lines :  — 

'  Eagluis,  flatha  Agus  filidh 
Breitheamh  Dliios  gacbdligh, 
Na  bruigh  fo  aibh  dar  linn, 
Na  saor  agus  na  gablian  ; ' 

which  are  thus  translated  into  Ijatin  by  Gratianus  Lucius :  — 

'  Quid  sit  jus  cleri,  satrapEe,  vatisque,  fabrique, 
Nee  non  agricoliE,  liber  iste  docebit  abunde  ;' 

and  into  English  for  the  information  of  all :  — 

Priests,  bards,  and  poets, 
Judges,  human  and  divine, 
That  never  oppressed,  in  our  time, 
Trades,  ails,  or  science. 

"  Gratianus  Lucius  mentions  his  having  seen  several  larsje  volumes 
on  Irish  laws,  written  m  large  characters  on  parchment  — 

"  '  I  myself  have  seen  many  thick  volumes  of  Irish  laws,  written  on 
parchment,  and  among  them  the  text  written  in  large  characters,  having 
the  lines  moderately  separated,  for  the  more  easy  interpretation  of  the 
words  compressed  in  smaller  letters.  We  see  more  copious  comments 
introduced  in  the  page,  having  the  text  the  same  as  in  books  of 
laws.'"* 

[These  Irish  laws  were  adopted  by  Alfred  and  Edward  the  Confessor, 
kings  of  England,  who  formed  the  Doomsday  Book.     Lyttleton  was  the 

*  Several  vols,  of  Brehon  laws,  in  the  Irish  character,  are  now  in  Trinity  College. 

9 


6Q  HERALDRY    OF    VARIOUS    NATIONS. 

first  Englishman  who  wrote  a  small  work  on  the  laws,  which  formed  texts 
for  Coke  and  others,  who  followed  and  enlarged.]  Ollamh  Fodhla, 
having  a  pure  taste  for  literature,  gave  every  encouragement  to  the  bards 
and  historians :  he  founded  several  public  places  of  instruction,  and  a 
chief  one  near  his  own  palace  of  Tara,  where  the  higher  mysteries  of 
the  Druids  and  the  superior  branches  of  knowledge  were  taught ;  he  also 
wrote  with  his  own  hand  a  history  of  the  Milesians  in  Ireland,  from 
their  first  landing  down  to  the  period  of  his  reign,  which  he  prefaced 
by  an  account  of  their  ancestors,  the  Phoenicians,  tracing  their  pedi- 
gree back  almost  to  the  flood.  This  work  was  submitted  by  him  to 
the  estates  of  Tara,  received,  and  adopted,  as  the  beginning  of  theii' 
national  journal,  the  Psalter  of  Tara  :  several  copies  were  made  of 
that  great  book,  and  were  kept  in  the  capitals  of  the  provinces,  which 
gave  rise  to  the  Psalter  of  Cashell,  the  Psalter  of  Ardmagh,  of 
Glendelagh,  Tuam,  &;c.,  and  several  othei-s,  which  were  regularly  con- 
tinued transcripts  of  the  great  national  journal  ke})t  in  Tara. 

This  prince,  during  a  reign  which  extended  to  forty  years,  regulated 
the  laws  and  customs  of  heraldry.  Previous  to  his  time,  the  Milesians 
did  not  observe  very  exactly  any  particular  order ;  they  had  a  banner, 
bearing,  as  an  escutcheon,  a  dead  serpent  and  a  wand,  in  memory  of  the 
cure  of  Gaodhal  by  Moses.  The  Milesian  genealogists  traced  their 
connection  to  Gaodhal,  and  therefrom  assumed  as  their  distinguishing 
emblem  the  dead  serpent  and  wand.  King  Ollamh  Fodhla,  however, 
instituted  symbols  and  ensigns  for  all  his  chiefs,  which  symbols  were 
affixed  to  their  seats  in  the  hall  of  legislation,  to  prevent  all  jealousy 
and  confusion.  The  Milesians,  according  to  Keating,  evinced  a  strong 
partiality  for  heraldic  distinctions.  Our  early  annalists,  says  he,  inform 
us  that  Hector,  the  Trojan  hero,  bore  sable  two  lions  combatant ; 
Osiris,  the  Egyptian,  bore  a  sceptre-royal,  ensigned  on  the  top  with  ao 
eye  ;  Hercules,  the  Phoenician,  bore  a  lion  rampant  holding  a  battle- 
axe  ;  the  arms  of  the  kingdom  of  Macedon  were  a  wolf;  the  Scythians, 
who  remained  in  the  country,  and  made  no  conquests  abroad,  assumed 
a  thunderbolt ;  the  Egyptians  bore  an  ox  ;  the  Phrygians,  a  swine  ; 
the  Thracians  painted  the  god  Mars  upon  their  banners  ;  the  Romans, 
an  easle ;  and  the  Persians,  bows  and  arrows.  Homer  relates  that  the 
shield  of  Achilles  had  several  curious  devices  raised  on  it ;  Alexander  the 
Great  bore  a  lion  rampant,  and  ordered  his  soldiers  to  display  the  same 
upon  their  shields  ;  Augustus  Csesar  bore  the  image  of  Alexander  the 
Great ;  the  Phoenicians,  being  a  commercial  nation,  assumed  the  prow 
of  a  ship.     The  author  of  the  Leabhar  Leatha  says  the  twelve  tribes 


ARMS    OF    IRELAND.  67 

of  Israel  bore  each  different  symbols,  to  distinguish  them  in  their  march 
through  the  desert.  Dr.  Warner  says  there  was  no  nation  where 
heraldic  distinctions  were  more  strictly  regulated  than  in  Ireland. 
When  a  chieftain  distinguished  himself  against  the  enemy,  his  name 
and  exploit  were  immediately  entered  into  the  records  of  his  house,  to 
be  transmitted  down  from  father  to  son,  and  by  that  means  to  inspire 
the  several  branches  of  the  family  with  an  emulation  to  imitate  such  a 
great  example. 

The  harp  was  the  earliest  national  symbol  of  the  Firbolgs,  or 
first  inhabitants.  When  Heber  and  Heremon  divided  the  kingdom 
between  them,  they  differed  about  a  musician  and  poet ;  but  the  matter 
was  settled  in  a  friendly  manner  by  Ambergin,  their  brother,  who  ad- 
judged the  musician  to  Heber,  and  the  poet  to  Heremon  ;  the  brothers 
then  assumed  the  harj)  as  an  emblem  of  the  harmony  that  prevailed 
between  them.  The  yellow  banner,  emblazoned  with  the  dead  serpent 
and  the  rod  of  Moses,  was  borne  by  the  standard-bearer  of  Roderick 
O'Connor,  king  of  Connaught,  when  that  monarch  had  an  interview 
with  Henry  the  Second  of  England.  Brian  Borohme  bore  on  his 
standard,  at  Clontarf,  the  sun  bursting  through  a  cloud.  It  may  be 
that  I  shall  enter  more  fully  on  the  subject  of  Irish  heraldry  in  the 
progress  of  this  work,  if  I  think  it  will  not  swell  the  volume  to  an 
inconvenient  bulk.  I  pass  on  from  the  topic,  merely  observing  that 
the  whole  system  and  stiperstructure  of  English  and  French  heraldry 
have  been  modeled  after  the  old  orders  and  creations  of  Tara.  These 
heraldic  laws  and  symbols  were  introduced  into  Gaul,  (France,)  and 
into  Europe  generally,  by  the  celebrated  Charlemagne,  on  the  reestab- 
lisliment  of  civilization,  in  the  eighth  century.  It  is  distinctly  recorded 
of  that  distinguished  king  and  scholar,  that  he  brought  from  Ireland 
several  learned  men,  under  whose  direction  he  founded  universities  in 
various  parts  of  his  dominions.  Amongst  these  learned  Irishmen 
were  Claude  Clement  and  John  Scott,  who  were  installed  by  Charle- 
magne professors  over  the  universities  of  Pavia  and  Paris. 

The  palace  and  the  assemblies  of  Tara  were  adorned  by  the  beauty 
of  the  land.  Modern  belles  and  beaux  imagine  that  in  ancient  times 
the  human  face  bore  no  traces  or  lineaments  of  heaven's  divine 
creation.  They  firmly  believe,  indeed,  that,  before  the  discovery  of 
certain  soaps,  loashes,  and  composites,  the  cheek  of  woman  threw  out 
no  lovely  glow,  and  her  eye  no  kindling  ray ;  that  men  were  a  sort  of 
wild  animals,  with  bushy  hair  and  ferocious  aspects,  and,  of  course, 
insensible  to   the  more  refined  influence   of  the  superior  sex.     Such 


CS  ladies'  assemblies  in  tara. 

sapient  thinkers  should  be  reminded  that  the  gorgeous  sun  shone  in  the 
heavens  three  thousand  years  ago  as  brightly  as  it  does  now ;  that  the 
moon  glided  then  through  her  silvery  path  with  the  same  regularity 
and  bewitching  brightness  she  does  at  present;  that  the  firmament 
was  studded  with  the  same  bright  stars  we  now  look  uj>on  with  so 
much  rapture ;  that  Nature,  through  her  successive  seasons,  put  forth 
her  changing  beauties  with  the  same  pleasing  variety,  in  endless 
continuation,  breathing  through  rich  foliage  her  balmy  incense,  filling  the 
flowers  with  vivifying  perfume,  prompting  millions  of  winged  choris- 
ters to  chirp  the  same  light  and  happy  strains  which  we  see,  and  feel, 
and  hear,  at  this  day ;  that  Nature  was  the  same  throughout  all  time, 
under  the  rule  of  one  great  God ;  and  man  has  ever  been  subject  to 
the  same  natural  laws. 

'Every  account  of  the  transactions  of  Tara,  which  the  old  historians 
have  left  us,  bears  ample  evidence  of  the  grandeur  of  their  various 
ceremonies,  whether  of  business  or  pleasure,  the  magnificence  of  their 
festivals,  the  innocence,  and,  at  the  same  time,  utiHty  of  their  sports 
and  amusements.  To  the  ladies  present  on  all  or  any  of  these  occa- 
sions, the  utmost  deference  v/as  paid :  a  special  palace  was  appropriated 
to  their  use,  which  was  called  Griannan  na  Ninghean,  or  the  Council 
of  the  Ladies.  This  council  had  delegated  to  it  power  to  regulate  all 
things  appertaining  to  woman.  In  such  an  assembly,  we  may  readily 
imagine,  music  held  a  prominent  consideration.  Such  was  the  case. 
The  oldest  and  most  polished  instrument  of  the  Milesians,  the  harp, 
was  the  favorite  instrument  of  the  refined  then,  as  it  now  is,  boxed 
though  it  be  in  the  case  of  a  piano-forte,  and  struck  by  leathern 
hammers  instead  of  fairy  fingers.  The  "  harps  of  Tara "  have  long 
been  the  theme  of  the  bard  and  poet.  Moore,  the  sweetest  bard  of 
modern  times, —  of  whom  Erin  may  well  be  proud,  —  has  linked  the 
"  harp  of  Tara  "  with  immortal  verse. 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


69 


COME,    RAISE    A    CHEER    FOR    ERIN! 

WORDS     BY     T.    MOONEY. 


Written  on  the  Mississippi,  ichile  on  my  Western  Repeal  Mission  in  1841-2,  and  'pub- 
lished in  the  Dublin  Pilot,  in  one  of  a  series  of  letters,  addressed  by  me  to  that 
paper,  under  the  title  of '■'■  American  Correspondence.'^  T.  M. 


-1^ ^C 


^ 


1.    Come,  raise 


— b— -4 


zi 


a     cheer    for         E 

0 


rin !      Her 


l_ 


f=g: 


^-W 


rz:±- 


f 


-s 


sun         a    -   gain       will        shine    out   bright !       Come, 


5^ 


Se^eSS 


-p         p- 
raise  a  shout  for       E  -  rin  !    She'll  soon     e- merge  from 


:trT 


^ 


^P^: 


r 


-r-^tf-^  -* 


slavery's  night. 


e££ 


i 


Come, 


®±= 


^^¥=i 


i 


70 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


_  r  r  Pn 


raise  the  toast   to         E  -  rin  !     Tho'      wa  -  ter    sparkle 


— b - 


e- 


I 


-^ — ^- 


'~T_ 


3=?- 


in    the  bowl,     I'll     drink  thy  health,  dear   E  -  rin ;   Thy 


@-fc 


5— [===£==^ 


:^i^ 


— I — a — ^**, — 


:^ 


^  ^         -»•        k^iii^  p        ^ 

burn  -  ing  flame  still  lights  my  soul ! 


"rrri — 
3D= 


9  0 

TT 

~r  r 


i 


-5-:^: 


T- 


~=^ 


I 


2. 

There  was  a  time  when,  Erin, 

You  gave  the  haughty  Briton  laws ;  * 
There  was  a  time  when,   Erin, 

Your  children  won  the  world's  applause ! 
And  the  time  again  is  nearing, 

When  Freedom's  sword  we'll  bravely  draw, 
To  guard  your  soil,  dear  Erin, 

And  give  your  people  their  own  law. 


See  the  foregoing  section,  under  the  head  of  "  Trial  by  Jury." 


MUSIC    AND    POETKY.  71 

3. 

Then  rouse  your  heart,  dear  Erin, 

And  sound  your  voice  from  shore  to  shore! 
Demand  your  rights,  brave  Erin, 

And  your  parliament  they'll  soon  restore ; 
And  lift  on  high  your  streaming 

Green  banner,  as  in  days  gone  by. 
The  nations  aid  you,  Erin ! 

And  Heaven  smiles  a  cheer  fiom  high ! 

There  are  three  other  sets  of  words  to  this  beautiful  old  Irish  air,  viz. :  "  Maurian 
a,  Gibberlaun,"'  an  old  Irish  composition  ;  "  The  rose-tree  full  in  bearing ; "  and  "  I'd 
mourn  the  hopes  that  leave  rtie,"  by  Moore.  The  latter  I  append,  because  it  was 
addressed  by  the  author  to  his  wife. 


I'D  MOURN  THE  HOPES  THAT  LEAVE  ME. 

1. 
I'd  mourn  the  hopes  that  leave  me, 

If  thy  smiles  had  left  me  too ; 
I'd  weep  when  friends  deceive  me, 

Hadst  thou  been,  like  them,  untrue. 
But  while  I've  thee  before  me. 

With  heart  so  warm,  and  eyes  so  bright, 
No  clouds  can  linger  o'er  me ; 

That  smile  turns  them  all  to  light. 

2. 

'Tis  not  in  fate  to  harm  me, 

While  fate  leaves  thy  love  to  me ; 
'Tis  not  in  joy  to  charm  me, 

Unless  joy  be  shared  with  thee : 
One  minute's  dream  about  thee. 

Were  worth  a  long,  and  endlq^s  year 
Of  waking  bliss  without  thee. 

My  own  love,  my  only  dear! 

3. 

And  though  the  hope  be  gone,  love, 
That  long  sparkled  o'er  our  way, 


72 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


O !    we  shall  journey  on,  love, 
More  safely  without  its  ray. 

Far  better  lights  shall  win  me, 

Along  the  path  I've  yet  to  roam, — 

The  mind  that  burns  within  me, 

And  pure  smiles  from  thee  at  home. 

4. 

Thus,  when  the  lamp,  that  lighted 

The  traveller,  at  first  goes  out. 
He  feels  awhile  benighted,  • 

And  looks  round  In  fear  and  doubt ; 
But  soon,  the  prospect  clearing. 

By  cloudless  starlight  on  he  treads. 
And  thinks  no  lamp  so  cheering 

As  that  liiiht  which  heaven  sheds  I 


SHAVOURNEEN    DHEELISH. 


[my     beautiful     young     ELLE.N     DEAR.] 

BV    LADY   MOKCAIT. 
Rather  Sr^ow,  with  Expiikssion. 


^i^nziE 


1.   O!    the 


H' 


^"^ 


5^ 

-w  car 


-  ment      was     sad,         when    my 


© 


-^ 


i: 


love   and    I         part  -  ed !    Sha   -   vour  -  neen    Dheel  -  ish 


.MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


73 


S-'= 


r 


1 ^ — 1^ 

Ei  -  leen   Ogge;     As    I       kissed  off   her  tears,    I    was 


8: 


^ 


-fP- 


'»  r_Tzzir 


1    r 


l-JJ' 


333^L=ji^:Eg^3^gis_^-j 


niiih    broken  -  heart  -  ed  ;  Sha  -  -  vour  -  neen  Dheel  -  ish 


Ei  -  -  leen     Ogge. 


Wan     was    her  cheek,    which 


la: 


"*    r: 
rizci 


iiE 


"I — I — ri" 


"jg    s^r 


isi 


'W 


E_rz=s: 


zzfizw: 


:^=p: 


:p=:: 


hung   on   my   shoul  -  der ;      Damp    was   her  hand  —  no 


^- 


-J-T ^— 


©:p: 


mar  -  ble  was  cold  -  er ;      I       felt      in    my  heart    I   ne'er 

^  -ftf 


IP 


10 


74 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


Long  I  fought  for  my  country,  far,  far  from  my  true  love, 
Shavourneen  Dheelish  Eileen  Ogge  ; 

All  my  pay  and  my  booty  I  hoarded  for  you,  love, 
Shavourneen  Dheelish  Eileen  Ogge  ; 

Peace  was  proclaimed  ;    escaped  from  the  slaughter, 

Landed  at  home,  my  sweet  girl  soon  I  sought  her  ; 

But  sorrow,  alas  !    to  the  cold  grave  had  brought  her, 
Shavourneen  Dheelish  Eileen  Ogge. 


MUSIC. 


75 


CAROLAN'S    FAREWELL    TO    MUSIC. 


i-e-^: 


TTI. 


h 


C 1~  "~i — WTZ     in~TIIIiTl*~i* n  I      IT 

-i — ^^-3~#^~  -i — *#^ — rh"  -I — rr~r~^#~  ~"S' — j 


I^Z 


^ 


S^?=F 


-^-.   « 


Trr 


3^^#^: 


i 


- — r«i»~i — »" 


/N  l»  ^  H^l  BT       

:g~a~rr^^g~,r~Tpr~rg^< 


'rrrr~rrwrr'\      rrrr-r 


FFrr 


1       rrrr 


' — *^— ri — rn 


•    «      '_Pj9 


r~~r  rr»i — ^ni" 


'S?' 


I        I" 

9' 


HUMORS    OF    MULLINAFAWNA 


"n 


rrr~rw~ 


frtzEzZL 


'r~Y 


0'F9 


-f=t^=5,rr: 


P^ 


9-W^9 

T:~rrr- 


^ZCiri 


x_.rzzizri  ?. 


""s: 


•g    f~rg~ 


"I  J  I  #" 
"^  rrf~ 


-'Sf 


^^ 


LECTURE    IV. 


THE    IRISH    LANGUAGE. 
SECTION    I. 

The  Irish  Language.  —  Attempts  to  suppress  it.  —  Professor  of  the  Irish  Language 
appointed  by  the  Dubhn  University. — The  oldest  Manuscripts  in  Europe  in  the 
Irish  Language.  —  Irish  Dictionaries. —  Ancient  Writers  on  the  Language. — 
Etruscan,  Celtic,  and  Irish  Language  identical. —  Sir  William  Betham's  Opinion 
thereon.  —  Much  of  the  Latin  derived  from  the  Irish.  —  Criterion  to  judge. — 
Refinement  of  the  Phojnicio-Etruscans.  —  Ancient  Irish  Alphabet.  —  Compared 
with  the  Egyptio-Irish  Ogham.  —  Five  of  the  Zodiacal  Signs  are  Letters  of  the 
Irish  Alphabet.  —  Gave  to  Perry,  of  the  Morning  Chronicle,  the  Idea  of  Short 
Hand  Writing.  —  Moore's  Opinion  on  the  Language.  —  Fidelity  of  the  Irish  to 
their  Letters^  and  Language.  —  Irish  Alphabet  printed  by  Order  of  Bonaparte. 
—  Ireland  the  School  of  the  Saxons.  —  Mother' Tongues  of  Europe.  —  Alpha- 
bets now  in  Use  in  the  World. —  Suggestions  for  restoring  the  Language.  —  Its 
musical  Properties.  —  Ancient  Irish  and  Egyptians  the  same  Family. — Origin 
of  the  prefixes  0  and  Mac.  —  Meaning  of  the  Term  Celt.  —  Languages  liable 
to  alter  in  Pronunciation  and  in  Spelling.  —  Efforts  of  the  British  to  root  the 
Language  out  of  Scotland  and  Wales.  —  Estimate  of  the  Numbers  who  still 
speak  the  Irish  Language  in  Wales  and  Scotland.  —  Like  Estimate  for  Ire- 
land.—  Like  Estimate  of  those  Exiles  who  speak  it. — Efforts  lately  made  to 
revive  it.  —  Irish  Language  the  Key  to  most  others.  —  Efforts  of  the  learned 
Men  of  Ireland  to  restore  it.  —  Suggestions  to  Parents  in  this  Country. — Irish 
History  and  Language  not  taught  in  this  Country.  —  Appeal  to  wealthy  Irish- 
men on  this  Continent  to  revive  it. 

Having  introduced  to  the  reader  the  principal  settlers  of  ancient  Ire- 
land, and  traced  their  origin,  migration,  settlement,  government,  laws, 
&c.,  downwards  for  ahout  five  hundred  years,  I  will  now  treat  of  their 
language,  historians,  architecture,  bards,  poets,  music,  &c.  ;  after  which, 
in  ray  fifth  lecture,  I  will  resume  the  historic  narrative. 

In  offering  a  few  words  on  the  Irish  language,  I  confess,  with  humility, 
my  inability  to  do  even  limited  justice  to  a  question  so  profound.  I 
cannot  even  devote  space  to  the  opinions  of  others.  The  "  Irish  lan- 
guage," as  a  topic,  would  require  an  entire  volume  to  elucidate ;  and 
yet,  even  though  I  had  the  ability  to  compile   such  a  work,  and  the 


ATTEMPTS  TO  SUPPRESS  THE  IRISH  LANGUAGE.         77 

capital  to  bring  it  through  the  press,  where,  in  this  country,  should  1  find 
purchasers  in  sufficient  numbers  to  cover  the  expense?  The  Irish 
language  had  been,  in  the  course  of  the  last  three  centuries,  driven 
from  the  schools  and  universities  of  Ireland  by  the  tyrant  policy  of  Britain. 
Acts  of  parliament,  queenly  and  kingly  proclamations,  penalties,  and 
every  species  of  persecution,  were  called  up  to  suppress  its  use  in 
Ireland,  and  in  Ireland's  ancient  colony  of  Caledonia.  It  was  pro- 
claimed down  at  court,  discountenanced  by  the  affluent,  discouraged  by 
the  patrons  of  literature,  suppressed  totally  in  the  English  and  Irish 
schools  and  colleges.  My  father  told  me  that  he,  when  at  school,  has 
had  a  wooden  gag  put  into  his  mouth  by  his  teacher,  as  a  punishment 
for  having  spoken  occasional  words  of  the  Irish  language  during  school 
time.  It  is  really  wonderful  how  a  language,  so  hunted  from  school 
and  cabin  by  the  severest  kind  of  persecution,  did  yet  survive ;  and  still 
more  wonderful  is  it  to  see  the  descendants  of  those,  who  made  war 
upon  that  language,  now  exerting  themselves  to  reestablish  it  in  those 
very  universities  from  which  they  formerly  hunted  it  with  such  senseless 
barbarity  ! 

In  the  university  of  Dublin,  called  Trinity  College,  a  professor 
of  the  Irish  language  was  appointed  in  the  year  1841.  On  this  head, 
Sir  William  Betham,  in  his  very  able  work,  from  which  I  have  quoted 
so  largely,  has  the  following :  — 

"  Until  last  year  the  university  of  Dublin  had  no  professor  of 
Irish !  A  reverend  and  learned  gentleman  has  been  recendy  appointed. 
It  is  said  he  speaks  the  vernacular  Irish  fluently.  Let  us  hope  that,  by 
his  means,  the  most  ancient  written  living  language  in  Europe  may 
take  its  just  place  in  the  estimation  of  the  learned,  and  escape  from  the 
undeserved  and  illiberal  criticism  of  those  who,  while  they  condemn, 
acknowledge  their  incapacity  to  judge,  and  virtually  the  injustice  of  their 
judgment.  It  has  long  been  a  reproach  to  the  Irish  university,  that, 
possessing  the  most  ancient  and  valuable  Irish  manuscripts  in  their  libra- 
ry, they  had  no  one  competent  to  explain  their  contents.  They  have 
long  had  professors  of  the  Oriental  languages,  and  even  writers  on 
Ethiopic  and  Sanscrit ;  but,  till  now,  no  professor  of  Irish.  Not  one 
of  the  fellows  has  ever  been  induced  to  make  himself  acquainted  with 
the  Iberno- Celtic,  [the  Irish,]  which  may  justly  contend  with  the  most 
ancient  language  of  the  East  for  precedence  in  antiquity. 

"  A  more  just  consideration  of  the  claims  of  the  old  tongue  of 
Ireland,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  now  be  accorded  ;  and  it  will  not  be 
despised  because  it  is  not  understood.     It  will,  I  trust,  be  examined  by 


78  IRISH    DICTIONARIES. 

a  scholar,  a  man  of  liberal  education  and  enlightened  mind  ;  one  who 
will  commence,  perhaps,  in  some  measure  influenced  by  the  prejudices 
of  education,  but  who,  duly  weighing  every  point  of  evidence,  will 
accord  due  weight  to  each.  Such  a  man  will  discover  in  the  Irish 
language  a  mine  of  philological  wealth  ;  a  guide  which  will  explain 
most  of  the  difficulties  which  have  hitherto  so  much  obscured  the 
history  of  the  ancient  people  and  languages  of  Europe." 

"  It  is  a  singular  fact,  not  generally  known,"  continues  Sir  William, 
"that  the  most  anciext  European  manuscripts  now  existing 
ARE  IN  THE  Irish  LANGUAGE,  and  that  the  most  ancient  Latin  manvr 
scripts  in  Europe  were  ivritten  by  Irishmen.  I  have  in  my  own 
library  manuscripts  unintelligible  to  common  Irish  scholars.  The 
present  Irish  vernacular  has  a  very  limited  vocabulary  ;  only  so  much 
as  is  necessary  for  the  purposes  of  rural  life,  and  the  wants  of  the 
peasant.  Nine  tenths  of  the  language  have  become  obsolete,  and 
only  to  be  found  in  ancient  glossaries  and  manuscripts.  Fortunately, 
the  labors  of  a  few  scholars,  within  the  last  two  centuries,  have  collected 
the  ancient  words  into  the  form  of  a  dictionary :  among  these  the  late 
Mr.  William  Halliday,  the  compiler  of  the  best  Irish  grammar,  deserves 
honorable  mention.  By  his  premature  death,  Irish  literature  sustained  a 
heavy  loss.  That  learned  and  talented  individual  collected  materials 
on  the  basis  of  Shaw's  Gaelic  Dictionary,  which  the  late  Edward 
O'Reilly  added  to  and  published.  Four  fifths  of  the  words  contained  in 
this  work  are  now  obsolete  and  unintelligible  to  the  Scottish  Highlander 
and  the  speakers  of  Irish  of  the  present  day.  Much  of  the  Gaelic, 
in  tlie  translations  which  I  have  given  of  the  Etruscan  and  Eugubian 
Tables,  is  certainly  obsolete  and  unintelligible  to  the  Scottish  Gael,  and 
to  those  who  merely  speak  the  modern  Irish.  The  Scots,  having  no 
ancient  manuscripts,  know  nothing  of  their  tongue  beyond  what  is 
acquired  orally,  which  is  limited  and  meagre  when  compared  with  the 
old  language. 

"  It  has  been  said  that  the  modern  Gaelic  has  no  terms  of  art  or 
science.  This  is  to  be  attributed  to  their  having  been  lost  by  non- 
usage  ;  for  the  ancient  Irish  possesses  all  the  terms  of  art  or  science 
known  at  the  time  it  was  colloquial.  The  present  Irish  vernacular 
has  not  now  in  use  one  fifth  of  the  words  to  be  found  in  the  ancient 
glossaries,  [dictionaries ;]  it  is,  therefore,  not  a  matter  of  surprise  that 
these  works  are  not  understood  by  those  who  speak  the  limited  and 
corrupted  vocabulary  of  the  present  day,  and  who  are,  also,  for  the 
most    part,    illiterate.     To  many    of   those  who  read    and    write    the 


ANCIENT    WRITERS    ON    THE    LANGUAGE.  79 

modern  language,  ancient  manuscripts  are  unintelligible,  and  even  to 
those  who  pretend  to  translate  them.  It  is  in  the  ancient  manuscripts 
that  the  old  Celtic  language  is  presented  in  its  purity.  Glossaries 
of  the  Irish  Gaelic  exist  in  manuscript,  written  some  centuries  since, 
explaining  words  even  at  that  time  obsolete.  At  the  same  time,  it 
must  be  observed  that  much  of  the  Gaelic,  which  I  have  placed  in  juxta- 
position with  the  Etruscan,  is  intelligible  even  to  the  vernacular  Irish- 
man or  Scottish  Highlander.  The  similarity,  the  almost  identity,  is 
remarlcahle  ;   there  are  very  few  variations  even  of  a  letter. 

"  The  most  celebrated  of  the  ancient  Irish  glossaries  [dictionaries] 
is  that  ascribed  to  Cormac,  bishop  of  Cashel,  who  lived  about  A.  D. 
901.  There  are  two  or  three  copies  of  this  work  in  Trinity  College, 
Dublin.  A  copy  of  this  glossary,  made  for  General  Vallancey,  by 
Peter  Connell,  who  was  a  good  ancient  Irish  scholar,  with  many 
glosses  and  additional  explanations,  I  have  had  copied  and  collated, 
with  many  others,  and  translated  all  the  explanations  into  English.  I 
have  had  copies  made  of  O'Clery's  and  many  other  glossaries,  and 
believe  I  possess  copies  of  the  best,  if  not  of  all,  that  are  extant. 
In  addition  to  which,  I  have  interleaved  dictionaries  with  many  thou- 
sand words  added  from  the  books  of  Ballymote  and  Lecan,  and  the 
Leabhar  Brean,  Brehon  laws,  and  other  ancient  manuscripts,  glossed 
and  explained  by  interlineations,  especially  those  of  the  ancient  laws. 
The  language  of  the  Eugubian  Tables,  being  so  ancient,  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  inchoate,  primitive,  monosyllabic  roots,  from  which  the 
more  modern  compound  language  may  be  ascertained  by  analysis,  and, 
being  understood,  will  assist  greatly  in  determining  the  sources  of 
many  other  modern  tongues.     *     *     * 

"  The  essence  of  the  languages  of  the  Etruscans  and  Celts  may 
fairly  be  considered  identical.  At  the  same  time,  no  one  could  flatter 
himself  that  a  translation  of  such  difficulty  could  be  made  perfect  by  a 
first  effort.  I  commenced  the  study  of  the  Irish  language  late  in  life, 
and  would  willingly  have  foregone  the  laborious  exertion,  could  I 
have  been  fortunate  enough  to  have  met  with  an  Irish  scholar  capable 
and  willing  to  have  done  justice  to  the  subject  which  so  much  interested 
my  thoughts.  If,  in  early  life,  I  had  been  acquainted  with  the  lan- 
guage, the  task  might  have  been  accomplished  with  less  labor,  and 
perhaps  more  perfectly." 

Sir  William  then  goes  into  a  lengthened  critical  analysis  of  the 
Irish  language,  tracing  its  letters  and  sounds  to  the  most  remote  an- 
tiquity.    "  It  is,"  he  says,  "•'  the  most  ancient  living  language ;  more 


80  CELTIC    AND    IRISH    LANGUAGES    IDENTICAL. 

ancient  than  the  Greek  itself."  He  proves,  as  I  have  in  another 
place  quoted  him,  that  the  language  spoken  throughout  the  Phoenician 
empire  was  that  which  we  now  call  Irish.  It  was  the  language  of 
Tyre,  of  Carthage,  of  the  refined  and  learned  inhabitants  of  Italy,  ages 
before  "  Rome  "  was  dreamed  of.  Moreover,  it  is  a  twin  dialect  to  the 
Syriac,  the  language  which  the  Redeemer  used  while  on  earth.  Italy 
was  the  first  great  colony  of  the  Phoenicians  which  improved  on  the 
state  of  civilization,  derived  from  their  Tyrian  ancestors,  even  more 
than  Carthage.  On  this  head  ray  learned  authority  says,  "When  we 
assert  that  the  roots  of  many  words  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  are  to  be 
found  in  the  Irish  language,  it  may  excite  surprise  in  the  minds  of 
some  ;  but  if  we  are  able  to  show  that  the  Irish  language  is  the  same 
as  that  spoken  by  the  people  who  occupied  Italy  and  the  countries  bor- 
dering on  the  Mediterranean,  the  absurdity  vanishes,  and  the  fact  ceases 
to  surprise.  A  man  will  laugh  in  your  face  if  you  assert  that  the  Latin 
is  mostly  derived  from  the  Irish  ;  but  if  y^u  are  able  to  show  that  the 
Etruscan  inhabitants  of  Italy  spoke  the  same  or  a  kindred  language, 
if  he  be  not  convinced,  his  sarcasm  and  ridicule  will  certainly  be  de- 
prived of  all  its  point."  The  very  learned  and  able  Dr.  O'Brien, 
the  compiler  of  the  first  published  Irish  dictionary,  in  his  preface  to  that 
work,  gives  a  long  list  of  words  in  the  Irish,  having  a  strong  affinity 
with  the  Latin  and  Greek,  "  which,"  he  says,  "should,  I  presume,  be 
esteemed  a  strong  proof  that  the  Lingua  Prisca  [first  language]  of 
the  aborigines  of  Italy,  from  which  the  Latin  of  the  twelve  tables,  and 
afterwards  the  Roman  language,  was  derived,  could  be  nothing  else  but 
a  dialect  of  the  original  Celtic — a  dialect,  indeed,  which,  in  process  of 
time,  received  some  mixture  of  Greek,  especially  the  ^olic,  from  the 
colonies,  or  rather  adventurers,  which  anciently  came  to  Italy  from 
Peloponnesus,  agreeably  to  the  saying  of  Dionysius  Halicarnassus.  The 
language  used  by  the  Romans  is  neither  absolutely  barbarous,  or  Greek, 
but  a  mixture  of  both  :  in  many  respects  it  is  similar  to  the  ^olic 
lanffuase." 

"  And  at  the  same  time,"  continues  Dr.  O'Brien,  "  to  show  that 
the  Iberno-Celtic  did  not  borrow  from  the  Latin  any  of  those  words  in 
which  both  languages  agree,  1  shall  only  lay  down,  on  the  part  of  the 
Irish,  those  which  are  expressive  of  ideas  which  no  language  can  want 
words  for,  even  in  its  most  incult  state,  and  are,  at  the  same  time,  the 
only  words  in  common  use,  in  that  language,  to  signify,  precisely  and 
properly,  the  things  they  are  appropriated  to  —  two  characteristics  which 
plainly  demonstrate  that  they  are  not  derivatives  of  any  other  language, 


THE    ETRUSCAN    AND    THE    IRISH    IDENTICAL.  81 

but  rather  genuine  original  words  of  the  Cehic  tongue,  from  which  cir- 
cumstances, joined  to  the  plain  marks  of  derivation  with  lohich  the 
corresponding  Latin  ivords  are  stamped,  it  will  evidently  appear  that 
the  Latin  ivords  are  derivations  of  the  Celtic,  from  which  the  old 
Latin,  refined  by  the  Romans,  had  been  formed."  Again, "  Now,  it  is  to 
be  noted,  that,  inasmuch  as  it  is  allowed  by  the  best  etymologists,  that, 
of  radical  words  of  the  same  sense  in  different  languages,  those  should 
be  esteemed  the  more  ancient  that  consist  of  fewest  letters,  and  that,  of 
words  agreeing  only  in  part,  those  which  have  the  additional  letters  or 
syllables  are,  for  the  most  part,  derivations,  —  it  follows  that  the  Iberno- 
Celtic,  being  chiefly  monosyllabic,  should  be  esteemed  the  radical  and 
ancient  words.  The  Latin  words,  agreeing  in  sense  with  the  Irish  mono- 
syllables, are  generally  of  two  or  more  syllables."  Dionysius  Halicar- 
nassus,  who  wrote  a  short  time  previous  to  the  birth  of  Christ, 
says,  the  Etruscans  had  their  own  language,  rites,  manners,  and  laws, 
which  were  original  and  independent.  Referring  to  their  inscriptions  on 
the  Eugubian  Tables,  Sir  William  Betham  remarks,  "  That  the  sixth  and 
seventh  tables,  written  in  the  Roman  character,  were  examined  by  their 
framers  with  great  care  before  they  were  placed  where  they  were  found, 
appears,  from  certain  erasures  and  insertions,  by  ivay  of  correction  of 
errors  committed  by  the  engraver,  exhibiting  a  great  desire  for  accuracy, 
as  well  as  demonstrating  that  the  language  was  then  governed  by  rules 
of  orthography  and  grammar  —  a  most  significant  test  of  a  high  state  of 
civilization  and  progress  in  literature,  the  result  of  a  long  period  of 
enjoyment,  of  repose,  and  political  security,  and  the  development  of 
the  highest  exertions  of  the  human  intellect.  The  works  of  mind  of 
this  wonderful  people,  in  the  various  departments  of  literature,  science, 
sculpture,  painting,  commerce,  architecture,  mining,  navigation,  astrono- 
my, and,  in  short,  every  other  art  and  token  of  civilization,  fill  the  mind 
with  astonishment ;  all  having  germinated  and  been  brought  to  light 
principally  by  themselves,  and  from  them  communicated  to  the  rest  of 
the  world,  and,  as  has  been  elegantly  expressed  by  Professor  Haron,  the 
gentle  attrition  of  commerce  thus  lighted  up  the  flame  of  civilization." 

There  is  no  doubt  but  the  Etruscan  lanffuage  and  character  so 
referred  to,  as  the  twin  dialect  of  the  Irish,  are  directly  traceable  to  the 
era  of  symbolic  writing,  when  ideas  were  represented  by  figures  of  men, 
beasts,  trees,  birds,  fishes,  weapons,  &c. ;  when,  as  I  have  before  noted, 
writers  abbreviated  those  signs,  marking  only  the  legs  of  the  man,  the 
tail  or  horns  of  the  beast,  branches  of  the  tree,  feathers  of  the  bird,  or 
portions  of  the  fish  or  weapons,  and  so  formed  an  alphabet.  The  Per- 
11 


82  SYMBOLIC    WRITING. 

sians  marked  their  ideas  by  the  signs  of  arrows  in  various  positions,  and 
the  ancient  Chinese,  by  knots  on  cords. 

I  give,  in  a  wood  cut,  a  specimen  of  the  most  ancient  writing  of  the 
Egyptians,  which,  when  compared  with  the  old  Irish  letters  placed  in  the 
same  diagram,  will  be  found  to  exhibit  a  very  close  relationship.  It  will 
be  seen  there  is  no  great  difference  in  the  construction  of  the  letters  of 
both  nations,  not  greater  than  might  exist  between  the  writings  of  any 
two  men  we  should  select  promiscuously. 

Inscription  on  the   Ohelisk  of  Heliopolis.  \  js. 

Translation  by  Champollion:  —  "Pharaoh;  sun  offered  to  the 
WORLD  ;  lord  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt ;  the  living  of  men ;  son  of 
the  sun  ;   Osortasen,"  &c. 

The  following  are  terms  used  in  an  ancient  Irish  music  book,  ex- 
planatory of  musical  notes :  —  Given  in  Walker's  Bards. 

CVieot^i    ,  Long  Sound. 

^eals    OIKp  ^.  /^TS Long  or  Short  Sounds. 

C^lti'         ^  Long  Sound. 


Long  Sound. 

Long  or  Short  Sounds. 


0%"^ 


■p^-t/;  YWo/"^  Long 


or  Short  Sounds. 


SYMBOLIC    WRITING.  83 

Here  are  specimens  of  the  Irish  Ogham,  or  secret  characters,  used 
by  the  Druids,  and  continued  among  the  learned  down  to  the  last 
generation.  M'Curtain  wrote,  in  1760,  that  he  knew  of  two-and- 
thirty  separate  oghams  which  then  existed  in  the  county  of  Clare.  Let- 
ters of  the  alphabet  are  placed  over  or  under  each  sign,  to  give  the 
reader  an  idea  of  their  import. 

Simple   Ogham. 

I.II.IIUIII.IIil!.    m.i.n^.y.  f^„ 

, I  III- 1 1 1     . 


^.^.J£.  £.  n. 

a,.c.u  e.  A^    M.      .01. 

—  -I'l Mi i-i:ii-M  I !!• 


Complex  Ogham. 


^-^      -tF  fc\j  S 

^b/t     T^p      ccl^. 


r\        ^      r  t    ^  ^^    ^-       j^     ex     bis 

v^  lA^tiAti^occT    ^|i.  -Afjl-Conn.  cy4C<\x\  ■  coTi4n.  c]tio-pc .  IsmV^m 


The  following  is  another  specimen  of  the  ogham  characters 

Pmi-t'E^  /lift  4 

which,  translated,  reads,  "Dermoind  O^Sullevoine." 


84 


SYMBOLIC    WRITING. 


These  oghams  were  used  by  the  most  learned  Druids  and  scribes,  to 
communicate,  exclusively  to  each  other,  the  secret  instructions  and  ordi- 
nances of  their  order.  They  were  not  for  the  use  of  the  profane,  but  the 
initiated.  The  very  term  itself,  ogma,  in  the  Celtic,  means  "  secret  let- 
ters," and  the  practice  is  directly  traceable  to  the  custom  of  the  Phoeni- 
cian and  Egyptian  priests.  Each  upright  line  or  dot  in  the  ogham,  or 
secret  alphabet,  expressed  a  word,  an  idea,  or  part  of  an  idea.*  The 
learned  Irish  antiquarian,  Ware,  writing  of  these  Irish  "  ogham  colls," 
says,  "  They  were  writings  that  represented  the  branches  of  trees,"  and 
adds,  "  I  have  a  book  of  parchment  filled  with  these  kinds  of  characters." 
Like  the  ancient  Hebrew  and  the  Ionic,  the  ogham  scale  consists  of  only 
sixteen  simple  elements ;  from  the  alphabetic  Psalms  it  would  appear 
that  the  Hebrew  had  twenty-two  letters ;  but  these  Psalms  are  not  older 
than  the  times  of  David.  Scaliger  demonstrates  that  the  original  Hebrew 
alphabet  consisted  only  of  sixteen  letters,  as  did  the  Etruscan,  according 
to  Gori ;  as  did  the  Ionic,  according  to  Pliny,  Suidas,  Polybius,  and 
others.  But,  even  as  early  as  the  time  of  Herodotus,  the  original  forms 
of  the  Ionic  letters  were  lost.  Sir  R.  Phillips  says,  "  The  Hebrew  writ- 
ten character  w^as  the  Phoenician ;  but  in  the  captivity  they  acquired  the 
square  Chaldaic,  and  lost  the  former."  In  Ireland,  however,  the  original 
number  and  forms  of  the  letters,  and  the  very  name  of  the  Phoeniciao 
alphabet,  were,  and  are  still,  preserved.  Daily  and  De  Gebelin  say 
that  the  Irish  ogham  ciphers  come  nearest  to  the  mysterious  inscription 
at  Persepolis.  And  Sir  Richard  Phillips,  (English  authority,)  in  another 
part  of  his  able  work,  says,  "  The  current  native  language  of  Ireland  is, 
verbatim  et  literatim,  that  of  Carthage,  a  territory  of  Phoenicia.  Plautus 
makes  Hanno  speak  in  Carthaginian,  and  '  Haim  done  Filli  hanum  bene 
Filli  in  mustine,^  is,  to  a  letter,  either  Irish,  Carthaginian,  or  PhcBnician.'" 
Many  similar  passages  might  be  given  from  Plautus.  "  Scaliger  sup- 
poses (adds  Phillips)  the  Phcenician  to  have  been  the  original  Hebrew 
character,  otherwise  the  Samaritan,  and  it  is  generally  supposed  to  be 
that  which  was  used  by  the  Jews  from  the  time  of  Moses." 


*  I  have  heard  it  said  that  the  Irish  ogham  writing,  in  which  there  are  a  thou- 
sand arbitrary  characters  to  represent  words  and  ideas,  gave  to  the  late  Mr.  Perry, 
of  the  London  Morning  Chronicle,  his  idea  of  short-hand  and  verbatim  reporting 
of  the  parliamentary  debates.  Before  Perry's  time  there  were  no  verbatim  reports 
of  parliamentary  speeches.  Members  who  would  make  known  their  opinions  were 
obliged  to  publish  them  in  pamphlets.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  majority  of 
the  reporters  now  on  the  London  press  are  Irishmen ;  and  I  may  add,  that  1  know 
some  of  the  very  ablest  reporters  in  the  United  States  to  be  of  the  same  country. 


BEITH    LUIS    NION,    OR    IRISH    ALPHABET. 


85 


I  also  present  the  Irish  alphabet,  called  Beith  Luis  Nion^  having  the 
power  or  sound  of  each  letter  denoted  by  its  correspondent  in  the  Eng- 
lish language,  as  arranged  by  Bishop  Molloy,  at  Lovain  and  Rome. 


a 

d 

h 

I 

c 

c 

t) 

b 

e 

e 

t" 

F 

5 

5 

Irish 
Pronunciation. 


Latin 
Pronunciation. 


English  Pronunciation 
and  Signification. 


.  Ailim Abies Fir  Tree A. 

.Beith Betulla Birch B. 

,  .Colt Corylui Hazel C. 

.Duir Ilex Oak D. 


.Eadha Tremula Aspen. 

.  Fearn Alnus Alder  . 

.Gort Hedera Ivy    . . 


.E. 
.F. 
.G. 


^ 

? 

J 

1 

J 

i 

w 

777 

V 

V 

o 

o 

V 

V 

V- 

r 

r 

^ 

t 

t: 

u 

-y. 

.Huatli Oxiacantlius White  Thorn H. 

.Idho Taxus Yew I, 

.Luis Ornus Wild  Ash L. 

.  Muin Vitis Vine M. 

.  Nion Fraxinus Ash N. 

.  Oun Genista Broom O. 

.  Potte JS/ot  explained. P. 

,  .Ruis Sambucus Elder R. 

,  .Duil SalLx Willow S. 

, .  Tinne JVot  explained,  probably  the  Deity T. 

,  .Ur Erix  or  Erica Heath U. 


O'Halloran  gives  but  sixteen  letters,  omitting  the  signs  (English)  F  and 
H ;  but  Moll9y,  Valiancy,  M'Geogheghan,  Dunlevy,  and  Halliday,  give 
eighteen  letters,  —  which  I  have  supplied  as  above,  —  together  with  the 
Latin  and  English  significations  of  all. 

It  is  a  very  remarkable  circumstance,  and  proves  the  great  antiquity 
of  the  Irish  language,  that  some  of  the  zodiacal  signs,  and  those  of  the 
planets  and  satellites,  are  really  letters  of  the  Irish  alphabet.  The  Irish 
letters  S,  M,  O,  and  G,  are  zodiacal  signs ;  B,  R,  and  D  are  signs  of 
satellites.  Some  of  the  ogham  signs  appear  to  have  an  identity  with  the 
signs  of  the  planets  and  satellites.  This  proves  that  when  men  first 
began  to  spell  their  way  through  the  heavens,  the  signs  by  which  they 
denoted  the  most  striking  objects  were  the  signs  then  used  to  denote  the 
ordinary  sounds  of  the  human  voice.  And  these  signs  the  Irish  have 
preserved   for  at  least  three   thousand  five  hundred  years,  —  an  em- 


86        FIDELITY    OF    THE    IRISH    TO    THEIR    LETTERS    AND    LANGUAGE. 

dence  that  identifies  the  Irish  language  with  the  earliest  development 
of  astronomical  science.  Nor  ought  it  to  be  left  unsaid  here,  that  eigh- 
teen in  twenty-six  of  the  ordinary  manuscript  characters  which  I  am 
now  using,  writing  in  the  EngUsh  language  for  the  printer,  and  that 
which  all  English  people  use  in  their  ordinary  writings,  are  the  letters 
of  the  old  Irish  alphabet.  Perhaps  not  one  English  scholar  in  a  mil- 
lion is  aware  of  this  so  very  apparent  fact,  nor  aware  of  the  historical 
attestation  of  Bede,  Camden,  and  other  English  authors,  which  tells  us 
that  "  the  Saxons  received,  in  the  sixth  century,  their  literature,  lan- 
guage, and  the  forms  of  their  letters,  from  the  Hibernians." 

Moore  devotes  several  pages  of  learned  research  to  this  interesting 
subject.     From  him  I  make  a  few  brief  extracts  :  — 

"  Abundant  and  various  as  are  the  monuments  to  which  Ireland  can 
point,  as  mute  evidences  of  her  antiquity,  she  boasts  a  yet  more  striking 
proof  in  the  living  language  of  her  people,  —  in  that  most  genuine,  if 
not  only-existing  dialect  of  the  oldest  of  all  European  tongues,  —  the 
tongue  which,  by  whatever  name  it  may  be  called,  according  to 
the  various  theories  respecting  it,  whether  Japhetan,  Cimmerian,  Pelas- 
gic,  or  Celtic,  is  accounted  most  generally  to  have  been  the  earliest 
brought  from  the  East,  and  to  have  been  the  vehicle  of  the  first  knowl- 
edge that  dawned  upon  Europe.  In  the  still  v^'ritten  and  spoken 
dialect  of  this  primeval  language  we  possess  a  monument  of  the  high 
antiquity  of  the  people  to  whom  it  belongs,  which  no  cavil  can  reach, 
nor  any  doubts  disturb.  According  to  the  view  of  some  learned 
philologers,  the  very  imperfections  attributed  to  the  Irish  language  — 
the  predominance  in  it  of  gutturals,  and  the  incompleteness  of  its 
alphabet  —  are  both  but  additional  and  convincing  proofs  as  well  of  its 
directly  Eastern  origin  as  of  its  remote  antiquity.  The  tongues  of  the 
East,  before  the  introduction  of  aspirates,  abounded  with  gutturals, 
which  softened  by  degrees  into  aspirates ;  the  alphabet,  derived  from 
the  Phoenicians  by  the  Greeks,  having  had  but  the  same  limited  number 
of  letters  which  compose  the  Irish.  That  the  original  Cadmian  num- 
ber was  no  more  than  sixteen  is  the  opinion,  with  but  few  exceptions, 
of  the  whole  learned  world  ;  and  that  such  exactly  is  the  number  of 
the  genuine  Irish  alphabet  has  been  proved  satisfactorily  by  the  learned 
librarian  of  Stoive,  Dr.  O'Connor.  Thus,  while  all  the  more  recent 
and  mixed  forms  of  language  adopted  the  additional  letters  which  the 
Greeks  introduced,  the  Irish  alone  continued  to  adhere  to  the  original 
number  —  the  same  number  and  the  same  character,  no  doubt,  which 
Herodotus   saw  graven    on  the    tripods  in    the  temple    of  Apollo   at 


Moore's  opinion.  87 

Thebes.  To  so  characteristic  an  extent  did  the  Irish  people  imitate 
this  fidelity,  that  even  the  introduction  among  them  of  the  Roman 
alphabet,  by  St.  Patrick,  did  not  tempt  them  into  any  innovation 
upon  their  own.  On  the  contrary,  so  wedded  were  they  to  their  own 
lettei-s,  that,  even  in  writing  Latin  words,  they  would  never  admit  any 
Roman  character  that  was  not  to  be  found  in  their  primitive  alphabet, 
but  employed  two  or  more  of  their  own  ancient  characters  to  represent 
the  same  organic  sound.  Thus,  in  all  words  begun  or  ended  by  x, 
instead  of  writing  that  simple  character,  they  used  the  double  letters 
qs,  or  es  —  a  trouble  they  might  have  saved  themselves,  had  they  not 
rejected  it  as  an  exotic  character  not  existing  in  their  alphabet. 

"  According  to  the  learned  Lazius,  the  Irish  language  abounds  with 
Hebrew  words,  and  had  its  origin  in  the  remotest  ages  of  the  world. 
The  eminent  French  writer  Marcel  endorses  this  opinion.  This 
writer,  who  was  director  of  the  chief  school  of  literature  in  France, 
under  Napoleon,  published  an  Irish  alphabet,  from  the  types  belonging 
to  the  Propaganda  of  Rome,  which  were  sent  by  the  order  of  Napo- 
leon to  Paris  :  from  the  types  of  the  Propaganda,  the  Irish  catechism 
oi  Molloy,  called  Lucerna  Fidelium,  was  also  printed." 

Similar  considerations  induced  the  great  Leibnitz  to  recommend  a 
diligent  study  of  the  Irish  language,  as  highly  conducive,  in  his  opbion, 
to  the  knowledge  and  promotion  of  Celtic  literature. 

The  eminent  Dr.  Warner,  an  English  historian,  says,  "The  great 
antiquity  of  the  Irish  language,  which  is  the  same  as  the  ancient  Scyth- 
ian, affords  another  proof  of  the  Phoenician  origin  of  the  Irish  nation, 
and  that  the  elements  of  their  idiom  were  brought  to  Ireland  when 
the  use  of  letters  was  in  its  infancy.  Indeed,  the  old  Irish  bears  so 
great  an  affinity  to  the  ancient  Hebrew,  that,  to  those  who  are  masters 
of  both,  they  appear  plainly  to  be  only  dialects  of  the  same  tongue. 
This  surely  lays  a  fair  foundation  for  an  ancient  history  to  be  built  upon  ; 
for  a  nation  and  language  are  both  of  an  age,  and  if  a  language  be  an- 
cient, the  people  must  be  as  old." 

Raymond,  another  English  antiquarian,  says,  "  In  order  to  discover 
the  original  of  the  Irish  nation,  I  was  at  the  pains  to  compare  all  Euro- 
pean languages  with  that  of  Ireland,  and  I  found  it  had  little  agreement 
with  any  of  them.  I  then  had  recourse  to  the  Celtic,  the  original 
language  of  the  ancient  Celtse,  or  Scythians ;  and  I  found  the  affinity  so 
great  that  there  was  scarcely  .a  shade  of  difference,  there  being  such 
an  exact  agreement  between  them,  and  the  Irish  lansuage  having  no 


88  MOTHER  TONGUES  OF  EUROPE. 

affinity  with  any  known  language  in  the  world,  excepting  the  Hebrew 
and  Phoenician.  This  is  sufficient,  I  think,  to  procure  that  credit  to 
Irish  history  which  it  may  justly  challenge."  —  "  When  we  add  to  all 
this,"  says  Moore,  "  that,  at  the  time  when  the  Irish  first  broke  forth,  as 
scholars  and  missionanes,  upon  Europe,  they  were  found  in  possession 
of  modes  of  writing  peculiar  to  themselves,  of  elements  acknowledged 
to  have  no  prototypes  in  any  known  language,  and  differing  in  name, 
number,  and  order,  from  those  of  every  other  existing  alphabet,  such 
a  coincidence,  with  all  that  we  know  of  the  early  fortunes  of  the  coun- 
try, as  well  as  with  all  that  her  own  traditions  lay  claim  to,  forms  a 
case  for  the  antiquity  of  her  history  and  language,  and  priority  of  her 
literature,  not  easily  controverted."  The  learned  Camden,  himself  an 
Englishman,  acknowledged  that  the  Saxons  received  and  adopted  the 
Irish  letters  —  Anglo- Saxones  rationcm  fonnandi  Kteras  accepisse  ab 
Hibernis,  cum  eodem  inane  charactensi  fuerit  qui  Bodie  Hibernes  est  in 
usu.  Free  translation  —  '•  The  Anglo-Saxons  received  a  knowledge  of 
letters  from  the  Hibernians ;  whose  idiom,  or  dialect,  was  soft  and  ex- 
pressive." —  Bede,  the  Saxon  ecclesiastic,  who  wrote  anno  7.30,  states 
that,  in  his  time,  the  Irish  language  was  spoken  generally  in  the  north 
of  England,  and  in  Caledonia,  together  witli  three  or  four  others, 
namely,  the  Latin,  Pictish,  English,  or  Saxon,  and  the  British,  which 
was  a  dialect  of  Welsh.  Camden,  in  another  place,  says,  "St.  Patrick's 
disciples,  in  Ireland,  were  such  great  proficients  in  the  Christian  religion, 
that,  in  the  age  following,  [the  close  of  the  fifth  century,]  Ireland  was 
termed  sanctorum  patria, —  that  is,  the  country  of  saints.  *  *  *  * 
The  Saxons,  in  that  age,  flocked  thither  as  to  the  great  mart  of  learning; 
and  this  is  the  reason  why  we  find  this  so  often  in  our  writers  —  Amon- 
daius  est  ad  disciplinam  in  Hibernia  — '  Such  a  one  was  sent  over 
into  Ireland  to  be  educated.' " 

The  French  geogmpher  Sanson  says  there  are  six  mother  lan- 
guages in  Europe,  viz.,  the  Irish,  Finlandish,  Welsh,  Biscayan,  Hun- 
garian, and  Albaniac.  The  Irish  language,  continues  he,  is,  besides 
in  Ireland,  still  spoken  in  the  north  of  Scotland.  The  Findlandish  is 
used  in  Scandinavia,  which  comprises  Finland  and  Lapland.  The 
Bretonic,  which  is  the  language  of  Lower  Brittany,  in  France,  is 
likewise  called  Welsh,  after  a  province  of  England.  The  Biscayan 
comprises  Lower  Navarre,  with  Cabour  in  France,  and  Biscay  in 
Spain.  The  Hungarian  is  the  language. of  Hungary  and  Transylvania, 
which  countries  belong  to  Turkey  in  Europe ;  and  the  Albanian  is  thus 
named  from  Albania,  a  country  also  of  Turkey  in  Europe. 


NUMBER    OF    LETTERS    IN    FIFTEEN    DIFFERENT    ALPHABETS.        89 

The  present  alphabets,  of  clifFerent  nations,  contain  the  following 
number  of  letters,  according  to  Phillips:  — 

Irish,  (Phoenician,)  16;  Persian, 32; 

Hebrew, 22 ;  Sanscrit, 50 ; 

Greek, 24 ;  Chinese, 214  ; 

Latin, 22 ;  Turkish, 33 ; 

Sclavonic, 27  ;  German, 26 ; 

Spanish, 27  ;  French, 25  ; 

Russian,   ........  41 ;  English, 26. 

Arabic, 28 ; 

The  first  letter,  or  sound,  of  the  Phoenician  [Irish]  and  Hebrew  alpha- 
bet, was  aJejjh,  which  the  Greeks  called  alpha;  and  which  was  original- 
ly denoted,  symbolically,  by  the  figure  of  a  man  walking ;  which,  in 
process  of  symbolic  writing,  was  contracted  to  the  figure  made  by  the 
man's /e^s;  thus,  [a,]  our  present  A.  So  might  we  go  through 
the  entire  alphabets  that  follow  the  present  Irish,  and  prove  their  deriva- 
tions from  it,  which  was  itself  formed  from  the  first  symbolic  mode  of 
painting  sounds,  adopted  by  any  of  the  human  race.  The  Hebrew 
language  and  letters  are  believed,  by  the  most  learned,  to  be  derived 
from  the  Phoenician  ;  since  Tyre,  Sidon,  &;c.,  were  distinguished  cities 
in  the  age  of  Moses  and  Joshua ;  and  even  Abraham  lived  in  their 
territory. 

An  apparently  well-informed  writer,  in  Walker's  Irish  Bards,  says, 
"  Another  fatal  injury,  which  the  Irish  language  sustained,  was  from  the 
first  missioners,  who  gave  us  an  alphabet  which  did  not  express  all  the 
sounds  in  the  Celtic.  This  alphaljet  very  remarkably  agrees  with  tlie 
Runic.  The  vowel  i  was  used  for  e,  as  double  c  was  for  g,  and  h 
for  p.  No  two  or  three  vowels,  joined  together  in  the  same  word,  can 
form  two  different  syllables  for  rhymes  ;  and  hence  the  bards,  to  multiply 
syllables  for  their  rhymes,  threw  between  the  vowels  a  d,  or  g,  aspi- 
rated by  an  A ;  thus  corrupting  and  disguising  the  natural  structure  of 
the  word.  C  is  constantly  pronounced  as  a  Jc.  Unable,  from  insuf- 
ficiency of  letters,  to  express  the  sounds  of  the  Irish  language,  these 
consequences  were  inevitable,  viz.,  its  orthography  and  orthoepy  were 
altered  ;  its  accentuation  was  lost ;  the  sonorous  vowel  e  was  not  used, 
/supplied  its  place,  though  less  adapted  to  the  inflections  of  the  voice; 
and  hence  the  coarse  descriptive  terms  applied  to  the  language  by 
some  writers,  ancient  and  modern. 
12 


90  SUGGESTIONS    FOR    RESTORING    THE    LANGUAGE. 

It  is  one  of  Lhuyd's  observations,  that  the  Irish  have  kept  their 
letters  and  orthography  beyond  all  their  neighboring  nations,  and  still 
continue  the  same  letters  and  orthography,  which  makes  their  written 
language  appear  very  different  from  what  they  speak.  The  latter  fol- 
lowed, of  course,  from  not  having  letters  enough  to  express  sounds ;  the 
enunciation  and  written  language  could  never  agree.  But  the  former 
part  of  the  assertion  is  a  gross  error ;  for  the  Irish  endeavored  to  correct 
the  want  of  letters,  to  express  all  their  sounds,  by  introducing  the  palatals 
g,  ch,  gh,  h,  in  after  ages,  to  preserve  some  resemblance  between  the 
writing  and  sound ;  and  also  by  the  addition  of  the  vowels  e,  y,  the 
labials  p,  ph,  and  v,  and  the  linguals  th,  dh,  and  z. 

A  countryman  and  namesake  of  my  own,  residing  in  Boston,  who  reads 
and  writes  the  Irish  character,  intimates  that  he  always  understood  there 
were  five  vowels  and  twelve  consonants  in  the  Celtic  alphabet. 

A  writer  in  Walker  offers  the  following  suggestions  for  the  revival 
of  the  language  :  "  Is  this  venerable  tongue  to  be  suffered  to  go  into  total 
oblivion  ?  By  no  means.  The  best  thing  that,  in  my  opinion,  can  be 
done,  is,  to  collect  from  the  various  dialects  of  the  Celtic  its  original 
existing  words  into  a  vocabulary,  as  a  standard  to  explain  obscure  terms. 
Let  all  the  scattered  fragments  be  collected  carefully ;  let  the  canting  phra- 
seology of  lawyers  and  physicians  be  investigated,  and  a  key  from  those 
will  be  formed  to  decipher  the  Brehon  laws.  A  good  Irish  scholar, 
thoroughly  versed  in  ancient  manuscript,  I  do  aver,  would,  from  the 
intelligible  commentary  annexed  to  those  laws,  be  able,  in  a  short  time,  to 
make  a  canting  dictionary  which  would  render  the  whole  perfectly  easy." 

An  eminent  musical  writer,  in  the  same  work,  has  the  following  obser^ 
vations  on  the  musical  properties  of  the  Irish  language :  "  In  the  Irish 
language,  all  vowels  meeting  in  one  word,  without  a  consonant  between 
them,  make  but  one  syllable,  whether  it  be  long  or  short ;  but  an  aspi- 
rated consonant  between  two  vowels  makes  them  separate  syllables. 
This  property  of  the  Irish  language  renders  it  exceedingly  harmonious, 
and  well  calculated  for  poetical  and  musical  compositions  ;  far  superior 
either  to  the  Latin  or  any  of  the  modern  tongues  —  a  circumstance  that 
confirms  the  assertion  of  Cambrensis,  who,  speaking  of  the  Irish  music 
of  his  day,  [A.  D.  1180,]  says  it  was  much  superior  to  the  Welsh; 
theirs  being  of  a  grave  and  solemn  nature,  whereas  that  of  the  Irish  was 
soft,  lively,  and  melodious,  emitting  soft  and  pleasant  notes,  divided  by 
just  proportions  into  concords  and  discords,  making  a  complete  melody, 
all  of  which  depended  upon  the  power  and  variety  of  the  sounds  and 
length  of  the  Irish  vowels,  and  to  which  tiie  Welsh  language  is  a  stranger." 


ANCIENT    IRISH    AND    EGYPTIANS    THE    SAME    FAMILY.  91 

From  the  specimens  of  the  ancient  Egyptian  and  Irish  writing,  which 
I  have  given  in  previous  pages,  (see  page  83,)  it  will  easily  be  seen 
that  the  Irish  language  was  that  spoken  and  written  in  the  valley  of  the 
Nile,  four  thousand  years  ago ;  and  the  inference  flowing  from  that  iden- 
tity is,  that  the  first  settlers  in  Ireland  spoke  and  wrote  the  language 
of  the  Pharaohs,  and,  as  I  shall  prove  in  another  place,  practised  the 
same  customs,  religious,  political,  and  social ;  wore  the  same  dresses, 
manufactured  the  same  textile  fabrics,  and  were  learned  in  the  same  arts 
and  sciences.  On  this  head  the  learned  English  antiquarian.  Colonel 
Vallancey,  has  the  following :  "  If  they  [the  Irish]  had  not  had  an  inter- 
course, in  former  days,  with  the  Egyptians,  Persians,  and  Phoenicians, 
how  is  it  possible  so  many  idioms  of  speech,  so  many  technical  terms,  in 
the  arts  of  those  ages,  could  have  been  introduced  into  the  old  Irish 
dialect  ? —  terms  not  to  be  met  with  in  the  dialect  of  any  other  northern  or 
western  nation.  What  people,  the  Egyptians  and  Irish  excepted,  named 
the  harp,  or  music,  ouinil  —  Irish  aine,  that  is,  oirjideadh,  that  is,  music, 
a  musical  instrument :  orphideadh  expresses  the  action  of  playing.  What 
people  in  the  world,  the  Orientalists  and  the  Irish  excepted,  called  the 
coyy  of  a  book  the  son  of  a  book,  and  echo  the  daughter  of  a  voice  1 
With  what  northern  nation,  the  Irish  excepted,  can  the  Oriental  names 
of  the  tools  and  implements  of  the  stone-cutter,  the  carpenter,  the  ship- 
builder, the  weaver,  be  found  ?  And  with  what  people,  the  old  Irish  and 
Egyptians  excepted,  does  the  word  ogham  signify  a  book,  and  the  name 
of  Hercules  or  Mercury  ?  The  Egyptian  name  of  ermes  lies  concealed 
in  the  Irish  compound  ed-airmes ;  that  is,  the  root  or  art  of  invention. 
And  in  what  part  of  the  globe,  Egypt,  Ireland,  and  Scotland,  excepted, 
were  priests,  or  holy  persons,  denominated  culdes,  or  caldes  ?  in  the  Cop- 
tic, (Egyptian,)  kaldes  sanctitus  1  Again,  the  Coptic  esonab  sacerdos 
is  the  Irish  eascab,  a  bishop.  To  these  examples  we  may  add  six  hun- 
dred others,  of  which  in  their  proper  place.  But  the  most  striking 
instance  of  the  intercourse  of  the  Hiberno-Scythians  with  Egyptians  and 
Phoenicians  is  the  prefixes  to  surnames,  O,  Ua,  and  Mac  ;  the  former 
denoting  the  eldest  of  the  family,  the  second  being  a  general  name  for 
the  son  —  O^ Stirps,  familia ;  hence  O  Siris.  Thus  the  Irish  use  either 
O  or  Ua ;  as,  UaConcobhar ;  in  English,  O'Connor.  Among  what 
people,  the  Egyptians  and  Irish  excepted,  did  seach  nab  signify  the 
writing  priest  ?  —  he  who  was  skilled  in  the  sacred  writing,  &;c." 

Vallancey  thus  continues,  in  a  most  interesting  paper  on  the  language, 
manners,  and  customs,  of  the  ancient  Irish,  to  discuss  their  identity  with 
the  Egyptians  and  Phoenicians,  which  I  may  refer  to  again  in  the  prog- 
ress of  this  work 


92  MEANING    OF    THE    TERM    CELT. 

The  pioneers  of  colonization,  who  issued  from  the  cradle  and  school 
of  the  human  race,  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  and  along  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean,  were  called,  very  generally,  Celts ;  which  means  qidck 
movers,  voyagers.  The  term  was  synonymous  with  Phoenician :  both 
denominations  appear  to  have  been  applied  to  the  same  people.  —  The 
Phoenicians  were  a  permanent  nation,  occupying  the  region  now  known 
as  Syria,  and  the  Delta.  The  Celta  were  that  portion  of  the  great 
families,  either  Egyptian  or  Phoenician,  who  moved  off  in  quest  of  new 
settlements.  The  word  celerity  (speed)  is  evidently  a  derivation  from 
the  term.  The  fertile  lands  of  Italy,  Sicily,  Spain,  Gaul,  (France,) 
and  Ireland,  were  those  first  settled  by  these  enterprising  bands.  They 
separated  into  cantons  or  nations  that  acquired  or  assumed  distinctive 
appellations.  Celt,  or  Kelt,  seemed  to  be  the  genus ;  Gael,  Gaul, 
Cymri,  Belgce,  Teutons,  he,  the  species.  Dr.  Murray  observes, "  Each 
horde  soon  multiplied  into  various  nations,  regulated  by  similar  customs, 
and  loosely  connected  by  language."  Various  circumstances,  operating 
on  their  common  speech,  gave  rise  to  peculiar  pronunciation  or  dialect. 
The  change  of  old,  the  substitution  of  new  words,  and  other  causes  af- 
fecting articulation,  produce,  in  dme,  great  difference  between  the  speech 
of  distant  places  in  an  extensive  country  ;  but  among  nations  of  identic 
origin  there  must  long  continue  a  close  affinity  of  language.  An 
eminent  French  author,  M.  Bullet,  says  the  difference  of  climate  will 
alter  a  language.  The  extension  of  science,  manufactures,  and  com- 
merce, will  alter  the  character  of  a  nation's  language,  fill  it  with  new 
terms  for  the  inventions  and  improvements  made,  and  produce,  by  the 
introduction  of  foreigners,  a  change  in  its  pronunciation.  Polyhius,  the 
Greek  writer  of  Roman  history,  he,  tells  us  diat  the  Latin  was,  in  his 
time,  [two  hundred  years  before  Christ,]  so  different  from  what  it  had 
been  in  the  time  of  Lucius  Junius  Brutus  and  Marcus  Valerius,  three 
hundred  years  previously,  who  were  consuls  when  the  first  treaty  be- 
tween the  Romans  and  Carthaginians  was  made,  that  little  of  that 
document  could  be  then  understood  ;  and  Hannibal,  the  Carthaginian 
general,  when  treating  with  the  Gauls,  was  obliged  to  erflploy  an 
interpreter,  though  the  Gauls  originally  spoke  the  same  language,  and 
were,  in  fact,  a  part  of  the  Carthaginian   family. 

Logan,  the  compiler  of  a  work  on  Scottish  antiquities,  though  he  has, 
like  many  other  of  his  countrymen,  endeavored  to  appropriate  the  ancient 
military  and  literary  renown  of  Ireland,  without  offering  a  particle  of 
documentary  evidence  in  support  of  his  claim,  has,  however,  gathered 
together  a  goodly  volume  of  ancient  traditional  fragments,  which  are 
agreeably  arranged,  and   offer  a   recreative   study   to  the  antiquarian. 


ESTIiMATE    OF    THE    NUMBERS    WHO    SPEAK    IRISH.  93 

From  Mr.  Logan's  work  I  may  occasionally  pluck  a  flower  to  variegate 
or  adorn  my  own.  On  the  language  of  the  Celts,  that  writer  has  the 
following  passage  in  the  closing  pages  of  his  book :  — 

"The  Celtic  language  has  been  several  times  the  object  of  legislative 
severity.  In  lerland  several  enactments  were  passed  against  it,  as 
was  the  case  in  Wales,  about  1700.  Even  so  late  as  1769,  a  plan  was 
entertained  by  the  bishops  to  extinguish  Cumrag,  by  having  the  church 
service  performed  in  the  English  only  —  a  circumstance  that  but  too 
often  occurs,  it  is  to  be  feared,  without  such  a  design.  In  Scotland  I 
have  often  heard  it  complained  that  clergymen  were  put  into  a  living 
who  were  quite  unable  to  preach  to  the  people  in  their  vernacular 
tongue.  It  was  attempted  to  root  out  the  Gaelic,  [Irish  ;]  but,  as  might 
be  expected,  the  design  was  impracticable.  I  d6  not  know  if  the 
French  ever  thought  of  abolishing  the  Breton  language,  which,  by 
Lagonidec,  is  said  to  be  still  spoken  by  upwards  of  four  millions  of 
people ;  a  trial  would  have  shown  that  no  measures  could  accomplish 
this.  The  case  of  the  Wends,  whose  language  it  was  attempted  to 
suppress,  shows  the  impracticability  of  forcibly  changing  the  mother 
tongue  of  any  people.  In  1765,  it  was  thought  expedient  to  eradicate 
the  Bohemian  language,  and  the  design  was  long  prosecuted,  before 
the  impossibility  of  accomplishing  the  object  was  discovered. 

"  The  nobility  and  gentry  of  Ireland  continued  to  speak  and  write 
their  native  language  until  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  or  James  the  First. 
The  Highlanders  relinquished  the  practice  of  writing  in  Gaelic  before 
they  had  acquired  any  taste  for  conversation  in  English.  Rory  Mor, 
chief  of  the  M'Leods,  is  said  to  have  been  the  last  of  the  Gael,  who 
continued  to  write  in  the  language  of  his  fathers. 

"  There  are  at  present  upwards  of  three  millions  of  people  in  the 
British  isles,  who  speak  Celtic,  viz.,  about  two  millions  in  Ireland,  [in 
this  calculation  Mr.  Logan  is  far  under  the  mark  ;  I  shall  refer  to  it  at 
the  close  of  the  quotation,]  about  four  hundred  thousand  in  Scotland, 
and  about  seven  hundred  thousand  in  Wales.  This  latter  country 
began  very  early  to  pay  considerable  attention  to  the  printing  of  books 
in  the  native  language.  By  a  catalogue,  published  in  1710,  there  ap- 
pears to  have  been  then  upwards  of  seventy.  Almanacs,  magazines, 
dictionaries,  grammars,  religious  books,  and  even  several  scientific 
works,  have  been  published,  and  the  number  is  supposed  now  to 
exceed  ten  thousand.  The  first  Welsh  Bible,  a  black  letter  folio,  was 
printed  in  1563  ;  the  first  in  Ireland,  I  believe,  was  in  1609.  Bishop 
Kers well's  Liturgy,  1566,  appears  to  have  been  the  first  book  printed 


94  GAELIC    BOOKS. GAELIC    DICTIONARY. 

in  Gaelic.  The  Bible,  and  many  other  books,  among  which  are  not  to 
be  forgotten  the  poems  of  Ossian,  from  the  original  manuscripts  by  the 
Highland  Society,  have  been  since  published ;  yet  education  and  liter- 
ature were  certainly  less  attended  to  by  the  Highlanders  than  their 
characteristic  thirst  for  knowledge  might  have  led  us  to  expect.  But 
the  cause  is  to  be  found  in  the  unsettled  state  of  society.  Wales  is 
nearly  four  times  richer  than  Scotland,  [which  I  doubt  much,]  and  sup- 
ports seven  or  eight  periodicals  in  the  native  language,  while  Scotland 
has  only  recently  established  one,  the  Teachdaire  Ga'elach,  or  Highland 
Messenger,  which,  however,  appears  to  meet  with  suitable  encouragement. 

"  The  want  of  a  Gaelic  dictionary  was  long  felt  in  Scotland  ;  but 
that  of  Mr.  Armstrong,  published  in  1825,  was  hailed  with  satisfaction, 
and  the  labors  of  the  gentlemen  employed  by  the  Highland  Society 
have  more  recently  appeared  in  the  Dictionarium  Scoto-Celticum, 
in  two  large  volumes,  quarto,  which  will  now  preserve  this  pure  and 
valuable  dialect  of  a  language  once  universal  in  Europe.  It  will  also  fix 
the  orthography,  which  was  previously  so  unsettled.  The  learned  have 
frequently  suggested  means  of  simplifying  the  spelling,  by  getting  rid  of 
numerous  consonants  which  are  retained  without  being  at  all  sounded. 
The  Celtic  Society  of  Glasgow  have  this  year,  1833,  offered  four 
prizes  for  the  best  essays  on  the  subject ;  but  their  exertions  have  come 
too  late,  it  is  to  be  feared,  to  produce  any  effect.  The  apparently  use- 
less consonants  are  retained  to  show  the  root  or  primitive  of  a  word, 
and  thereby  prevent  confusion. 

"  Notwithstanding,  the  important  assistance  which,  in  acquiring 
other  languages,  would  be  derived  from  a  knowledge  of  this  jjrimitive 
tongue,  there  is  not  a  Celtic  professorship  in  any  seminary  of  learning 
in  the  kingdom."  [A  professor  of  the  Irish  language  has  been  recently 
appointed  in  Trinity  College,  Dublin.] 

Mr.  Logan  evidently  underrates  the  numbers  in  Ireland,  who  still 
speak  the  Irish  language,  in  fixing  them  at  two  millions.  AU  the 
inhabitants  of  Connaught,  with  very  few  exceptions,  speak  the  Irish, 
in  their  ordinary  conversations.  The  people  of  that  province  alone 
number  over  two  millions;  in  the  southern  province  of  Munster,  whose 
population  is  rather  more  than  two  millions,  the  Irish  language  is  spoken 
with  nearly  equal  generality.  There  are  many  parts  of  the  south  and 
west  of  Ireland  in  which  the  English  language  is  very  seldom  spoken, 
and  very  little  understood.  At  the  "  monster  meeting,"  held,  in  the 
autumn  of  1843,  at  Skibbereen,  in  the  western  part  of  the  county  of 
Cork,  O'Connell   was  interrupted,   in   his    English  speech,  by  an  old 


MR.    LOGAN  S    ESTIMATE    ERKONEOUS.  95 

man,  who,  with  thousands  of  others  on  the  spot,  could  not  understand  a 
word  of  what  he  said.  The  old  man  exclaimed  in  Irish,  "  Lawir  Gailic  T' 
upon  which  the  Liberator,  with  astonishing  promptitude  and  ease, 
changed  the  vehicle  of  his  ideas  to  the  old  language  of  the  nation,  in 
which  medium  he  continued,  to  the  end  of  his  speech,  to  pour  out  the 
burning  lava  of  his  heart  upon  the  mass  of  boiling  blood,  which  had 
gathered  at  his  call  from  a  thousand  sources  in  the  neighboring  mountains. 

The  Irish  spoken  in  Munster  is  esteemed  by  the  best  judges  to  be 
purer,  and  more  classical,  than  that  spoken  in  any  other  part  of  Ireland, 
or  in  Wales,  or  Scotland.  The  Irish  spoken  in  the  province  of  Con- 
naught  is  said,  by  competent  judges,  to  be  the  sweeter  in  accent.  The 
people  of  the  south  of  Ireland  generally  cultivate  the  Irish  tongue  with 
classical  care,  and  are  so  thoroughly  conversant  with  its  radices,  that  they 
master,  with  little  difficulty,  most  other  languages.  It  is  no  uncommon 
thing,  as  remarked  by  learned  travellers  through  Ireland,  to  find  the 
working  peasants,  in  many  parts  of  the  south  of  Ireland,  conversant  with 
Homer,  Virgil,  and  Horace,  in  the  original  text.  The  cultivation  of 
letters  seems  to  be  a  natural  instinct  of  the  southern  inhabitants  of  Ire- 
land. Although  not  more  brave  than  their  countrymen  in  the  other 
provinces,  they  were  more  fortunate  in  maintaining  their  independence, 
and  with  it  their  letters,  language,  and  chivalrous  spirit,  against  all 
sorts  of  British  force  and  influence,  longer  than  any  other  portion  of  their 
countrymen.  The  south  of  Ireland  has  given  to  the  world,  certainly,  the 
most  learned  and  eloquent  men  ;  and  this  may  be,  in  a  great  degree, 
attributed  to  their  careful  and  classical  cultivation  of  the  pure  Irish  lan- 
guage, which  offers  a  thorough  key  to  the  other  languages  of  Europe, 
and  enables  the  orator  or  writer  to  select,  with  ease,  the  most  powerfully 
expressive  words  to  convey  the  conceptions  of  his  mind. 

I  confidently  believe  that  Jive  millions  of  the  eight  and  a  half,  which 
compose  the  population  of  Ireland,  speak  the  Irish  language.  In 
Munster,  eleven  speak  Irish  to  three  who  speak  English  :  in  Con- 
naught,  the  proportion  is  thirteen  to  one.  In  Leinster  about  one  half, 
and  in  Ulster  two  thirds,  speak  the  Irish  language.  There  are  a  couple 
of  millions  of  Irishmen  living  by  their  labor  in  England ;  of  these,  I  am 
certain,  one  third,  at  least,  speak  the  ancient  language  of  their  country. 
In  America,  I  am  a  witness  that  it  is  freely  spoken  by  Irishmen,  at  their 
work,  in  New  Orieans,  New  York,  and  Newfoundland.  There  are 
upwards  of  four  millions  of  Irish  people  scattered  along  the  American 
continent,  under  the  various  governments  of  Britain,  United  States, 
Mexico,  &c. ;  of  these  scattered  exiles,  the  half  speak  the  language  of 


96  EFFORTS  TO  REVIVE  THE  IPJSH  LANGUAGE. 

their  fathers.  Then  there  are  the  British  colonies  in  the  West  and 
East  Indies,  and  towards  the  south  pole,  and,  besides,  the  numerous  ships 
and  armies  of  Britain,  which  carry  with  them,  wheresoever  they  go,  the 
persecuted  language,  with  the  oppressed  sons,  of  Ireland. 

Thus  I  compute,  that  the  Celtico-Gaelic  is  yet  spoken  by  eight  mil- 
lions of  native  born  Irishmen,  and  by  eleven  hundred  thousand  Scotch 
and  Welshmen  —  much  more  than  five  times  the  number  in  the  whole 
world  who  speak  Greek,  and  ten  times  the  number  in  the  world  who 
speak  Latin,  and  twenty  times  the  number  of  those  who  speak 
Hebrew,  dialectcs  so  much  cultivated  by  the  learned  world.  And  when 
we  leflect,  that  those  who  speak  the  "  ancient  tongue,"  are  generally 
illiterate,  and  stick  to  it  in  defiance  of  fashion,  derision,  ridicule,  and 
interest,  how  exalted  must  be  our  ideas  of  the  vitality  of  that  language, 
which  vitality  is  chiefly  —  perhaps  alone  —  attributable  to  its  brevity, 
melody,  power,  and  expression  ! 

I  do  not  conceive  how  any  man,  ignorant  of  the  Irish  language,  can  be 
deemed  a  complete  scholar.  Without  its  aid  he  cannot  penetrate  the 
arcliives  of  literature  that  lie  behind  Greece  and  Rome.  I  am  fortified 
in  this  position  by  the  opinion  of  a  ])opular  and  judicious  English 
writer  of  the  present  times,  namely,  Sir  Richard  Phillips  ;  from  whose 
work  on  ancient  and  modern  history,  languages,  and  literature,  I  have 
already  drawn  many  appropriate  supjDlies. 

"  Every  thing  in  Europe  is  modern  and  imitative,  in  relation  to 
the  history,  science,  and  literature,  of  the  Arabians,  [the  Egyptians  and 
Phoenicians,]  and  the  nations  who  wrote  and  spoke  in  their  language. 
The  Greeks  were  their  servile  imitators ;  and  study,  in  Greece,  was  to 
visit  those  countries  and  borrow  from  them.  Pythagoras  even  served 
in  the  Chaldaic  armies,  and  Solon,  Plato,  Anaxagoras,  and  others, 
travelled  in  Arabian  countries  before  they  professed  wisdom.  We  also 
might  drink  at  the  same  fountain,  but  by  a  strange  fatality  have  preferred 
the  muddy  stream  of  GreeJc  and  Roman  derivation.  Scarcely  fifty  in 
all  Europe  understand  Arabic,  [the  ancient  Phoenician,]  but  five  thou- 
sand Greek,  and  a  million  Latin  ;  though  the  Romans  merely  copied 
the  Greeks,  who  mutilated  their  own  original." 

Let  us  hope  that  the  senseless  prejudice,  raised  by  our  tyrant  foes 
against  the  powerfully  expressive  and  truly  melodious  language  of  oui- 
forefathers,  shall  not,  in  our  days,  be  suffered  to  prevail  against  it.  We 
are  struggling  hard  to  restore  our  country  to  her  place  amongst  the 
nations  ;  we  must  be  successful  if  we  but  persevere,  and  act  in  concert. 
Let  us  make  an  effort,  a  collateral  effort,  to  revive  her  literature  and 


THE    SCRIPTURES    PRINTED    IN    IRISH.  97 

her  language ;  let  those  who  shall  come  after  us  be  told,  that  there 
lived  men  in  this  generation  who  felt  all  the  ennobling  pride  of  ancestry, 
of  nation,  and  of  tongue,  and  who  offered  at  their  holy  shrines  the 
homage  of  hearts  and  hands  pulsating  with  Milesian  blood. 

Within  the  last  four  or  five  years,  a  vigorous  spirit  of  nationality, 
in  respect  to  language,  has  grown  up  in  Ireland :  this  spirit  has  been 
quickened  by  occasional  essays  on  the  ancient  tongue,  published  in  the 
periodical  press.  There  is  also  established  an  Archaeological  Society, 
to  revive  the  hterature  and  language  of  the  country,  at  the  head  of 
which,  as  secretary,  presides  a  most  erudite  Irish  scholar  in  the  person 
of  O'Donovan.  The  elaborately  learned  publications  of  Sir  William 
Betham,  on  the  antiquities  and  letters  of  the  ancient  Celtae,  Etruscans, 
&c.,  have  done  vvondei-s  to  open  men's  eyes  to  the  rich  mines  of 
literary  wealth,  that  lie  unexplored  for  want  of  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  Irish  tongue. 

That  profoundly  learned  and  purely  patriotic  divine,  the  Archbishop 
of  Tuam,  popularly  called  John  of  Tuam,  and  justly  designated,  by 
O'Connell,  the  "Lion  of  the  Fold  of  Judah,"  has  not  been  idle  in 
trying  to  revive  the  national  language.  Not  only  does  he  preach  in 
the  old  language  himself,  but  insists  on  the  clergymen,  under  his 
episcopal  authority,  preaching  to  the  people  the  tidings  of  the  cross 
through  the  medium  of  their  ancient  tongue.  His  authority  extends 
over  the  entire  province  of  Connaught,  and  his  example  and  influence 
have  proved  a  wonderful  stimulus  to  the  revival  of  a  taste  for  the  Irish 
language  in  other  parts  of  the  island.  His  grace  has  translated  several 
of  Moore's  most  national  melodies  from  the  English  language  into  the 
Irish,  for  the  purpose  of  diffusing  the  sentiments  of  the  inspired  bard 
amongst  the  oppressed  people  for  whom  he  strung  the  lyre  of  his 
country  with  such  irresistible  power  —  and  is,  with  the  same  laudable 
zeal,  now  translating  the  Iliad  of  Homer  into  Irish.  In  the  clerical 
colleges  of  Maynooth,  Carlow,  and  Kilkenny,  which  are  devoted  to  the 
education  of  Catholic  clergymen,  the  Irish  language  is  taught  as 
part  of  the  educational  course  ;  and  in  the  colleges  where  missionaries 
of  opposite  forms  of  ci'eed  are  educated,  it  has  latterly  been  made  a 
branch  of  study  and  acquirement.  Some  of  these  missionaries  have 
gone  so  far  as  to  print  the  Scriptures  in  the  Irish  language,  for  distribu- 
tion in  the  west  and  south  of  Ireland.  Though  their  immediate  object  — 
that  of  changing  the  people  from  the  old  to  some  of  the  new  forms  of 
faith  —  has  not  been  accomplished,  yet  their  labors  have  been  productive 
of  great  service  in  reviving  the  study,  the  writing,  and   printing,  of  the 

national  language. 

13 


98 


SUGGESTIONS    FOR    ITS    REVIVAL. 


The  writers  in  the  Dublin  Nation  have  done  their  share  in  the  good 
work,  by  the  frequent  pubhcation  of  very  eloquent  and  interesting 
essays  on  the  nature  of  the  language.  The  immortal  songs,  in  the  Na- 
tion, in  which  are  artfully  and  beautifully  woven  together,  by  happy 
allusions,  the  literary  and  military  events,  and  associations,  of  Irish 
glory,  or  Irish  sorrow,  have  stirred  through  the  national  heart  the 
slumbering  life-blood  of  Ireland,  have  awakened  a  new  pulsation  for 
freedom,  a  new  fervor  for  nationality,  a  new  appetite  for  Irish  literature, 
language,  art,  and  music. 

Such  desires  and  appetites  cannot  long  remain  ungratified.  Already 
are  there  historians,  poets,  painters,  engravers,  statuaries,  and  anti- 
quarians, at  work,  endeavoring  to  satisfy  the  new  desires  that  are  felt 
by  the  sober,  regenerated  Irish  people.  The  writers  in  the  Dublin 
Nation  have  suggested  the  publication  of  a  weekly  newspaper  in  the 
Irish- language,  as  one  of  the  means  wliich  ought  to  be  resorted  to  for 
its  revival.  And  they  reason  on  the  revival  of  the  language  thus : 
"  The  bulk  of  our  history  and  poetry  is  written  in  Irish  ;  and  shall  we, 
who  learn  Italian,  and  Latin,  and  Greek,  to  read  Dante,  Livy,  and 
Homer,  in  the  original,  —  shall  we  be  content  with  ignorance,  or,  per- 
haps, an  ignorant  translation  of  Irish?"  Abetter  and  cheaper  plan, 
perhaps,  would  be  the  publication,  in  the  Nation,  every  week,  of  a 
column  of  news  in  the  Irish,  with  a  juxtaposition  translation  in  the 
English  language.  One  of  the  newspapers  in  New  Orleans,  where 
half  the  population'  are  French,  and  the  other  half  English,  publishes 
the  leading  news  in  a  couple  of  French  columns,  and  also  a  transla- 
tion into  English,  in  the  same  paper.  In  Montreal  and  Quebec, 
likewise,  in  many  of  the  newspapers,  and  in  all  the  public  proc- 
lamations, the  matter  is  published  in  both  the  French  and  English 
languages.  Such  a  plan  would,  I  am  convinced,  work  admirably  in 
Ireland. 

It  ought  to  be  made  known  to  every  parent,  who  has  it  in  his  power 
to  give  his  sons  a  classical  education,  that  the  Irish  language  is  the  key 
to  all  the  others.  Almost  all  the  distinguished  Irishmen,  who  have  kept 
entranced  assemblies  hanging  on  their  accents,  have  been  well  versed  in 
the  Irish  language.  The  great  O'Connell  is  a  remarkable  instance  in 
illustration ;  so  is  Cm-ran  ;  both  of  whom  sucked  in  the  Irish  language 
with  their  nurses'  milk :  both  of  these  men  were  unequalled,  at  the  Irish 
bar,  in  getting  at  the  hearts  of  a  jury. 

It  is  an  admitted  fact  that  the  Irish  language  is  the  most  touching  of 
any  which  can  be  used  by  the  advocate  in  persuasion,  or  the  lover  in 


SUGGESTIONS    TO    PARENTS    IN    AMERICA.  99 

supplication  ;  it  is  the  most  scathing  in  the  expression  of  loathing  or 
scorn,  the  most  animating  in  war,  the  most  expressive  in  suffering, 
the  most  melting  in  woe,  the  most  persuasive  in  debate.  He  who 
knows  it  best,  other  acquirements  being  given,  will  prove  the  most  suc- 
cessful suitor,  the  most  powerful  debater. 

Would  it  not  be  wise,  tlierefore,  in  parents  in  America,  as  in  Ireland, 
who  intend  to  prepare  their  sons  for  the  learned  walks  of  life,  to  have 
instilled  into  their  youthful  minds  a  knowledge  of  the  Irish  language  ? 
Our  Irish  colleges,  in  America,  should  have  a  professor  of  that  lan- 
guage. A  sort  of  scholastic  foppery  prevails  in  our  Irish  colleges 
here,  which  has  kept  out  our  old  language  from  the  studies  of  youth : 
Jjecause,  forsooth,  it  has  been  proclaimed  down  in  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge, it  ought,  therefore,  to  be  prohibited  in  those  colleges  of  Americii 
which  are  exclusively  filled  by  the  sons  of  Irish  parents.  This  is  false 
doctrine.     With  uplifsed  hands  I  repudiate  it ! 

Many  Irishmen  there  are  in  this  country  who  have,  by  great  labor 
and  industry,  realized  a  wealthy  competence,  and,  stimulated  by  the 
undying  devotion  of  their  race  to  letters,  spare  no  expense  in  giving 
their  sons  what  is  called  a  "  splendid  education  ;  "  but  not  one  word  of 
the  history  and  language  of  their  fathers'  country  are  they  taught  in 
the  course  of  this  "splendid  education."  With  the  beastly  ferocity  of 
pagan  Rome,  with  the  refined  immorality  of  the  Greeks,  with  the 
military  and  manufacturing  prowess  of  bloodstained  Britain,  with  the 
dazzling  frivolity  of  France,  are  they  made  familiar,  and  with  the  in- 
Jidelity  of  all  a.ve  they  deeply  saturated;  but  with  the  military  renown 
'of  the  country  of  their  fathers,  with  its  morality  and  letters  even  before 
Christianity,  with  its  Christian  piety  ever  since,  with  its  ages  of  faith, 
of  glory,  of  law,  of  government,  of  literature,  of  hospitality,  of  inde- 
pendence, they  are  left  unacquainted.  Of  its  ancient  and  erudite 
language  they  know  nothing ;  its  science  and  art  they  discredit ;  its 
ancient  manuscripts,  that  enrich  the  shelves  of  European  libraries,  they 
disregard  ;  its  classic  architectural  piles  that  yet  stand,  stubbornly  above 
the  earth,  proclaiming  the  science  and  piety  of  their  founders,  are  un- 
known, unseen,  unheeded.  Ireland,  whose  entire  surface,  for  several 
feet  deep,  is  enriched  with  the  dust  of  their  sainted  forefathers,  is  ex- 
cluded from  their  studies,  and  forgotten  in  their  hearts ;  and  some  of 
these  half-taught  fops  go  to  the  extremity  of  denying  their  extraction, 
despising  their  fathers  and  their  fathers'  country,  and  at  last  abandon 
the  sacred  principles  of  their  fathers'  religion,  taught  them  by  Christ  and 
Saint  Patrick. 


100  APPEAL    TO    THE    OPULENT    AMONG    THE    IRISH. 

Let  me  ask  the  Irish  father,  whose  heart  is  proof  against  the 
fashionable  cant,  and  duplicity,  and  villany,  to  be  found  in  the  atmos- 
phere of  our  great  cities,  whether  this  mode  of  education  shall  be 
suffered  to  continue.  Let  me  ask  the  clergyman,  whose  experience 
must  attest  the  truth  of  my  premises  and  my  inferences,  whether 
Ireland,  and  her  language,  as  a  study,  are  to  be  excluded  from  the 
course  of  education  administered  to  our  youth.  Let  me  suggest  to 
the  true-hearted  Irishmen,  who  are  able  to  pay  for  the  classical  educa- 
tion of  their  sons,  to  insist  on  their  being  taught  the  language  and 
history  of  their  ancestors  ;  the  most  interesting  lay  study  that  can  be  put 
before  the  minds  of  youth. 

What  I  have  written  may  not  fall,  in  every  instance,  on  inanimate 
rocks ;  the  spark  I  fling  out  may  fall  on  a  large  Irish  heart,  a  maga- 
zine full  of  the  best  affections  of  humanity,  the  exalted  impulses  of 
which  may  be  sustained  by  affluence.  These  suggestions  may  find 
their  way  to  such  a  heart,  and  may  light  up  a  resolve  within  it,  to 
do  some  substantial  thing  to  perpetuate  on  this  continent  the  lan- 
guage of  ancient  Ireland.  There  are  many  Irishmen  in  the  United 
States  who  have  realized  very  large  properties  ;  indeed,  there  have 
been  some  immense  properties  amassed  by  Irishmen  in  this  coun- 
try. In  St.  Louis  and  other  parts  of  the  south  and  west  there  are 
some  Irish  families  excessively  wealthy.  In  Natchez  there  is  an  Irish 
family  which  has  given  ten  thousand  dollars  towards  the  erection  of 
the  Catholic  church  in  that  place.  In  some  parts  of  Ohio  I  have  seen 
schools  and  churches  that  have  been  raised  by  the  beneficence  of  indi- 
vidual Irishmen,  who  appropriated  lands  to  their  maintenance.  The 
public  institutions  of  Baltimore,  St.  Louis,  and  other  cities,  bear  testimony 
to  the  magnificent  generosity  of  the  Irish  heart.  The  greatest  prop- 
erty in  America,  —  that  which  has  just  been  awarded  by  the  Supreme 
Court  to  the  children  and  heirs  of  General  Gaines, — amounting  to 
fifteen  millions  of  dollars,  arising  from  a  portion  of  the  city  of  New- 
Orleans,  was  originally  gathered  by  an  Irishman  in  that  city,  whose 
daughter  the  late  General  Gaines  married.  The  Croghans — Irish  also — 
have  immense  properties  in  Pittsburg  and  Louisville.  The  Devereuxs 
have  immense  properties  in  the  state  of  New  York.  In  Brooklyn,  near 
New  York,  there  is  an  Irishman  worth  two  millions  of  dollars.  In 
Boston    there   is  another  who  is  worth,  at  least,  half  a  million. 

Who  knows  .but  these  or  some  others  equally  wealthy,  whom  I  do 
not  know,  into  whose  hands  these   pages  may  fall,  and   who,  admiring 


APPEAL,  TO  THE  OPULENT  AMONG  THE  IRISH.         101 

the  glorious  history  of  their  forefathers,  may  be  induced  to  appropriate 
to  its  honor  some  five  or  ten  thousand  dollars,  the  interest  of  which 
would  support  forever  a  professor  of  the  Irish  language  in  some  of 
those  chief  colleges  where  the  sons  of  wealthy  Irishmen  congregate 
for  instruction  ?  What  an  enduring  monument  of  a  good,  enlightened 
man  would  such  a  bequest  create !  It  would  perpetuate  the  name  of 
the  liberal  donor  to  the  remotest  generations,  and  connect  it  with  the 
classic  associations  of  the  Milesian  race.  The  hint  I  thus  cast  upon 
the  waves  of  time  may  yet  be  taken  up,  nursed,  and  matured  into 
a  vigorous  realization,  and  the  language  of  the  sages  and  saints  of 
Ireland  may  yet  be  steadily  perpetuated  along  this  continent,  amongst 
the  descendants  of  a  once  illustrious  people. 

Were  those  who  are  blessed  with  the  means  of  promoting  this  great 
object  to  read  the  life  of  Flood,  —  to  be  found  towards  the  close  of  this 
work,  —  they  will  there  learn  the  estimate  which  that  truly  great  Irish- 
man formed  of  the  Irish  language,  to  revive  which  he  bequeathed  the 
reversion  of  his  entire  estates.  They  could  hardly  resist  the  appeal  of 
so  brilliant  a  precedent. 

Since  the  foregoing  essay  was  written,  I  have  noticed,  in  a  Dublin 
paper,  the  following  paragraph,  which  proves  that  in  the  ancient  lands 
of  Africa,  the  language  so  long  preserved  in  Ireland  is  occasionally 
heard. 

"  Silk  Buckingham,  by  way  of  settling  the  question  as  to  the  descent 
of  the  Irish  from  the  .Phoenicians,  mentioned  a  fact,  which  had  come 
within  his  knowledge,  of  a  gentleman  from  Fez,  who  by  means  of  the 
language  of  the  mountaineers  of  Atlas,  with  which  he  was  intimately 
acquainted,  kept  up  a  conversation  with  two  Irishmen,  in  their  native 
idiom.  He  also  knew  of  a  Dublin  lady,  who,  by  means  of  the  Irish 
language,  conversed  freely  with  the  mountaineers  of  Atlas  in  their  native 
idiom  ;  these  niountaineers  being  the  descendants  of  Carthaginians  who 
had  taken  refuge  in  ancient  times  in  the  Atlas  range,  and  preserved  the 
dialect  of  their  Phoenician  forefathers." 


102       PKINCIPAL    IRISH    AND    BRITISH    HISTORIANS    OF    IRELAND. 


SECTION   11. 

Notice  of  the  Principal  Irish  and  British  Historians  of  Ireland. — Amberghin.  —  Eth- 
rial .  —  Ollamh  Fodhla.  —  "  The  Black  Book."  —  "  Book  of  Conquests."—  "  Book  of 
Invasions."  —  Psalters  of  Cashell,  Glendelagh,  Armagh,  Na-Pi,aun,  &c.  —  Annals 
of  Tigernachus.  —  Ancient  Manuscripts  found  in  the  Abbey  of  Icolm-Kille,  in  Scot- 
land.—  Ware's  Opinion.  —  M'Geoghegan's  Opinion.  —  Annals  of  Ulster. —  Usher. 
Oxford  Catalogue  of  Irish  Manuscripts.  —  Abbe  M'Geoghegan.  —  Manuscripts 
carried  to  France  by  James  the  Second.  —  Old  Manuscripts  in  Trinity  College, 
Dublin.  —  First  British  Historians.  —  Gildas.  —  Bede.  —  Cambrensis.  —  Falsehood 
of  his  Work  on  Ireland.  —  Piead  by  him  at  Oxford.  —  Exposed  during  his  Lifetime. 

—  Admitted  and  apologized  for  by  him.  —  Ware's  Opinion  of  Cambrensis.  —  Other 
English  Historians.  —  Sir  James  Ware. —  Ireland  has  a  better  Bight  to  Antiquity 
than  Rome.  —  Ancient  Manuscripts  of  Ireland.  —  Irish  and  other  Authors  who 
have  written  within  the  last  three  Centuries.  —  Lombard.  —  Keating.  —  O'Sulli- 
van.  —  Ward.  —  O'Cleary.  —  Roth.  —  Usher.  —  Colgan.  —  Sir  James  Ware. — 
Belling.  —  Walsh.  —  O'Flaherty.  —  O'Reilly.  —  Porter.  —  Allemand.  —  Molyneux. 
O'Kennedy.  —  Harris.  —  O'Connor.  —  Leland. — Warner. —  Abbe  M'Geoghegan. — 
O'Conor.  —  Ledwich. —  Scully.  —  Corry . — Wise.  —  Colonel  Vallancey. —  O'Hallo- 
ran.  —  Walker.  —  Plowden.  —  Barrington.  —  Grattan.  — Wyse. —  Carey.  —  Pepper. 

—  Moore.  —  Life  of  O'Connell.  —  Battersby.  —  O'Callaghan.  —  O'Connell.  — 
Madden.  —  Wolfe  Tone.  —  M'Neven.  —  Emmet,   &c. 

I  PROPOSE,  in  this  place,  to  give  a  very  brief  account  of  .some  of  the 
more  prominent  Irish,  Biitish,  and  other  historians,  by  whom  the  great 
fabric  of  Irish  history  has  been  erected.  Most  historians  refer,  in  very 
abbreviated  notices,  to  previous  authorities,  from  whom  they  quote,  sup- 
posing tlieir  readers  ah-eady  acquainted  with  all  those  authors.-  This  I 
have  myself  always  felt  to  be  very  unsatisfactory.  To  those  who  spend 
all  their  time  in  the  company  of  books,  these  abbreviated  notices  are  not 
so  great  a  source  of  inconvenience  as  to  the  great  bulk  of  mankind,  who 
aj'e  occupied  with  affairs  far  apart  from  literary  study. 

As  1  design  this  book  for  young  persons,  of  both  sexes,  who  cannot 
possibly  be  acquainted  with  one  tenth  of  the  learned  authors  to  whom 
reference  is  made,  I  shall  do  my  utmost,  throughout  the  work,  to  render 
every  thing  as  plain  —  as  easily  comprehended  —  as  possible  ;  and,  instead 
of  merely  referring  to  authorities  which  many  may  not  have  the  inclina- 
tion or  the  means  of  consulting,  1  will  put  them  in  direct  communication 
with  the  authors  themselves,  by  publishing  appropriate  extracts ;  exhib- 
iting, in  their  own  words,  the  variety,  spirit,  and  material,  of  their 
testimony  to  the  ancient  civilization  and  glory  of  Ireland. 

The  first  literary  person  that  our  annals  record  is  Amberghin,  the 
brother  of  Heber  and  Heremon,  the  leaders  of  the  first  Milesian  colony. 


AMBERGHIN. ETHRIAL. OLLAMH    FODHLA.  103 

He  wrote  a  poem  descriptive  of  the  voyage  and  adventures  of  the  Mile- 
sian colony  from  Spain.  According  to  O'Flaherty,  he  was  poet  and 
judge  of  the  colony;  and  Sir  William  Betham.  gives  in  full,  in  the 
original  text,  Amberghin's  poem  containing  all  the  occurrences,  with  a 
literal  translation,  which  that  learned  man  pronounces  to  be  the  Irish 
account  of  the  same  events  as  those  recorded  in  engraved  characters  on 
the  Eugubian  brass  Tables.  The  poems  of  Amberghin  are  the  most  an- 
cient compositions  in  the  Irish  language.  They  are  altogether  historical, 
and  are,  in  that  respect,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  ancients,  who 
wrote  nearly  all  their  histories,  biographies,  and  laws,  in  poetic  meas- 
ures, the  better  to  preserve  them  in  the  memories  of  the  people.  These 
very  ancient  poems  are  found  in  the  Books  of  Leacan,  Ballymote, 
and  the  Book  of  Conquests,  says  Sir  William  Bethara,  copied  from 
more  ancient  manuscripts  now  lost,  or,  if  existing,  not  at  present  in 
possession  of  the  learned  world.  The  language  of  those  poems  bears  a 
striking  and  extraordinary  resemblance  to  that  of  the  Etruscan  Tables. 
It  is  monosyllabic.  Many  of  the  expressions  are  the  same,  and  the 
style  of  the  whole  is  very  like.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  their  very 
remote  antiquity,  being  handed  down  by  successive  transcribers  for  cen- 
turies, who,  ignorant  of  their  meaning,  had  no  motive  for  deception. 
They  transcribed  them  from  more  ancient  copies,  to  preserve  them  as 
ancient  monuments  of  their  country,  admitting  their  incapability  to 
develop  their  meaning.  They  have,  from  their  great  antiquity,  been 
nearly  as  much  a  sealed  book  as  the  Eugubian  Tables.  There  are  four 
of  these  ancient  poems,  one  of  which  is  an  account  of  the  passage  of  a 
ship  across  the  Bay  of  Biscay  to  Ireland ;  being,  as  it  were,  the  Irish 
account  of  the  event  celebrated  in  the  Eugubian  Tables. 

Ethrial,  son  of  Irial,  the  monarch  and  prophet  of  Ireland,  wrote,  ac- 
cording to  Keating,  the  history  of  the  voyages  and  migrations  of  the 
Milesians  down  to  his  time,  about  forty  years  after  the  death  of  Amber- 
ghin.    Ethrial  also  wrote  some  tracts  on  laws  and  medicine. 

Ollamh  Fodhla,  the  lawgiver  and  King, about  three  centuries  after 
Ethrial's  time,  delivered  in  to  the  estates  of  Tara  a  history  of  his  ances- 
tors to  that  time.  This  great  work  was  received  and  adopted  by  the 
assembled  estates  as  the  basis  of  their  national  registry.  They  denom- 
inated it  the  Psalter  of  Tara.  Copies  of  this  work  were  made  and  kept 
in  Tuam,  Glmdalough,  Cashell,  and  some  other  places.  Tlie  history 
of  Ireland  was  kept  as  a  business  of  the  king  and  pariiament  for  very 
many  generations.  Collateral  with  this  great  registry  were  written 
certain  auxiliary  books,  called  the  "  Black  Book,"  the  "  Book  of  Con- 


104  PSALTER    NA-PaUN'.    ARMAGH.    CASHELL.    ETC. 

quests,"  the  '•'  Book  of  Invasions."  The  contents  of  these  ancient 
books,  together  \s-ith  all  contained  in  the  great  Book  of  Tara,  were 
carefully  collated  and  entered  in  the  Psalter  of  CashelL  by  Cormac 
M'  CuUinane,  Bishop  and  Governor  of  Munster,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
tenth  century. 

Cairbre  Liffeachair,  monarch  in  the  third  century  of  the  Chris- 
tian era,  conposed  the  History  of  Kings,  who  were  his  jwedecessors ; 
"'  a  copy  of  which,"  says  the  Abbe  M'Geoghegan,  "  had  been  pre- 
served until  the  last  [17th]  century,  in  the  abbey  of  Icolra-Kill,  and 
Sir  George  3I'Kenzie,  in  his  Defence  of  the  Royal  Line  of  Scotland, 
mentions  to  have  seen  it.''  Since  the  time  of  Christianity  (I  quote  from 
the  same  author)  we  have  the  book  called  Xa-Geeart,  written  half  in 
Irish  and  half  in  Latin,  by  St.  Benignus,  disciple  of  St.  Patrick :  the 
Psalter  called  Xa-Raun.  the  Psalter  of  Armasrh,  of  Cluan  M'XoisJc, 
Cliian  Aigneach.  and  of  Gravala  :  the  -  Books"  of  Fiontan  of  Leir, 
Glendaloch.  Roscrea,  and  Kilkenny.  These  "Books"  were  kept  by 
the  bishops  or  abbots  of  those  j^ces,  for  they  were  monasteries  ^ith 
churches  attached.  They  were  histories  of  the  country  generally,  and 
of  the  local  ecclesiastical  institutions.  Gillia  Keavin,  in  the  tenth 
century,  \^Tiote  an  epic  poem,  into  which  he  wove  the  whole  history  of 
Ireland  from  the  beginning.  In  this  great  work,  a  copy  of  which  is  still 
extant,  he  presents  the  entire  thread  of  Irish  history,  though,  no  doubt, 
highly  embellished  with  poetical  colorings.  Yet  we  cannot  doubt  the 
existence  of  the  men  whom  he  describes,  (x  the  general  facts  he  weaves 
in,  because  we  may  believe  the  favorite  actors  of  the  poet  have  been 
overmuch  exalted.  With  equal  reason  might  those  who  will  occupy 
our  places,  five  hundred  years  hence,  disbelieve  the  almost  incredible 
exertions  of  Washington  and  O'Connell,  and,  indeed,  their  verv  exist- 
ence, because  the  grateful  people  of  our  day.  have  almost  deified  those 
great  men. 

The  Martyrology  of  ^larianus  Gorman  was  written  in  the  elev- 
enth century.  This  work,  together  with  many  Irish  manuscripts,  was 
translated  into  Engliih,  in  1627,  by  ConeU  M'Geoghegan,  which  is 
recorded  in  O'Flaherty's  Ogjgia.  The  Annals  of  Tigernachus,  of 
Cluan  M'Xoisk,  were  \\Titten  in  the  Irish  language  and  characters,  in 
the  eleventh  century.  They  were  records  of  Ireland,  kept  at  that 
monastery.  The  Annals  of  Ennisfail  were  wTitten  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  also  the  Synchronisms  of  Flannus  a  Monasterio.  The  greatest 
part  of  these  writings  are  still  entire. 

Sir  George  M'Kenzie,  the  Scotch  writer  already  referred  to,  in  his 


ANCIENT  MANX'SCRIPTS  FOUND   IN  THE  ABBEY  OF  ICOLM-KILL.  105 

Defence  of  the  Royal  Line  of  Scotland,  printed  at  Edinburgh,  in  1685, 
speaks  of  the  Irish  manuscripts  in  the  abbey  of  Icohii-Kill,  which  he 
had  seen.  The  following  are  his  words :  "  Since  I  have  commenced 
this  work,  a  very  ancient  manuscript  of  the  abbey  of  Icolm-Kill  has 
fallen  into  my  hands.  It  was  written  by  Cairbre  LifFeachair,  who  lived 
six  generations  before  St.  Patrick,  and  about  the  time  of  our  Savior. 
An  exact  account  is  given  in  it  of  Irish  kings  ;  from  whence  I  infer  that, 
as  the  Irish  had  manuscripts  at  that  period,  we  certainly  must  have  pos- 
sessed them.  I  have  also  seen  an  ancient  genealogy  of  the  kings  of  the 
Scots,  in  Albania,  [that  is,  the  Irish  colony  established  in  Caledonia,  in 
the  reign  of  Heremon.  The  ancient  Irish  were  called  iSco/5,]  which 
agrees  with  \vhat  has  been  said  in  our  history  on  the  crowning  of  Alex- 
ander the  Second,  and  which  is  preserved  at  Icolm-Kill  as  a  sacred 
deposit.  And  I  have  also  seen  another  ancient  manuscript,  which  sets 
forth  that  the  Dalreudini  [the  sons  and  posterity  of  the  Irish  prince 
Cairbre  Raidi,  who  governed  Caledonia  in  a  remote  age]  of  Albania 
have  been  established  here  [in  Scotland]  six  generations  before  Eire, 
whom  Usher  calls  the  father  of  our  kings.  From  the  same  manu- 
script it  is  discovered  that  Angus  Thuirtheampher  had  reigned  in 
Ireland  five  hundred  years  before  our  Fergus  the  First,  [of  Scotland,] 
which  accords  with  our  histories,  which  say  that  the  Scots  inhabited 
this  country  for  a  long  period  before  Feargus  established  himself  in  it. 
These  same  Irish  manuscripts  agree  also  with  the  history  of  Cau-bre, 
alluded  to  above :  these  are,  in  fact,  the  additions  made  to  his  book  by 
our  ancient  Senachies." 

The  learned  Ware  [Irish  writer]  quotes  the  Psalter  named  "  Nar- 
ran,"  written  in  the  eighth  century,  half  Irish  and  half  Latin,  by  x\ongus 
Kelide,  or  Colideus.  The  same  author  praises  highly  the  Psalter  of 
Cashell,  and  its  learned  author,  Cormac  JNI'Cullinnan,  Bishop  of  Cashell 
and  King  of  the  province  of  Munster,  who  wrote  in  the  beginning  of  the 
tenth  century.  "  He  was  a  man,"'  says  fVare,  "  most  learned  and 
skilled  in  the  antiquities  of  Ireland,  and  wrote  in  his  native  language  a 
history,  commonly  called  the  Psalter  of  Cashel,  ivhich  is  sfill  extant, 
and  held  in  high  esteejn.'^ 

There  were,  besides  these  distinguished  Irish  authorities,  many  of 
lesser  note;  viz.,  Lecan,  3loJaga.  DDioJing,  O'Duvegan,  ]\rEgan, 
Moel  Conroy,  O'Brodeen,  O'Doran,  O'Duneen,  &:c.  All  these  au- 
thors have  written  one  after  the  other.  They  have  transmitted,  age 
after  age,  says  3rGeoghegan.  and  from  hand  to  hand,  the  thread  of 
the  history  of  the  INIilesians,  from  the  beginning.  Scarcely  an  age 
14 


106  ANNALS  OF  ULSTER. 


USHER. 


passes  without  some  who  write  the  histoiy  of  every  country.  The  last 
historians,  if  general,  always  renew  and  relate,  besides  the  present,  what- 
ever might  be  contained  in  the  ancient  monuments  of  a  country ;  so 
that,  should  the  original  ones  be  lost,  or  consumed  by  time,  (contingen- 
cies that  have  pursued  the  records  of  all  nations,)  their  substance  is  still 
preserved  in  modern  works.  The  realities  of  the  monuments  of  the 
Milesians  cannot  be  doubted.  They  are  quoted  by  authors  that  are 
well  known,  and  incapable  of  imposing  on  tliem  by  substituting  chime- 
ras for  the  true  ones.  Keating,  Colgan,  Gratianus  Lucius,  Walsh, 
O'Flaherty,  Kennedy,  and  others,  quote  them  in  every  page.  The 
celebrated  Protestant  Archbishop  Usher  discovered  in  the  ancient 
archives  of  the  Armagh  cathedral  (which  was  built  by  St.  Patrick) 
a  gathering  of  the  most  ancient  monuments  of  intellectual  greatness. 
One  of  these  valuable  works  was  called  the  Annals  of  Ulster,  which 
Usher  named  Ultonieyises.  It  was  written  partly  in  Irish,  and  partly  in 
Latin,  but  in  the  Irish  character.  It  was  a  history  of  all  public  occur- 
rences in  Ireland  for  many  centuries  previous,  kept  by  the  clergy  of 
that  cathedral  from  the  times  of  St.  Patrick,  444.  The  last  writer  on 
this  celebrated  record  was  Roderick  Cassidy,  Archdeacon  of  Clogher, 
who  lived  in  the  eleventh  century,  and  died  1041,  and  who  continued 
the  great  work  down  to  his  own  time. 

Usher  himself 'has  written  much  on  the  history  of  Ireland,  and  indeed 
on  universal  history.  He  was  a  very  learned  man,  and  may  be  more 
indebted  for  his  fame  to  the  rare  and  ancient  records  which  he  discov- 
ered in  Armagh  than  the  worid  supposes.  He  speaks  highly  of  the 
Annals  of  Ulster,  and  of  the  ancient  Annals  of  Tigernachus,  another 
historical  work  of  remote  ages.  One  of  the  most  ancient  specimens 
of  Greek  musical  notation  that  is  now  in  the  world,  was  found  here  by 
Usher,  and  published,  in  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century.  On  this 
ancient  relic  I  shall  have  more  to  say  under  the  head  of  our  "  ancient 
music."  Usher  was  a  sort  of  Presbyterian  Episcopalian,  receiving,  in 
that  respect,  his  hue  from  James  the  First  of  England.  His  Chronol- 
ogy, of  the  Creation,  had  been  received  and  adopted  by  the  British 
parliament  in  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

There  has  been  published  in  Oxford  a  catalogue  of  the  ancient  English 
and  Irish  manuscripts  deposited  with  the  Duke  of  Chandos,  in  England, 
by  the  Earl  of  Clarendon.  —  That  ancient  seat  of  learning,  I  may  note 
in  a  parenthesis,  was  oi'Iglnally  established  in  part  by  Irish  professors,  in 
the  time  of  King  Alfred.  —  In  that  catalogue  are  the  following  notices  of 
some  of  the  Irish  works  in  the  possession  of  the  Duke :  — 


'      ABBE    m'gEOGHEGAN. MANUSCRIPTS    CARRIED    TO    FRANCE.      107 

"  The  Annals  of  Ulster  is  a  book  of  most  ancient  character,  and  has 
been  written  partly  in  Irish,  and  partly  in  Latin,  but  in  the  Irish  charac- 
ters ;  it  commences  with  the  year  of  our  Lord  444,  and  ends  A.  D.  1041, 
in  which  Rodericus  Cassideus,  Archdeacon  of  Clogher,  died ;  he  wrote 
the  latter  part  of  said  Annals."  —  Vol.  2. 

"  The  Annals  of  Tigernachus  (according  to  Ware)  Clonmacnaisensis 
are  mutilated  in  the  beginning.  The  author  touches  on  universal  histo- 
ry, till  the  coming  of  St.  Patrick  ;  after  this  he  describes  the  affairs  of 
Ireland,  till  the  year  of  our  Lord  1088,  in  which  he  died ;  the  book  is 
in  the  Irish  characters  and  language."  —  Vol.  3. 

"  In  the  Annals  of  the  Monastery  of  Innisfail,  the  author  lightly  touches 
on  universal  history,  from  the  creation  of  the  world  to  the  year  of  our 
Lord  430.  After  this  he  describes,  with  great  accuracy,  Irish  affairs  to 
the  year  of  our  Lord  1215,  in  which  he  lived." —  Vol.  26. 

The  learned  Abbe  M'  Geoghegan,  a  French  ecclesiastic,  who  wrote 
his  History  of  Ireland,  in  Paris,  in  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
which  he  dedicated  to  the  "  Irish  brigade,"  who  followed  the  fortunes 
of  Sarsfield  and  King  James  to  France,  and  who  enlisted  in  the  military 
service  of  that  country,  says, "  The  late  king  of  England,  James  the.  Sec- 
ond, had  a  large  manuscript  volume  in  folio,  called  Leahar  Lecan,  taken 
from  the  library  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin ;  it  was  afterwards,  by  order 
of  the  prince,  who  had  an  act  passed  before  notaries  for  the  purpose,  de- 
posited in  the  archives  of  the  Irish  College,  in  Paris,  and"  is  carefully 
preserved.  The  style  of  this  manuscript  is  so  concise,  and  the  words 
so  abridged,  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  any  among  the  learned  in  that 
language  able  to  decipher  it. 

"  The  translator  of  Keating's  History  into  English,  printed  at  Dublin, 
in  1723,  and  afterwards  in  London,  informs  us,  in  his  preface,  that  there 
is  in  the  library  of  Trinity  College,  in  the  same  city,  among  other  mon- 
uments, a  volume,  in  folio,  written  upon  parchment  many  centuries 
ago  ;  that  this  volume  contains  extracts  from  the  Psalters  of  Tara, 
Cashel,  Armagh,  and  other  monuments  of  antiquity  ;  and  in  order  to 
obtain  the  reading  of  it  for  six  months,  that  he  had  been  obliged  to  sive 
security  to  the  amount  of  one  thousand  pounds  sterling.  Would  he 
have  dared  to  publish  and  to  have  printed,  in  the  same  city,  that  account, 
and  give  the  name  of  Dr.  Raymond,  during  his  lifetime,  who  had  been, 
he  says,  his  security,  if  he  feared  that  he  could  be  contradicted  ?  That 
is  not  probable. 

"The  monuments  to  which  we  have  been  alluding,  besides  many 
others  preserved  in  the  cabinets  of  some  lords  of  the  country,  are  frag- 


108  FIRST    BRITISH    HISTORIANS. GILDAS. BEDE. 

ments  that  have  escaped  the  fury  of  the  Danes  and  Saxons ;  they  can 
be  compared  to  inscriptions  engraven  upon  columns  injured  by  time, 
which  are  at  present  useless  in  a  country  where  the  language  is  in  its 
decline.  From  such  sources,  those  who  have  treated  of  the  subject 
within  the  last  two  centuries  have  been  supplied  :  when  the  language 
was  better  understood  than  at  present,  it  was  then  possible  to  consult 
these  monuments ;  but  those  opportunities  will  disappear  the  more  as 
time  advances."     See  note  at  page  128. 

The  first  British  author,  of  whom  we  have  any  account,  is  Gildas 
Britannicus,  surnamed  the  Wise,  who  wrote  in  the  sixth  century  a 
treatise  De  Excidio  Britannia.  He  seems  to  doubt  if  his  country- 
men, the  ancient  Britons,  left  any  monuments  or  manuscripts  ;  for  he 
says  he  was  obliged  to  follow,  in  his  writings,  the  accounts  given  of 
his  country  by  foreigners  ;  which  is  true  enough  ;  for  Julius  Caesar, 
who  landed  in  Britain  about  fifty  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  was 
the  first  person  who  made  any  written  historical  memorial  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Britain.  He  describes  them  as  being  numerous,  divided 
into  wandering  tribes,  without  settled  habitations,  destitute  of  govern- 
ment, laws,  or  letters.  They  drove  their  flocks  from  pasture  to  pas- 
ture, and  followed  them  for  subsistence.  Arts  or  manufactures  they 
had  none ;  they  were  clothed  in  the  skins  of  animals,  and  painted  their 
bodies  blue.  They  were  conquered  by  Caesar,  and  subjected  to  the 
sway  of  Rome  without  much  difficulty ;  under  that  power  they 
remained  for  four  centuries.  "Whatever  events  grew  up  in  Britain, 
during   all   that  time,  were   recorded  by  the  historians  of  Rome. 

After  Gildas  came  the  Venerable  Bede.  He  was  a  Saxon  ecclesias- 
tic, who  wrote  historical  records  of  England,  about  the  year  730  of  the 
Christian  era  ;  his  references  to  Ireland  are  frequent  and  truthful.  But 
the  man  who  stands  conspicuous  on  the  page  of  time,  as  the  historian 
and  traducer  of  Ireland,  is  Gerald  Barry,  commonly  called  Giraldus 
Cambrensis  ;  he  was  the  first  stranger  who  undertook  to  write  a  history 
of  Ireland.  Giraldus  was  a  Welsh  priest,  who  followed  the  fortunes  of 
his  relatives  and  friends,  in  their  invasions  of  Ireland,  from  1169  to 
1171.  Henry  the  Second  of  England  had  made  claim  to  the  Irish  soil, 
at  the  court  of  Rome ;  he  represented  the  Irish  people  to  Pope  Adrian 
(an  Englishman)  as  destitute  of  religion,  law,  morals,  or  government ;  and 
to  support  this  representation,  with  a  view  to  induce  the  pope  to  join  his 
cause,  he  employed  Giraldus  to  write  his  book.  The  popes  of  that  epoch 
bad  much  temporal  power  awarded  to  them  by  the  nations  of  Europe. 
They  were,  by  a  kind  of  universal  consent,  referred  to  as  arbiters  in  all 


CAMBRENSIS.  FALSEHOODS    IN    HIS    WORK.  109 

national  or  princely  disputes.  Their  decisions  were  bowed  to  with 
implicit  obedience  by  the  whole  Christian  world.  Hence  the  anxiety 
of  Henry  to  procure  a  corrupt  witness  against  Ireland,  which  Giraldus 
proved  himself  to  be.  It  appeared  that  Henry  obtained  a  clandestine 
bull  from  Pope  Adrian,  which  (though  the  genuineness  of  this  document 
has  been  disputed  by  O'Connell  and  others)  conferred  authority  on 
Henry  to  invade  Ireland,  and  force  it  into  subjection  to  England,  and, 
through  the  English  monarch,  more  immediately  than  it  had  been,  to 
the  Pope. 

To  sustain  the  king,  Cambrensis  wrote  his  History  of  Ireland.  He 
was  only  twice  in  Ireland,  once  with  the  adventurers  under  Strongbow, 
and  once  with  Prince  John,  the  son  of  Henry  tbe  Second,  both  visits 
not  occupying  more  than  eighteen  months  ;  he  only  saw  about  one 
third  of  the  country  ;  he,  or  his,  durst  proceed  no  farther ;  he  under- 
stood not  the  language, of  the  people,  to  whom  he  was  a  total  stranger, 
and  could  not,  therefore,  consult  the  records  of  their  ancient  archives ; 
he  was  obliged  to  substitute  inventions,  and  tales,  picked  up  after  the 
manner  of  our  modern  travellers,  for  historical  facts ;  he  mixed  only 
with  the  most  common  and  illiterate,  and  such  tales  as  he  obtained 
from  the  lowest,  he  distorted  and  mixed  up  with  the  most  ridiculous 
inventions  of  his  own,  representing  the  people  as  little  better  than  bar- 
barians, and  their  civilization  by  conquest  a  meritorious  act. 

Cambrensis  v^Tote  five  books  in  Latin  ;  the  first  three  he  called 
the  "  Topography  of  Ireland ; "  the  last  two,  "  Ireland  conquered  by 
Henry  the  Second."  He  spent  five  years  composing  these  books, 
which  he  read  before  the  learned  doctors  and  people  of  Oxford,  after 
the  example  of  Herodotus,  who  read  his  History  of  Egypt  before  the 
Greeks.  Cambrensis,  in  order  to  run  his  concoction  down  the  throats 
of  his  hearers,  resorted  to  the  aid  of  sweets  and  sugar-plums.  He 
treated  the  whole  town  splendidly  for  three  days ;  the  first  day  was 
appropriated  to  the  populace ;  the  second,  to  the  doctors,  professors, 
and  principal  scholars  of  the  university ;  and,  lastly,  on  the  third  day, 
he  regaled  the  other  scholars,  soldiers,  and  citizens  of  the  town,  —  "a 
noble  and  brilliant  action,"  says  Cambrensis  himself,  "whereby  the 
ancient  custom  of  the  poets  has  been,  for  the  first  time,  renewed  in 
England."  The  History  of  Ireland,  written  by  this  half-witted  caluui- 
niator,  represents  the  River  Shannon  as  discharging  itself  into  the  North, 
Sea,  whereas  it  discharges  itself  into  the  South  or  Atlantic.  He  scarcely 
mentions  who  were  the  first  inhabitants  of  Ireland  ;  as  to  the   Scoto- 


110  FALSEHOODS    EXPOSED    AND    ADMITTED. 

Milesians,  who  were  the  peaceful  possessors  of  it  for  two  thousand 
years,  he  gives  no  account  whatever,  either  of  their  government, 
laws,  battles,  or  inventions  ;  he  says,  indeed,  there  had  been  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-one  aionarchs  of  that  race  before  his  time,  but  does 
not  give  us  so  much  as  their  names. 

Such  was  the  authority,  on  which  the  majority  of  subsequent  English 
writers  have  deprived  Ireland  of  her  two  thousand  years  of  literature 
and  glory.  The  learned  Ahhe  MGeoghegan,  from  whom,  in  O'Kel- 
ly's  translation,  I  have  condensed  some  of  the  foregoing,  asks,  with 
great  force,  "  Have  not  the  Irish  an  equal  right  to  complain  of  him,  as 
Josephus  [in  his  first  book  against  Appion]  complains  of  some  Greek 
authors,  who  undertook  to  compose  the  history  of  the  Jewish  war,  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  captivity  of  the  Jews,  from  hearsay, 
without  having  ever  been  in  the  country,  or  seen  the  things  of  which 
they  wrote,  and  who,  he  said,  impudently  assurited  to  themselves  the 
title  of  hjstorians  ?  " 

But,  even  during  the  lifetime  of  Cambrensis,  those  contemptible 
fictions  of  his  were  exposed,  and  he  was  made  to  feel  the  stings  of 
conscience  so  keenly  as  to  prompt  him  to  make  a  public  confession  of 
the  incorrectness  of  his  books.  He  did  recant,  in  an  apology,  published 
in  a  second  edition  of  his  work,  the  Conquest  of  Ireland,  and  in  a 
treatise  styled  Recantation.  He  acknowledged  that,  though  he  had 
learned,  from  men  of  that  country  worthy  of  belief,  many  things  which 
he  mentions,  he  had  followed  the  reports  of  the  vulgar  in  too  many 
instances.  Sir  James  Ware,  the  learned  Irish  antiquarian,  speaks 
of  the  works  of  Cambrensis  thus :  "  Many  things  concerning  Ireland 
could  be  noticed  in  this  place  as  fabulous,  which  Cambrensis  hath 
heaped  together  in  his  Topography ;  to  analyze  or  descant  upon  each 
would  require  a  whole  tract.  Caution  should  be  particularly  applied 
by  the  reader  to  his  Topography,  which  Giraldus  himself  confesses.  1 
cannot  hut  express  my  surprise,  how  men,  now-a-days  otherioise  grave 
and  learned,  have  obtruded  on  the  world  the  fictions  of  Giraldus  for 
truths.''^ 

Men  "  grave  and  learned  "  have  adopted,  age  after  age,  the  false- 
hoods of  Cambrensis ;  have  added  to  these  falsehoods,  and  have  piled 
them  up  with  unblushing  effrontery :  for  this  they  have  been  well  re- 
warded with  fat  places  and  easy  chairs  by  the  British  government ;  and 
the  worst  of  it  is,  there  are  plenty  of  "  grave  and  learned  men,"  in  our 
day,  who  pursue  the  self-same  course  in  reference  to  unhappy  Ireland, 


ENGLISH    HISTORIANS.  Ill 

and  who  are  rewarded  by  the  self-same  power  that  instigated  and  re- 
warded Cambrensis.  The  works  of  this  false  witness  lay  buried  in 
obscurity  for  four  hundred  years,  until  republished  by  Camden,  at 
Frankfort,  in  1602;  and  thus  was  the  poison  generated  anew  through 
the  mind  of  Europe.  Those  old,  confronted,  and  discredited  falsehoods 
were  reproduced  by  the  host  of  calumniators,  who  grew  up  after,  die 
reformation,  and  who  methodically  and  unblushingly  followed  Cam- 
brensis, building  up  their  histories  on  his  fictions  ;  for  the  same  motives 
that  actuated  Cambrensis,  in  the  twelfth  century,  have  guided  the  pens 
of  most  of  the  English  historians  of  Ireland  since  the  refonnation. 
Hanmer,  Campion,  Spenser,  Camden,  and  Leland,  are  amongst  the 
most  conspicuous  of  the  English  defamers  of  Ireland ;  whilst  it  must  be 
confessed,  with  deep  humility,  that  Ireland  herself  has  vomited  forth 
monstrosities,  who  have  undertaken,  for  English  pay,  to  disparage  and 
vilify  the  glorious,  though  oppressed,  land  that  bore  them.  Of  these 
in  their  places. 

"  Sir  James  Ware,"  says  the  abbe,  "  begins  his  antiquities  of  Ireland 
with  the. reign  of  Laogare,  and  the  apostleship  of  St.  Patrick.  Why 
he  has  not  taken  them  from  an  earlier  epoch,  he  assigns,  as  a  reason,  that 
most  of  what  had  been  written  concerning  the  predecessors  of  that  mon- 
arch was  exceedingly  mixed  with  fables  and  anachronisms.  Two  things 
in  this  must  be  observed  ;  first,  that,  from  the  acknowledgment  of  the 
author,  there  were  some  kings  the  predecessors  of  Laogare,  and  monu- 
ments which  speak  of  them ;  second,  that  these  monuments  were  mixed 
with  fable  and  anachronisms.  I  have  no  doubt  but  his  criticism  is 
just ;  this  is  a  fault  common  to  all  ancient  histories.  What  can  be 
known  of  antiquity,  if  all  history  be  rejected  which  contains  any  thing 
that  may  be  false,  fabulous,  or  supposed  ?  Is  not  Herodotus,  the  father 
of  history,  called  also  the  father  of  falsehood  ?  Why  has  he  put  forth 
things  that  are  doubtful,  nay,  untrue,  according  to  Manetho,  in  regard  to 
Egypt  and  the  Egyptians,  upon  the  testimony  of  Vulcan's  priests, 
whom  he  had  met  with  at  Memphis  ?  Is  he  correct  in  the  accounts  he 
gives  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  Scythians,  Amazons,  and 
other  countries,  from  hearsay  ?  Have  the  author  of  the  Cyropsedia, 
Titus  Livy,  Quintus  Curtius,  and  others,  been  free  from  the  lash  of 
criticism  ?  Have  the  more  modern  historians,  Camden,  Buchanan,  De 
Thou,  Mezeray,  and  Pere  d'Orleans,  escaped  censure  ?  Is  not  Vol- 
taire convicted  of  repeated  mistakes  in  his  Age  of  Louis  the  Four- 
teenth, in  his  History  of  Charles  the  Twelfth,  and  in  his  History  of  the 
Empire  ? 


112      IRELAND    HAS    A   BETTER   TITLE    TO    ANTIQUITY    THAN    ROME. 

"  Can  we  not  with  justice  say  that  Ware  was  not  a  fit  judge  in  the 
affair  ?  He  did  not  know  the  primitive  language  of  Ireland,  so  as  to  be 
able  to  explore  the  first  periods  of  its  history ;  he  had  no  opportunity 
of  consulting  the  Psalters  of  Teamour,  (Tara,)  and  other  monuments, 
necessary  for  such  an  undertaking ;  he  saw  but  some  books  of  annals, 
written  half  in  Latin  and  half  in  Irish,  the  dates  whereof  ran  no  higher 
than  the  Christian  era  ;  in  a  word,  every  thing,  antecedent  to  that  period, 
is  accused  by  him  of  containing  fable  and  anachronisms  ;  by  these 
means  he  exonerates  himself  from  making  the  researches  to  which  he 
did  not  feel  himself  competent. 

"  It  is  further  objected,  that,  because  the  Romans,  and  also  the 
Greeks,  had  not  historians  more  ancient  than  Herodotus,  who  lived 
about  four  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era,  the  pretensions 
of  the  Milesians,  with  respect  to  the  epoch  of  their  history,  cannot  be 
maintained. 

"  Josephus,  in  his  book  against  Appion,  asserts  that,  to  have  a  knowl- 
edge of  antiquity,  we  must  not  seek  it  among  the  Greeks,  whose 
writings,  he  says,  are  imperfect,  new,  and  doubtful ;  it  appears,  there- 
fore, that  history  was  not  the  ruling  passion  of  that  people,  although 
polished  in  other  respects.  "^ 

"  As  to  the  Romans,  they  are  more  modern.  The  use  of  letters, 
says  Livy,  was  rare  among  the  ancient  Romans,  the  memory  being 
their  only  depository  of  time,  in  the  first  ages  of  the  republic.  If  their 
priests  in  succeeding  ages,  transmitted  some  monuments,  they  were  lost 
in  the  burning  of  the  city  ;  and,  if  we  attach  belief  to  Vossius  on  the 
subject,  Fabius  Pictor  was  the  first  who  wrote  the  history  of  the  re- 
public, in  the  year  of  Rome  485. 

"  Orpheus  of  Crotona,  in  his  poem  of  the  Argonauts,  and  Aristotle, 
in  his  book  of  the  World,  dedicated  to.  Alexander,  make  mention  of 
Ireland,  under  the  name  of  lerna,  from  whence  Usher  takes  the  oppor- 
tunity of  saying,  '  that  the  Romans  could  produce  no  testimony  so 
authentic  for  the  antiquity  of  their  name.'  The  comparison  of  Usher 
is  not  made  in  allusion  to  the  soil  or  land  of  Rome,  nor  to  that  of 
Ireland,  the  two  countries  being  in  that  respect  of  equal  antiquity  ;  the 
question  is  with  respect  to  those  who  inhabited  the  tivo  countries,  of 
which  we  have  a  more  authentic  testimony  for  their  antiquity  than  the 
other :  thus,  in  the  opinion  of  Usher,  the  Scoto-Milesians  had  a  better 
title  to  antiquity  than  the  Romans. 

"  The  strength  of  this  reasoning  will  be  felt  still  more  forcibly,  if, 
with  Camden,  we  consider  that  the   name   lerna,   and   others,  which 


ANCIENT    MANUSCRIPTS    OF    IRELAND.  113 

Strangers  give  to  that  island,  are  derived  from  Eire,  '  ah  Erin  ergo 
gentis  vocahulo  originatio  pretenda ; '  a  name  which  has  been  peculiar 
to  it  since  the  Scoto-Milesians  have  been  in  possession  of  the  island, 
and  which  is  derived  from  Ire,  one  of  their  ancient  chiefs.  If  it  be 
then  allowed  us  to  think,  with  Usher,  that  the  Scoto-Milesians  were 
established  in  Ireland  before  the  Roman  name  was  known,  we  may 
likewise  suppose  that,  from  being  a  lettered  people,  the  dates  of  their 
histories  are  much  higher  than  those  of  the  Romans." 

The  existing  manuscripts  which  treat  of  Ireland  are,  indeed,  more 
voluminous  than  those  of  all  the  rest  of  Europe  put  together.  How 
many  authentic  manuscripts  are  there  remaining  in  the  libraries  of  the 
Vatican  at  Rome,  of  the  king  at  Paris,  and  in  the  Bodleian  library  at 
Oxford,  which  were  never  published  ?  The  history  of  Ireland  rests  on 
the  concurring  testimony  of  Jjfiy  different  records,  each  of  which, 
though  differing  in  object,  has  an  essential  connection  one  with  the 
other.  These  records  are  all,  or  nearly  all,  written  in  the  Irish  lan- 
guage and  character.  It  ought  to  satisfy  us  that  Keating,  Colgan, 
Gratianus  [Lynch,]  Bruodine,  O'Flaherty,  O'Halloran,  Sir  William 
Betham,  and  many  others,  who  made  use  of,  and  understood,  the  Irish 
Innguage  and  manuscripts,  can  warrant  them,  and  say  that  they  bear 
every  mark  of  the  remotest  antiquity,  and  that  the  extracts  which  they 
give  from  them  are  faithful.  I  make  a  further  summary,  from  the 
Abbe  M'Geoghegan  and  other  writers,  of  the  authors  who  have  written 
on  Ireland  before  our  time. 

The  authors  who  have,  in  the  last  three  centuries,  given  their 
attention  to  the  history  of  Ireland,  and  that  are  best  known,  are  Peter 
Lombard,  Keating,  Messingham,  O'SuUivan,  Ward,  Clery,  Roth, 
Usher,  Colgan,  Ware,  Bruodine,  Gratianus  Lucius,  Belling,  Walsh, 
O'Flaherty,  O'Reilly,  Porter,  Molyneux,  Kennedy,  O'Halloran,  &c. 

Peter  Lombard  was  born  in  Waterford,  and,  being  brought  up 
from  his  youth  at  Westminster,  under  the  eyes  of  the  learned  Camden, 
he  displayed  great  proofs  of  capacity  for  the  sciences ;  he  afterwards 
came  to  Louvain,  where  he  completed  his  studies,  and  received  the  doc- 
tor's cap.  The  provostship  of  the  cathedral  of  Cambray  was  after- 
wards conferred  on  him ;  lastly,  he  was  appointed  archbishop  of 
Armagh,  and  primate  of  Ireland.  Among  his  other  works,  he  has  left  a 
commentary,  in  Latin,  on  the  history  of  Ireland,  which  was  highly 
esteemed,  and  was  printed  after  his  death,  in  quarto,  at  Louvain,  in  1632. 

Geoffrey  Keating  was  born   in  Ireland,   in  the  sixteenth   century, 
during  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth  :  being  intended  for  the  ecclesias- 
15 


114    IRISH    AND    OTHER    AUTHORS    OF    THE    LAST    THREE    CENTURIES. 

tical  state,  he  left  his  country,  in  consequence  of  the  persecutions  that 
were  carried  on  against  the  Catholics,  and  came  to  France,  where  he 
received  the  degree  of  doctor  in  theology.  Returning  afterwards  to 
his  native  country,  and  being  perfect  master  of  the  Irish  language,  he 
collected  every  thing  that  was  possible  for  him,  from  the  ancient 
monuments  of  Ireland,  and  formed  the  design  of  reducing  them  into 
the  shape  of  history.  Two  motives  induced  him  to  undertake  it,  as  he 
himself  says  in  his  preface  —  first,  to  draw  from  obscurity  a  people 
who  were  equally  ancient  as  they  were  generous  and  noble,  by  pre- 
serving from  the  ravages  of  time  a  methodical  histoiy  of  their  monu- 
ments ;  secondly,  to  develop  the  injustice  of  some  authors,  who, 
without  consulting  them,  propagate  against  the  Irish  their  false  pro- 
ductions, which  may  be  termed  satires  rather  than  history.  He  adds, 
that  every  thing  which  he  advances  in  favor  of  Ireland  arises  from  his 
love  for  truth,  and  that  his  testimony  should  not  be  suspected,  being 
himself  of  English  origin.  This  qualification,  however,  raised  suspi- 
cions from  many  quarters  against  him,  particularly  in  the  provinces 
of  Connaught  and  Ulster,  where  he  was  denied  access  to  their 
documents. 

This  history,  written  in  the  Irish  language,  which  was  principally 
spoken  at  that  time,  has  been  since  translated  into  English,  and  become 
thereby  open  to  criticism.  Those  who  think  themselves  interested  in 
degrading  the  Irish  people,  whose  antiquity  appears  to  them  insupport- 
able, severely  censure  the  history  of  Keating ;  while  others,  more  moder- 
ate and  impartial,  consider  it  a  valuable  collection  of  antiquities.  It 
must,  however,  be  acknowledged,  that,  if  the  English  translation  of  this 
history  be  a  faithful  one,  —  which  is  not  very  certain,  — there  are  many 
anachronisms  in  the  work,  and  accounts  which  seem  to  be  fabulous  and 
absurd  tales.  However,  these  should  be  attributed  rather  to  the  cre- 
dulity of  the  author,  who  has  too  closely  followed,  on  some  occasions, 
the  fictions  of  the  ancient  bards,  than  to  any  previous  intention  of  de- 
grading the  history,  of  the  Irish  nation.  Among  all  its  defects  we 
discover  many  good  and  interesting  things,  which  make  that  work 
essentially  useful :  provided  it  be  read  with  caution,  much  information 
may  be  derived  with  respect  to  the  origin  of  the  Milesians,  their 
establishment  in  the  island,  their  wars,  government,  and  the  succession 
of  their  kings. 

Thomas  Messingham,  a  priest,  and  native  of  the  province  of 
Leinster,  also  apostolical  prothonotary,  and  superior  of  a  community  of 
Iiish  in  Paris,  published,  in  that  city,  in   1624,  a  small   folio  volume  in 


O'SULLIVAN.  WARD. o'cLEARY.  115 

Latin,  entitled  Florilegium  InsnJa.  Sanctorum;  it  contains  the  lives 
of  many  of  the  Irish  saints,  taken  from  the  best  authors. 

Philip  O'Sullivan,  a  gentleman  of  the  noble  family  of  O'Sullivan 
Barry,  in  the  county  of  Cork,  being  compelled  by  the  misfortune  of 
the  times,  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  to  fly  from  his  country, 
withdrew  to  Spain,  where,  after  having  completed  his  stodies  at 
Compostella,  he  composed  several  works  in  Latin ;  amongst  others,  an 
abridgment  of  the  history  of  Ireland,  vvliich  had  for  its  title  Historica. 
CathoUca  Hibernice  Compendium,  dedicated  to  Philip  the  Fourth, 
king  of  Spain,  and  printed  at  Lisbon,  in  162L  The  fabulous  account 
of  St.  Patrick's  purgatory,  introduced  into  his  history,  after  the  Viscount 
Lamon  de  Parellos,  a  Spanish  lord,  has  been  injurious  to  it.  In  his 
description  of  the  island,  its  antiquities,  the  invasion  of  the  English,  the 
fifteen  years'  war  under  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  the  persecution  under 
James  the  First,  he  appears  to  be  correct.  He  has  drawn  upon  him- 
self the  censure  of  Usher,  who  treats  him  as  a  faithless  author,  on 
account  of  a  tract  written*  against  him,  under  the  title  of  Archicomi- 
geromastix. 

Hugh  Ward,  or  Wardens,  a  native  of  the  county  Donegal,  in  Ulster, 
was  first  brought  up  at  Salamanca,  w  here  he  became  one  of  the  order 
of  St.  Francis,  in  1616  ;  he  afterwards  completed  his  studies  at  Paris, 
from  whence  he  was  called,  and  nominated  lecturer  in  theology,  and 
afterwards  warden,  at  Louvain.  As  he  was  very  learned  and  versed  in 
antiquity,  he  took  the  resolution  to  write  a  universal  history  of  the 
saints  of  his  own  country.  For  that  object  he  sent  Michael  O'Cleary,  a 
monk  of  his  order,  to  collect  materials  necessary  for  it.  In  the  mean 
time,  he  composed  several  works  that  were  afterwards  very  useful  to 
John  Colgan,  who  undertook,  after  his  death,  to  finish  his  intended 
history. 

Michael  O'Cleary,  a  native  of  the  province  of  Ulster,  and  monk 
of  the  order  of  St.  Francis,  was  sent,  as  has  been  observed,  into  Ire- 
land, by  Ward,  to  make  the  researches  necessary  for  the  work  he  had 
contemplated.  This  monk  performed  his  commission  with  all  possible 
attention,  without  his  patron  having  derived  from  it  any  benefit,  being 
prevented  by  death. 

O'Cleary,  having  formed  a  taste  for  that  kind  of  employment, 
troublesome  indeed,  but  very  useful  to  the  public,  and  being  joined  by 
other  antiquarians  of  the  country,  particularly  Ferfessius  O'Conry, 
Peregrin  O'Cleary,  and  Peregrin  O'Dubgennan,  collected  a  quantity 
of  materials  to  serve  for  an  ecclesiastical  and  civil  history,  and  reduced 


116  ANNALS    OF    THE    FOUR    MASTERS. USHER. 

them  into  order.  Some  ancient  monuments  he  purged,  by  comparing 
them  with  old  manuscripts,  of  the  errors  which  had  crept  in  by  the 
ignorance  of  the  copyists. 

The  first  of  these  monuments  is  an  historical  abridgment  of  the 
Irish  kings,  their  reign  and  succession,  their  genealogies  and  death. 

The  second  is  a  tract  on  the  genealogies  of  their  saints,  called 
Sanctilogium  genealogicuin . 

The  third  treats  of  the  first  inhabitants,  and  different  conquests  of 
that  island,  the  succession  of  her  kings,  their  wars,  and  other  remark- 
able events,  from  the  deluge  until  the  arrival  of  the  English  in  the  twelfth 
century.     This  book  is  called  Leabhar  Gabhaltas." 

The  erudite  John  O'Donovan  has  as  follows:  —  "The  O'Clerj^s 
commenced  the  compilation  of  these  Annals  on  the  22d  of  Janu- 
ary, 1632,  and  completed  their  task  on  the  18th  of  August,  1636. 
The  authorities  collated  and  abstracted  into  this  compilation  are 
enumerated  in  the  testimonium  prefixed  to  the  Annals,  and  given 
under  the  hands  of  the  guardian  and  brotherhood  of  the  monastery. 
Of  the  work  so  produced  there  appear  to  have  been  four  transcripts,  all 
of  which,  in  whole  or  in  part,  have  come  down  to  the  present  day. 
The  first  volume  of  the  copy  executed  for  O'Gara,  after  having  been 
carried  into  Spain  by  his  son,  Colonel  O'Gara,  came  ultimately  into  the 
possession  of  the  venerable  Charies  O'Conor,  by  whose  grandson,  Dr. 
O'Conor,  it  was  deposited  at  Siowe,  where  it  still  remains.  Another 
copy,  complete,  transcribed  for  the  use  of  the  truly  learned  John  Col- 
gan,  was  by  him  bequeathed,  with  his  other  manuscript  collections  on 
Irish  history  and  hagiology,  to  his  convent  at  Louvain.  O'Flaherty,. 
author  of  Ogygia,  had  a  tliird  copy,  the  second  volume  of  which, 
wanting  a  century  at  the  commencement,  is  now  preserved  in  the  library 
of  Trinity  College,  Dublin.  The  second  volume,  complete,  of  a  fourth 
copy,  which  seems  to  have  been  executed  for  the  use  of  the  O'Clerys 
themselves,  and  contains  the  original  dedication  and  testimonium  in  the 
proper  hand-writing  of  the  respective  parties,  having  come  into  the  pos- 
session of  the  late  Austin  Cooper,  Esq.,  was  purchased  at  the  sale  of  his 
library  by  George  Petrie,  Esq.,  of  this  city,  and  by  him  the  purchase 
was  generously  transferred  to  the  Royal  Irish  Academy,  the  ultimate 
depository  and  faithful  preserver  of  this,  as  of  many  of  the  other  remain- 
ing evidences  of  the  learning,  piety,  and  patriotic  zeal,  of  the  Irish  peo- 
ple in  past  ages."     Mr.  O'D.  is  now  translating  this  work. 

James  Usher,  or  Usserius,  was  a  native  of  Dublin,  and  well  known, 
in  the  republic  of  letters,  by  his  erudition  and  the  great   number  of 


.    WARE. COLGAN.  117 

his  works,  which  are  a  proof  of  it.  The  writings  of  this  learned  man, 
that  have  any  reference  to  our  history,  are  his  Veterum  Epistolarum 
Hibernicanim  Sylloge,  and  Britannicarum  Ecclesiarum  Antiquitates. 
The  first  contains  fifty  letters  upon  the  Irish  people,  with  some  notes 
from  the  editor.  This  small  volume  was  printed  first  in  Dublin,  in 
1630,  and  reprinted  at  Paris,  1665.  The  second,  which  was  printed 
at  Dublin  in  1639,  and  at  London  in  1687,  treats  of  the  origin  of 
British  churches. 

John  Colgan,  a  native  of  the  county  Donegal,  in  Ulster,  and  monk 
of  the  order  of  St.  Francis,  in  the  convent  of  St.  Anthony  of  Padua, 
at  Louvain,  where  he  was  professor  in  theology,  was  learned  in  the 
language  and  antiquities  of  his  country  ;  he  undertook  to  write  the 
lives  of  the  Irish  saints,  and  was  the  more  capable  of  undertaking  it 
from  being  aided  by  the  researches  which  Ward  had  made  with 
the  same  intention.  In  1645,  a  volume  in  folio  was  published  by  him 
at  Louvain ;  it  contained  the  lives  of  the  saints  for  the  first  three 
months  of  the  year,  under  the  tide  of  Acta  Sanctorum  Veteris  et 
Majoris  Scotut.  A  second  volume  was  published  at  Louv^ain,  in  1647, 
which  had  for  its  title  Triadis  Thaumaturgce,  he. ;  it  contained  the 
lives  of  St.  Patrick,  St.  Columb,  and  St.  Bridget.  We  have  like- 
wise a  treatise  from  him  on  the  country,  life,  and  writings,  of  John 
Scot,  called  the  subtle  doctor,  printed  in  octavo,  at  Antwerp,  in  1655. 
There  are,  in  fine,  many  manuscript  volumes,  at  Louvain,  of  this  author, 
which  speak  of  the  apostleship  and  mission  of  many  Irish  saints  in 
foreign  countries. 

Sir  James  Ware,  or  Wareus,  a  native  of  Dublin,  made  many 
researches  useful  to  the  history  of  Ireland,  both  in  the  registries  and 
cloisters  of  the  churches  and  monasteries  of  the  country,  and  in  the 
libraries  of  England.  He  published  first,  in  Dublin,  in  1639,  a  treatise, 
in  Latin,  upon  the  Irish  writers.  In  1654  and  1658,  he  had  the 
antiquities  of  Ireland  published  in  London,  under  the  tide  of  De  Hiber- 
nia  et  Antiquitatibus  ejus  Disquisitiones.  In  fine,  he  has  furnished  a 
commentary  on  the  Irish  prelates,  from  the  conversion  of  that  country 
down  to  his  time.  This  work  has  been  printed  at  Dublin,  in  1665, 
under  the  title  of  De  Prasulibus  Hibemia  Commentarius.  All  these 
have  been  translated  into  English,  and  printed  in  folio,  at  London,  in 
1705,  to  which  is  subjoined  a  discourse  from  Sir  John  Davis,  who  was 
attorney-general  to  James  the  First,  wherein  he  examines  into  the 
cause  of  the  delay  of  the  conquest  of  Ireland  by  the  English.  Ware's 
researches  on  the  foundation  of  the  churches,  the  names  and  succession 


1 18     BRUODINE. LYNCH. BELLING. WALSH. o'fLAHERTY. 

of  their  prelates,  the  establishment  of  monasteries  and  religious  houses, 
and  the  learned  writers  of  that  country,  are  extremely  interesting.  His 
works,  which  relate  to  Ireland,  from  the  invasion  of  the  English,  are  in 
general  excellent,  and  worthy  a  man  of  his  merit ;  but  his  treatise  on  its 
antiquities  is  of  small  moment ;  he  was  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with 
its  language  to  be  able  to  consult  the  monuments  of  that  people,  so 
that  he  has,  at  a  small  expense,  acquired  for  himself  the  title  of  anti- 
quarian. 

Anthony  Bruodine,  a  native  of  the  county  Clare,  in  Ireland,  was  a 
Recollet  and  professor  in  theology,  in  the  convent  of  that  order  at 
Prague.  Among  other  works  he  composed  a  volume  in  quarto,  enti- 
tled Propugnaculum  CatholiccB  Veritatis,  Pars  Primq  historica,  &tc., 
printed  at  Prague,  in  1668. 

John  Lynch,  priest  and  archdeacon  of  Tuam,  and  native  of  Gal- 
way,  in  Connaught,  was  learned  in  the  language  of  his  country,  and 
ably  conversant  in  all  kinds  of  literature.  The  troubles  produced  to 
his  country  by  the  war  of  the  parliamentarians,  and  tyranny  of  Crom- 
well, obliged  him  to  leave  it.  In  1652,  he  came  to  France,  and  pub- 
lished, among  other  works,  a  volume  in  folio,  printed  in  1662,  under 
the  title  of  Cambrensis  Eversus,  and  under  the  borrowed  name  of 
Gratianus  Lucius.  Our  author,  with  much  judgment  and  solidity,  refutes 
the  calumnies  that  Cambrensis  had  advanced  against  his  country. 

Sir  Richard  Belling,  a"native  of  the  county  Dublin,  has  left  us  a 
volume  in  duodecimo,  printed  in  Latin,  at  Paris,  in  1650,  under  the  title 
of  Vmdicarum  Catholicontm  Hibernice  Libri  duo,  and  under  the  bor- 
rowed name  of  Philopater  Ireneeus.  In  the  first  book  of  this  volume 
we  discover  a  sufficiently  exact  account  of  the  affairs  of  Ireland,  from 
the  year  1641  till  1649.  The  second  is  a  refutation  of  a  work  written 
by  a  monk  named  Paul  King,  on  Irish  affairs. 

Peter  Walsh  was  a  native  of  Moortown.  in  the  county  Kildare. 
Being  admitted  into  the  order  of  St.  Francis,  he  studied  at  Louvain, 
where  he  became  professor  of  theology.  He  begins  with  the  history  of 
the  country,  to  end  it  with  the  twelfth  century  ;  but  though  the  recital 
of  facts  contained  in  it  be  sufficiently  correct,  still  the  want  of  order  and 
system  discoverable  makes  the  reading  of  it  irksome.  The  second  part, 
which  he  promised,  has  never  appeared. 

Roderick  O'Flaherty,  an  Irish  gentleman,  was  born  at  Moycullin,  in 
the  county  Galway  ;  it  was  the  patrimony  of  his  ancestors  for  many 
ages,  but  confiscated  in  the  troubles  which  had 'arisen  in  1641 ;  he  was 
a  man  of  letters,  and  profoundly  skilled  in  the  history  of  his  own  and 


o'rEILLT. PORTER. ALLEMAND.  119 

foreign  countries.  He  has  left  us  a  large  volume,  in  Latin,  composed 
from  the  most  authentic  monuments,  and  which  he  dedicated  to  the 
Duke  of  York,  who  soon  afterwards  became  king  of  Great  Britain,  un- 
der the  name  of  James  the  Second.  It  was  printed  in  quarto,  at  London, 
in  1685,  under  the  title  of  Ogygia,  wherein  he  treats  of  the  ancient 
history  of  Ireland,  before  Christianity.  In  this  book  he  displays  great 
erudition,  and  a  deep  knowledge  of  chronology,  as  appears  from  the 
testimony  of  two  great  men,  Loftus  and  Belling,  whose  approvals  are 
found  printed  at  the  head  of  his  work.  Stillingfleet  also  cites  him  with 
eulogy. 

Hugh  O'Reilly,  an  Irish  gentleman,  and  native  of  the  county  Cavan, 
was  master  in  the  court  of  chancery,  and  register  to  the  council  under 
James  the  Second.  Having  followed  the  fortunes  of  that  prince  into 
France,  he  was  nominated  his  chancellor  for  the  kingdom  of  Ireland. 
In  1693,  O'Reilly  published  a  small  volume  in  English,  which  has  for 
its  title,  Ireland's  Case  briefly  stated,  that  is  to  say,  an  abridgment  of 
the  state  of  Ireland,  since  the  reformation,  wherein  the  things  which  hap- 
pened in  that  country  are  represented  without  disguise.  He  reproaches 
Charles  the  Second  with  want  of  gratitude  to  his  Irish  subjects  for  their 
services :  he  shows  the  injustice  and  bad  policy  of  that  prince,  for  having 
confirmed  the  murderers  of  the  king,  his  father,  in  their  possessions  and 
"wealth,  as  rewards  for  their  regicide ;  the  old  proprietors  were,  for  those 
objects,  stripped  of  theii-  fortunes,  whose  only  crime  was  their  faithful 
allegiance  to  their  king.  He  speaks,  in  fine,  like  a  man  who,  in  pleading 
his  own  cause,  pleads  that  of  his  country.  His  complaints,  it  appears, 
were  well  founded  ;  whereas  the  king,  his  master,  to  whom  he  communi- 
cated the  purport  of  his  writings,  before  they  would  be  printed,  was 
pleased  to  say,  that  "they  contained  but  too  many  truths." 

Francis  Porter,  a  native  of  the  county  of  Meath,  and  monk  of  the 
order  of  St.  Francis,  was  for  a  long  time  professor  of  theology  in  the 
College  of  St.  Isidore,  at  Rome,  and  president  of  it  for  some  time. 
Among  other  works  he  has  left  us  a  volume  in  Latin,  and  printed  in 
quarto,  at  Rome,  in  1690,  under  the  title  of  Compendium  Annalium 
Ecchsiasticarum  Regni  Hihernia.  After  his  description  of  the  king- 
dom, and  a  list  of  its  kings,  he  speaks  of  the  war  of  the  Danes ;  the 
remainder  relates  to  the  affairs  of  the  church. 

Louis  Augustin  AUemand,  a  lawyer  in  the  parliament  of  Paris, 
published  in  that  city,  in  1690,  UHistoire  Monastique  d'Irlwide,  in 
the  French  language,  and  dedicated  it  to  James  the  Second,  king  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,     The  learned  author  follows,  with  great  exact- 


120  MOLYNEUX. o'kENNEDY. HARRIS. 

ness,  those  who  have  written  on  the  same  subject  before  him ;  namely. 
Usher,  Ware,  Colgan,  and  others ;  and  it  can  be  affirmed,  that,  for  a 
stranger,  who  had  never  seen  the  country  of  which  he  writes,  his  work 
is  very  correct. 

WilHam  Molyneux  was  born  in  Dubhn,  and  has  pubhshed  many 
excellent  works.  Amongst  others,  one  upon  the  State  of  Ireland, 
was  dedicated  by  him  to  the  Prince  of  Orange:  he  proves  in  it  that 
that  country  was  never  conquered  by  Henry  the  Second  ;  that  he  grant- 
ed, according  to  treaty,  a  parliament  and  laws  to  such  of  the  people  of 
Ireland  as  resided  in  his  pale  ;  that  the  ecclesiastical  state  in  that  country 
was  independent  of  England,  and  that  the  English  could  not  bind  the 
Irish  by  laws  made  where  the  people  had  not  their  deputies. 

Matthew  O'Kennedy,  an  Irish  gentleman,  and  doctor  of  laws,  mas- 
ter in  the  court  of  chancery,  and  judge  of  the  admiralty,  in  Ireland,  has 
^Yritten  a  small  volume  in  English,  printed  at  Paris,  in  1705:  it  contains 
an  historical  and  chronological  dissertation  on  the  royal  family  of  the 
Stuarts,  who  are  (he  says)  of  Irish  descent,  through  the  colonies  that 
were  sent  at  different  periods  into  Albania.  This  treatise  has  not 
escaped  criticism ;  it  has  been  abused  by  Father  De  la  Haye,  an  Anglo- 
Scotchman,  in  a  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Perth,  wherein  there  are  more 
invectives  against  Kennedy  and  his  country  than  proofs  against  his 
dissertation,  the  object  of  his  attacks,  as  appears  by  Kennedy's  reply,  in 
the  shape  of  a  letter,  to  what  De  la  Haye  had  advanced.  This  was 
printed  at  Paris,  in  French ,  in  1715,  with  the  letter  of  that  father  sub- 
joined to  it. 

Walter  Harris,  counsellor,  has  published  two  volumes,  in  folio,  in 
English,  on  the  history  of  Ireland,  under  the  tide  of  the  Works  of 
Sir  James  W^are  on  Ireland,  revised  and  augmented.  The  first  volume 
was  printed  at  Dublin  in  17.39,  and  the  second  in  1745;  a  third,  which 
he  had  promised,  never  appeared.  The  Irish  people  are  deeply  indebt- 
ed to  this  learned  man,  for  the  pains  he  has  bestowed,  and  the  interesting 
researches  he  has  made  to  complete  that  work,  which  he  has  considera- 
bly enlarged,  and  enriched  with  many  tracts  that  escaped  the  vigilance 
of  his  prototype,  and  which  merit  for  liim  the  title  of  author,  instead  of 
editor,  which  he  has  modestly  taken. 

The  Dissertations  upon  the  ancient  history  of  Ireland,  given  in  English 
by  an  anonymous  writer,  and  published  at  Dublin,  in  1753,  through  the 
care  of  Michael  Reilly,  display  an  extensive  knowledge  in  the  antiqui- 
ties of  that  country.  This  work  is  flowery  in  its  style,  and  the  matter 
handled  with  peculiar  delicacy  arid   neatness.    The  writer  was  among 


LELAND. WARNER. CORRY. m'gEOGHEGAN.  121 

the  first  of  those  who  began  to  breathe  truth  about  Ireland,  at  a  period 
when  the  tyrannic  chain  of  England  held  her  in  silence.  This  author 
was  the  learned  Q'Conor  of  Belenagar. 

Dr.  Thomas  Leland  was  born  in  Dublin,  1722.  He  was  educated  in 
the  school  of  Dr.  Sheridan,  so  famous  for  giving  brilliant  scholars  to  the 
world.  He  became  a  fellow  of  Trinity  College,  and  a  clergyman  of 
the  established  church.  On  the  lieutenancy  of  Lord  Townsend,  in  Ire- 
land, 1768,  he  was  made  castle  chaplain  to  that  nobleman.  Having 
gathered  some  materials  for  a  history  of  Ireland,  he  ventured  to  give 
them  to  the  world.  From  the  slanders  of  Cambrensis,  Cox,  Temple, 
and  other  defamers  of  his  country,  he  drew  his  supplies.  To  vilify  the 
creed  of  his  fathers  seemed  to  be  his  chief  object,  for  he  was  a  parson  of 
that  "Establishment"  which  had  possessed  itself  of  the  property  of  the 
believers  in  the  old  creed ;  and  he  w^s  the  pampered  tool  of  that 
Orange  faction  which  so  often  steeped  his  country  in  its  bravest  blood. 
His  history  covers  the  period  from  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Second,  1172, 
to  that  of  William  the  Third,  1691.  Dr.  Johnson  said  of  him  that  "  he 
began  his  history  of  Ireland  too  late,"  for  he  despatched  two  thousand 
years  of  ancient  Irish  history  in  a  few  pages  of  "  introduction."  Plow- 
den  says  of  him,  "The  late  Dr.  Ijcland  is  well  known  to  have  written 
his  history  of  Ireland  for  a  bishopric,  which  he  never  attained."  He 
died  in  1785. 

Warner,  an  Englishman  of  more  justice  and  greater  industry,  has 
written  much  of  Ireland,  her  ancient  story,  and  her  high  antiquity.  He 
acknowledges  that  "  Ireland  had  the  start  of  the  Britons,  for  many  ages, 
in  arts  and  sciences,  in  learning  and  in  laws." 

Curry,  an  Irishman,  wrote,  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteentii  century,  a 
history  of  the  civil  wars  of  Ireland,  which  embraces  that  period  covered 
by  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth,  James  the  First,  Charles  the  First,  Cromwell, 
Charles  the  Second,  James  the  Second.  It  is  an  able  work,  and  one 
which  has  fully  vindicated  Ireland  from  the  charges  of  cruelty  in  those 
unfortunate  struggles,  which  had  been  so  plentifully  heaped  on  her  by 
Leland  and  others. 

The  Abbe  M'Geoghegan,  who  was  of  Irish  descent,  wrote,  in  Paris, 
a  very  able,  though  brief  history  of  Ireland,  which  he  brought  down  to 
his  own  time,  namely,  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century.  This  work 
was  compiled  from  a  variety  of  Irish  manuscripts  and  other  records, 
brought  to  France  by  the  leading  Irish  exiles,  before  and  after  the  fall 
of  James  the  Second.  He  dedicated  his  work  to  the  "  Irish  brigade," 
then  in  the  service  of  Louis  the  Fifteenth,  a  legion  composed  of  the  Irish 
16 


122  THE    YOUNGER   o'cONOR. LEDWICH. 

refugees  in  France,  who,  after  the  example  of  the  glorious  Sarsfield, 
enlisted  in  the  French  king's  service,  and,  single-handed,  defeated  the 
English  frequently.  This  work  has  been  lately  translated  by  Mr. 
O'Kelly,  and  republished  in  Ireland,  in  a  very  able  manner,  by  Mr. 
Duffy.  I  am  indebted  to  it  for  much  valuable  matter  not  to  be  found 
in  other  publications. 

Dr.  O'Conor,  of  Belenagar,  wrote  his  Dissertations  on  Irish  his- 
tory in  about  1750 :  the  work  purposed  to  be  only  a  series  of  papers 
on  ancient  Ireland.  Mr.  O'Conor  had  in  his  possession  very  many 
ancient  historical  manuscripts,  and  other  records,  which  came  to  him 
from  his  ancestors,  who  were  of  the  royal  line  of  O'Conor,  kings  of 
Ireland — the  possession  of  which  enabled  him  to  give  to  the  world  a 
most  important  volume.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  his  grandson,  the  late 
Dr.  O'Conor,  found  himself  necessitated  to  part  with  all  those  invaluable, 
those  truly  national  records.  He  sold  them  to  the  English  Duke  of 
Buckingham,  the  owner  of  the  celebrated  library  of  Stowe,  where  they 
now  remain  in  hondage,  somewhat  like  the  country  of  which  they  tell. 
Dr.  O'Conor  undertook,  while  enjoying  the  patronage  and  friendship  of 
the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  to  write  a  history  of  Ireland,  based  upon  the 
foundation  laid  by  his  grandfather.  This  work  has  been  censured  by 
some  of  the  most  patriotic  of  our  modern  historians  and  writers,  for  its 
imperfect  presentation  of  the  noble  superstructure  of  Irish  history.  It 
was  written  under  English  influence,  and  for  English  booksellers,  and  it 
is  not  uncharitable  to  suppose  that,  written  and  published  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, its  tone  is  subdued  and  its  style  pliant.  However,  the  pub- 
lication of  the  doctor's  work  in  England  did  great  good,  for  it  attracted 
the  attention  of  such  men  as  the  late  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  who  de- 
clared, after  perusing  it,  that  "  Dr.  O'Conor  had  exhibited  proofs  which 
showed  that  the  Irish  nation  were  possessed  of  laws  and  letters,  arts  and 
sciences,  centuries  before  the  British  had  yet  emerged  from  barbarism." 
If  Dr.  O'Conor's  book  did  no  more  than  draw  this  admission  from  so 
learned  and  eminent  a  man,  it  has  not  been  written  in  vain. 

Dr.  Ledwich,  an  Irishman,  undertook  to  present  the  historical  features 
of  his  country,  and  has  so  greatly  distorted  them  that  Ireland  disowns 
his  work,  and  repudiates  his  authority.  He  has.  been  proved  to  be  a 
false  witness  against  his  native  land,  and  must  be  classed  with  the  mon- 
ster, or  rather  the  reptile  race,  that  seem  to  be  yet  uneradicated  from  the 
Irish  soil.  Ledwich  was  originally  a  Catholic,  but  became  a  Protestant 
for  the  sake  of  the  loaves  and  fishes  which  awaited  his  apostasy  ;  to  sus- 
tain or  countenance  which,  he  calumniated  his  former  creed,  and  tra- 
duced his  country. 


SCULLY. VALLANCEY.  o'hALLORAN.  123 

Mr.  Scully,  an  Irish  gentleman  of  Tipperary,  wrote,  in  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  centuiy,  a  powerful  and  well-digested  account  of  the 
"  penal  laws."  It  made  a  tremendous  impression  on  the  minds  of  the 
Roman  Catholics  of  Ireland  and  England,  for  it  held  a  faithful  mirror  to 
the  body,  political  and  social,  and  affrighted  them  to  that  activity  which 
eventuated  in  the  formation  of  the  first  Catholic  committee.  That  com- 
mittee was  the  acorn,  from  which  has  grown  the  majestic  oak  of  Irish 
agitation.  Mr.  Scully,  Mr.  Wyse,  (father  of  the  present  accomplished 
Thomas  Wyse,  member  for  Waterford,)  and  I\Ir.  O'Conor  of  Belenagar, 
formed  the  first  glorious  triumviri  who  agitated  for  liberty,  though  laden 
with  the  chains  of  the  oppressor.  Though  their  agitation  produced 
nothing,  they  transmitted  the  duty  and  trust  which  they  assumed  to  the 
succeeding  generation.  Henry  Grattan,  the  patriotic  John  Keogh,  and 
the  great-minded  but  unfortunate  Theobald  Wolfe  Tone,  with  others, 
took  up  and  carried  on  the  great  cause,  and  succeeded,  in  1793,  in 
striking  off  the  first  series  of  Ireland's  galling  chains. 

Colonel  Vallancey,  an  Englishman,  an  enthusiastic  antiquarian,  devo- 
ted his  mind  to  the  study  of  Ireland's  ancient  history,  and  her  antiquities. 
To  him  she  offered  unexplored  mines  of  the  richest  ore.  He  was  em- 
ployed as  an  architect  and  engineer  to  erect  fortifications  round  the  Irish 
coast.  His  wealth  and  opportunities  enabled  him  to  gratify  his  taste,  and 
he  entered  on  the  great  work  with  extraordinary  zeal.  He  not  only 
studied  the  history  of  Ireland,  but  her  ancient  language  also ;  and  em- 
ployed some  of  the  best  Irish  scholars  he  could  procure  to  assist  him  in 
the  meritorious  labor  of  unravelling  the  tangled  hank  of  her  antiquities. 
He  went  so  far  as  to  prepare  and  publish  a  brief  glossary  or  dictionary 
of  the  Irish  language,  as  spoken  in  Wexford,  and  in  some  other  parts  of 
Ireland  ;  and  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  he  rendered,  as  far  as  his 
necessarily  limited  acquaintance  with  the  Irish  language  permitted,  a 
valuable  addition  to  the  already  existing  enormous  stock  of  materials 
for  a  comprehensive  history  of  Ireland. 

Dr.  Sylvester  O'Halloran,  a  native  of  the  county  Limerick,  in  Ireland, 
a  gentleman  of  ancient  family,  and  of  great  literary  attainments,  published, 
by  subscription,  about  the  year  1786,  the  first  part  of  what  he  designed 
to  be  a  comprehensive  history  of  Ireland.  Being  a  profound  Irish 
scholar,  besides  a  thorough  patriot  and  philanthropist,  he  infused  into  the 
work,  as  far  as  it  went,  all  the  dignity,  eloquence,  and  research,  which 
characterize  the  writers  of  the  most  refined  ages,  ancient  or  modern. 
Unfortunately,  he  did  not  carry  his  history  farther  than  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury :  death  shortened  a  hfe  devoted  to  the  perpetuation  of  the  history 


124 


PLOWDEN. 


of  his  country  —  a  fate  which,  by  some  special  destiny,  prematurely 
overtook  many  other  men  who  engaged  in  the  same  laborious  work ! 
His  book  is  a  splendid  and  truthful  one  as  far  as  it  goes.  He  had 
had  the  advantage  of  the  zealous  and  learned  labors  of  the  very 
many  erudite  men  who  wrote  before  him;  and  it  is  creditable  to  the 
Irish  character  that,  in  a  period  just  emerging  from  the  gloom  of  the 
penal  code,  under  whose  terrible  influence  the  intellect  of  Ireland  was 
darkened,  so  powerful  a  writer  as  O'Halloran  just  then  made  his  appear- 
ance, who  flung  out  on  the  world  a  brilliant  reflection  of  the  almost 
departed  rays  of  Ireland's  renown  and  glory.  O'Halloran,  full  of  ac- 
quired lore,  apposite  similes,  and  biographical  anecdote,  frequently 
suspends  his  narrative  while  he  empties  his  full-charged  mind  upon  the 
page.  His  digressions  for  that  reason  are,  though  always  interesting, 
sometimes  inconveniently  long ;  which  effaces  or  disturbs  the  order  of 
historical  facts  in  the  reader's  mind.  This,  I  think,  is  the  only  fault 
which  can  be  alleged  against  the  work.  It  is  otherwise  a  splendid  pro- 
duction, sustained  by  authority,  enlightened  by  reason,  enriched  by  a 
wondrous  gathering  of  facts,  and  adorned  by  a  beautiful  style,  which 
continues  its  elevated  tone  from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  These  com- 
bined properties  of  O'Halloran's  work  justified  Pepper  in  denominating 
him  the  Irish  Livy. 

Joseph  C.  Walker,  a  native  of  Dublin,  wrote  an  historical  memoir  of 
the  Irish  bards,  Irish  music,  instruments,  weapons,  &.C.,  published  in 
1786.  Mr.  Walker's  was  the  first  effort  to  gather  into  an  historical 
record  the  interesting  reminiscences  of  Irish  poetry  and  music.  Walker 
acknowledges  himself  indebted  to  many  eminent  men  of  Ireland,  for 
various  papers  and  essays  of  inestimable  value.  These  are  published, 
in  his  work,  under  the  signatures  of  the  various  learned  and  tasteful 
contributors,  which  include  the  names  of  O'Conor,  O'Halloran,  Val- 
lancey,  Beauford,  Hawkins,  Dr..  Young,  Archdale,  Ousley,  &ic.  Mr. 
Walker  had  good  opportunities  to  acquire  the  necessary  knowledge. 
He  was  an  officer  ui  the  treasury  chambers  of  Dublin,  and  was  one  of 
those  who  were  warmed  into  the  necessary  enthusiasm  of  authorship  by 
the  kindling  influence  of  national  independence  which  Ireland  enjoyed 
in  his  time.  Since  Walker  wrote.  Bunting,  Moore,  Hardiman,  Murphy, 
and  others,  have  made  efforts  to  rescue  our  music  and  history  from  ob- 
livion. 

Francis  Plowden,  an  Englishman,  wrote  an  honest,  though  abridged, 
history  of  Ireland,  from  its  connection  with  England  in  1172  to  1800; 
and  a  continuation  of  Irish  history  from  1801  to  1811.     His  latter  work 


BARRINGTON. GRATTAN. WYSE.  125 

is  invaluable  as  proving,  by  documentary  evidence,  tbe  atrocious  villany 
of  those  who  concocted,  aided,  and  acted  as  agents  of  blood,  in  bringing 
about  the  fraudulent  union.  Mr.  Plowden's  first  work  on  Ireland  was 
a  volunteer  publication,  entitled  a  Review  of  Irish  History.  This 
work,  for  its  extreme  impartiality,  was  attacked  by  the  Orange  writers 
of  the  day.  He  then  entered  the  field  as  a  vigorous  historian,  searching 
the  archives  of  Ireland  for  proof  to  sustain  his  general  accusations  against 
England,  her  ministers,  and  their  bloodthirsty  agents  in  Ireland,  the 
notorious  Orangemen.  Mr.  Plowden,  I  have  heard,  was  prosecuted  for 
libel  by  some  of  the  persons  whose  deeds  he  brought  to  light,  and  under 
a  government  where  the  publication  of  truth  is  declared  libel,  he  was 
found  guilty,  and  sentenced  to  be  fined  and  imprisoned  ;  to  escape 
which,  he  fled  to  France,  where,  I  have  heard,  he  died. 

Sir  Jonah  Barrington,  a  native  of  Dublin,  a  member  of  the  Irish 
parliament,  and  a  judge  of  the  admiralty,  published,  in  Paris,  a  splendid 
historical  work,  denominated  the  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Irish  Nation, 
which  embraces  the  gloomy  events  of  Ireland,  that  grew  up  under  the 
penal  laws  —  the  times  of  Grattan,  the  Irish  volunteers,  and  the  fall  of 
Ireland  at  the  union.  His  history  of  the  union  is  the  most  truthful  and 
comprehensive  work  published  on  the  subject.  The  author  was  himself 
a  member  of  the  Irish  parliament,  and  voted  to  the  last  against  its  anni- 
hilation :  he  wrote  and  published  his  history  in  Paris,  whither  he  retired 
after  the  fall  of  his  country.  His  is  an  eloquent  and  a  truthful  picture 
of  the  times  in  which  he  lived  —  the  most  glorious,  as  well  as  the  most 
gloomy,  recorded  in  Irish  history.     His  work  was  published  in  1833. 

Martin  M'Derraott,  of  the  Coulavin  family,  died  in  London,  1821,  at 
thirty-one  years  of  age,  while  superintending  the  publication  of  his  history 
of  Ireland.  Pepper  lauds  that  portion  which  appeared,  very  highly ; 
and  says,  no  historian  of  Ireland  has  infused  so  much  of  the  spirit  of 
historical  eloquence  into  the  narrative  of  his  country's  story,  as  that  gift- 
ed and  lamented  son  of  Irish  genius. 

Grattan's  Life,  by  his  son,  (Henry,)  covers  nearly  the  same  ground  as 
that  trodden  by  Barrington.  Grattan  having  been  the  chief  actor  during 
the  days  of  Ireland's  glory,  from  1777  to  1795,  his  Life  discloses  a  bril- 
liant succession  of  incidents,  a  great  number  of  documents,  letters  of  a 
very  interesting  character,  especially  so  to  the  statesman  and  general 
politician.     This  work  was  published  in  Dublin,  in  1840. 

The  present  Thomas  Wyse,  the  eloquent  member  for  Waterford, 
wrote,  in  1830,  a  history  of  the  Catholic  Association.  His  work  takes  in 
the  penal  code,  and  the  efforts  made  by  previous  associations  of  Cath- 


126  CAREY. PEPPER. MOORE. 

olics  to  efface  that  code  from  the  constitution.  Mr.  Wyse's  work 
carries  on  the  thread  of  Irish  history,  with  circumstantial  detail,  to  the 
passing  of  the  reform  bill,  in  1831. 

Matthew  Carey,  of  Philadelphia,  published  in  that  city  a  very  able  but 
brief  work,  a  few  years  ago,  entitled  Ireland  Vindicated. 

Pepper,  the  eloquent,  talented,  and  learned  Pepper,  published  in 
Boston,  in  1836,  a  history  of  Ireland,  which  he  brought  down  only  to 
the  twelfth  century.  He  intended  to  carry  the  history  to  his  own  times, 
and  was  preparing  to  go  to  Ireland  to  collect  documents ;  but  he  Uvea 
not  to  complete  his  work.  Pepper  was  a  native  of  Ardree,  near  Dro- 
gheda,  where,  previous  to  his  departure  for  this  country,  he  was  engaged 
in  the  flour  business.  He  established,  in  New  York,  the  Irish  Shield, 
which,  on  removing  to  Philadelphia,  he  continued,  in  that  city,  to  its 
fourth  volume.  It  was  a  spirited  weekly  publication,  which  fully  realized 
its  title.  He  was  editor  of  the  Boston  Sentinel,  and  the  early  series  of 
the  Boston  Pilot.  His  work  on  Ireland  is  extremely  eloquent :  indeed, 
some  persons  think  his  style  rather  inflated  ;  but  this  is  a  small  fault. 
The  immense  quantity  and  the  great  variety  of  the  facts,  notes,  and 
appropriate  quotations  from  other  authors,  which  he  has  put  together 
in  his  eloquent  book,  must  forever  preserve  his  name  amongst  the  most 
talented  and  patriotic  of  his  countrymen.  He  died  in  Boston,  of  a  vio- 
lent cold  and  fever,  caught  from  stripping  ofl"  his  coat  to  cover  some 
unfriended  countryman  of  his  own.  Poor  Pepper,  though  endowed 
with  splendid  talents,  was  encountered,  in  this  asylum  of  the  oppressed, 
by  petty  personal  attacks,  which  he  repelled  with  scathing  power  and 
cmshing  effect.  To  honor  his  memory,  some  patriotic  and  warm- 
hearted sons  of  Ireland  have  caused  a  marble  obelisk  to  be  erected  over 
his  remains  in  Charlestown  burial-ground.  The  workmanship  was 
executed,  in  a  very  able  manner,  by  Michael  Gallagher,  of  Canton. 
It  bears  the  simple  inscription  that  follows :  — 

I 
GEORGE  PEPPER, 

HISTORIAN   OF    IRELAND; 
BORN    IN   TALLISTOWN,    CO.    LOUTH,    IRELAND. 

Died  in  Boston,  May  11th,  1837. 

—  AGED   45   TEARS. 

Thomas  Moore  commenced  the  publication  of  his  history  of  Ireland 


HUISH. BATTERSBY. o'cALLAGHAN.  127 

in  the  year  1835 ;  and  though  he  has  no  doubt  prosecuted  the  work 
with  as  much  vigor  as  he  could  summon,  and  devoted  as  much  time  to 
it  as  his  other  engagements  would  permit,  it  is  not  yet  completed. 
It  brings  the  history  of  Ireland  down  to  the  time  of  Elizabeth,  1550, 
and  a  very  important  space  yet  remains  to  be  described.  Although  it 
must  be  a  species  of  presumption  in  me  to  attempt  to  say  any  thing  of 
one  whose  works  have  made  him  known  to  every  nation,  still  a  few  lines 
in  this  place  may  be  pardoned.  The  family  of  Moore  were  from  Wex- 
ford, in  Ireland.  The  poet  was  born  in  Dublin,  whither  the  family  came 
to  carry  on  business.  They  opened  a  grocer's  store  in  Aungier  Street,  in 
that  city  ;  and  young  Moore  was  educated  in  Trinity  College.  His 
poetry  points  the  speeches  of  every  patriot,  and  graces,  while  it  con- 
veys, the  sentiments  of  every  drawing-room  miss.*  Few  men  had  better 
opportunities  than  Moore  to  gather  materials ;  yet  there  are  some  emi- 
nent Irishmen  not  well  satisfied  with  his  history  of  Ireland :  amongst 
these  are  O'Reilly,  Dalton,  O'Brien,  Pepper,  Sir  William  Betham,  and 
the  writers  of  the  Dublin  Nation.  I  should  be  the  last  man  in  creation 
to  cast  the  shadow  of  censure  on  Mr.  Moore's  history,  whose  style  is  so 
eloquent,  whose  learning  is  so  great,  whose  fame  is  so  well  and  so  deserv- 
edly established ;  but  after  all  this,  I  must  confess,  there  is  more  favor 
shown  to  England  in  his  work  than  England  deserves :  however,  on  this 
head  I  shall  speak  in  the  proper  place. 

The  Life  of  O'Connell  has  been  published  by  Robert  Huish.  The 
book  touches  the  outlines  of  Irish  history  from  1800  to  1833.  The 
author,  having  put  together  four  or  five  hundred  pages  filled  with  the 
sayings  and  doings  of  this  great  man,  flings  upon  his  hero,  at  the  con- 
clusion of  the  work,  one  of  the  usual  canting  taunts  about  his  reception 
of  an  annual  stipend  from  his  countrymen.  The  author  wrote  for  the 
English.     The  Life  of  O'Connell  is  yet  to  be  written. 

The  Repealer's  Manual,  by  Mr.  Battersby,  of  Dublin,  published  in 
1832,  is  an  invaluable  compilation  of  facts,  figures,  and  documents,  con- 
nected with  the  fatal  union.  I  wish  it  were  reprinted,  and  put  into  the 
hands  of  every  repealer  in  England,  Ireland,  and  America.  From  it  I 
have  gleaned  many  valuable  facts,  nowhere  else  to  be  obtained. 

The  Green  Book,  by  John  Cornelius  O'Callaghan,  now  of  Dublin,  but 
whose  family,  I  believe,  are  from  the  south  of  Ireland,  was  published  in 
Dublin  in  1840.  Its  historical  part  is  devoted  to  the  affairs  of  Ireland 
under  James  the  Second  and  William  the  Third.  The  various  battles 
which  took  place,  on  Irish  ground,  between  these  kings,  are  ably  re- 

*  See  my  sketch  of  him,  page  1100. 


128      O'CONNELL,    MADDEN,    CLONEY,    WOLFE    TONE,    GORDON,    ETC. 

viewed  ;  the  English  accounts  are  ripped  up,  and  a  new  reading  of  the 
memorable  events  is  given  to  the  world,  well  fortified  by  indisputable 
authorities.  Mr.  O'Callaghan  had  been  a  contributor  of  prose  and 
poetic  pieces  to  the  Dublin  Comet,  which  was  a  brilliant  weekly  paper 
of  the  Anglesey  reign.  It  did  good  service  to  the  cause  of  freedom,  in 
those  days  of  terror.  The  Parson's  Horn-Book  was  enlivened  by 
some  of  the  squibs  and  crackers  of  O'Callaghan.  Brown  and  Sheehan, 
however,  were  the  chief  writers  of  that  very  able  book.  Brown  is  now 
employed  on  the  Washington  Globe,  in  America ;  Sheehan  on  one  of 
the  London  newspapers,  from  which  he  draws  a  handsome  salary,  and 
infuses  into  the  periodical  all  the  poetry,  sarcasm,  and  spirit,  which 
characterized  the  Comet  and   Horn-Book. 

Daniel  O'Connell,  the  Liberator,  published,  in  1842,  a  -'Memoir 
of  Ireland,  Native  and  Saxon,"  which  does  not  pretend  to  be  more  than 
an  historical  indictment  against  the  Saxon.  It  begins  with  the  invasion 
by  Strongbow,  in  1169,  and  concludes  with  the  reign  of  James  the  First 
It  is  indeed  a  terrible  indictment  against  England,  and  terribly  has  she 
felt  it.  It  is  a  gathering  of  horrors,  poured  out  on  the  head  of  the  op- 
pressor with  an  unsparing  hand.  This  work  has  furnished  the  repealers 
of  Europe  and  America  with  material  enough  to  excite  their  indignation, 
and  feed  their  eloquence.  On  Daniel  O'Connell,  the  author  of  that 
work;  I  shall  have  a  special  lecture,  which  see. 

Madden's  History  of  the  United  Irishmen,  Cloney's  Narrative, 
Wolfe  Tone's  Memoirs,  Gordon's  History,  and  Taylor's  Rebellion  of 
1798,  together  with  Fragments  of  Irish  History,  published  by  Macneven 
and  Emmet,  in  New  York,  furnish  pretty  full  materials  relating  to  the 
unfortunate  affairs  of  Ireland  during  the  rebellion  of  1798,  and  the  times 
immediately  previous  and  subsequent.  Besides  these,  the  innumerable 
biographies  of  distinguished  Irishmen  furnish  material  abundant  to  sustain 
that  part  of  the  undertaking. 

These  are  the  principal  authorities  from  which  I  have  compiled  this 
work.  The  greater  portion  of  the  modern  authors  above  enumerated  are 
in  my  possession.  I  need  not  express  how  intensely  I  feel  the  responsi- 
bility which  I  incur.  If  I  shall  live  to  complete  this  book,  and  present 
to  my  countrymen  in  America  a  familiar  digest  of  their  glorious  history, 
together  with  some  specimens  of  their  music,  —  if  I  shall  win  the  charac- 
ter of  having  done  no  damage  to  their  name  and  cause  in  this  endeavor, 
—  let  me  have  the  honor  of  a  place  in  this  distinguished  catalogue  of 
her  historians. 


IRISH    MANUSCRIPTS.  129 


Note  referred  to  at  page  108. 

Whitelaw  gives  a  list  of  the  Irish  manuscripts  m  the  Irish  character  still  exist- 
ing in  the  archives  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  and  in  the  private  libraries  of 
members  of  the  Gaelic  or  Hiberno-Celtic  Society  of  Ireland.  There  sxe  forty-one 
manuscripts  on  antiquities ;  (liirty  on  battles  ;  eight  on  laws ;  eleven  on  medicine 
and  botany  ;  four  on  science  ;  eleven  on  morals  and  religion ;  ten  dictionaries  and 
glossaries ;  fourteen  romances  and  dramatic  tracts,  forming  altogether  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-nine  very  ancient  and  very  rare  works.  See  Whitelaw's  Dublin, 
Appendix,  78,  and  Nicholson's  Irish  Historical  Dictionary,  Dublin,  1723.  The 
Right  Rev.  Dr.  Murphy,  bishop  of  Cork,  has  ten  thousand  quarto  pages,  transcribed 
from  old  Irish  manuscripts  of  a  more  modern  date. 
17 


ICO 


MUSIC. 


THE    LAMENTATION    OF    THE    AGED    WOMEN. 


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132  ANCIENT    ARCHITECTURE    OF    IRELAND. 


SECTION   III. 

First  Erections  of  the  Milesians.  —  Round  Towers.  —  Probable  Uses.  —  Specimens  of 
ancient  Round  Towers.  —  Egyptian.  —  Indian.  —  Irish.  —  Obelisks  of  Egypt.  — 
Round  Towers  of  India.  —  Religious  Systems  of  India.  —  Buddhism.  — Druids. — 
Caesar's  Description  of  them.  —  Tower  of  Ardmore,  in  Ireland.  —  Experiments  at 
the  Foundation.  —  Number  and  Size  of  the  Irish  Round  Towers. —  Marks  of 
Christianity  found  on  them.  —  Identity  of  the  old  Irish  Castles  with  Egyptian 
Houses  proved.  —  GobbaAvn  Scir.  —  Drawings  of  Egyptian  Houses.  —  Irish  Cas- 
tles.—  Drawing  of  an  ancient  Egyptian  Sandal,  found  in  Ireland.  —  Mr.  Gliddon's 
Opinion  thereon.  —  Egyptian  Writer  Heccatseus  on  Ireland.  —  Cromleaghs.  — 
Caves,  &c. 

The  ancient  architecture  of  the  Milesians  deserves  here  a  specia! 
notice.  It  must  be  kept  in  our  minds,  totally  distinct  from  the  archi- 
tecture of  the  ages  which  came  immediately  before  and  followed  the 
introduction  of  Christianity.  The  first  erections  of  this  singular  people 
yet  live.  They  have  lived  on  for  thousands  of  years,  through  storm 
and  through  convulsion ;  and  they  yet  exist  above  the  earth,  defying; 
like  the  proud  race  of  the  land,  both  time  and  tyranny. 

The  stone  erections  of  the  ancient  Irish  were  of  two  kinds,  viz.,  the 
round,  pointed  towers,  and  the  square,  vaulted  castles.  The  former  were 
sepulchres,  and,  as  some  very  learned  men  assert,  were  used  also  for 
religious  purposes  and  astronomical  observations  ;  tlie  latter  for  the 
habitations  of  chiefs.  There  are  many  of  both  kinds  of  building  yei 
existing  in  Ireland.  The  material  of  vv'hich  they  are  composed  seems 
calculated  to  endure  forever.  Many  of  the  round  towers  are  yet  in  a 
perfectly  whole  and  sound  condition,  though  erected  more  than  three 
thousand  years  ago  !  The  material  of  them  all  is  stone  and  cement. 
The  latter  was  formed  of  properties  unknown  to  modern  science.  The 
scientific  men  of  modern  times  cannot,  by  the  most  minute  analysis, 
discover  the  nature  of  that  cement,  which  has  bound  the  stones  together 
for  so  many  ages.  The  origin  and  uses  of  these  round  towers  have  been 
the  topic  of  a  prolonged  controversy  between  some  of  the  most  eminent 
scholars  of  Europe.  Several  books  have  been  written  to  prove  one  side 
or  other  of  the  different  positions  assumed  by  the  respective  writers. 
No  reasonable  man  could  expect,  from  a  work  so  general  as  this,  a  crit- 
ical inquiry  into  a  vexed  question  so  learnedly  discussed.  A  glance  at 
the  curious  and  interesting  subject  is  all  I  propose  to  give. 

Sir  William  Betham  has  entered  into  the  profoundest  depths  of  the 
round  tower  inquiry.     Ancient   and   modern   history,  the  experiments 


ROUND    TOWERS.  133 

and  observations  of  travellers  in  all  countries,  have  been  compared  with 
each  other.  The  ground  under  and  around  the  foundations  of  some  of 
these  towers  has  been  dug,  under  the  superintendence  of  gentlemen 
whose  only  object  was  to  elicit  truth.  An  opinion,  formed  upon  con- 
curring experiments,  made  not  only  in  Ireland,  but  in  India,  Egypt, 
Italy,  and  elsewhere,  has  been  established ;  the  substance  of  which  is, 
that  these  towers  were  erected  in  those  ages  when  men  conceived  their 
greatest  honor,  while  living,  consisted  in  the  dimensions  of  the  monument 
they  could  raise  up  for  the  reception  of  their  ashes. 

This  was  the  spirit  which  animated  the  Pharaohs  of  Egypt  to  the 
erection  of  the  pyramids,  those  huge  masses  of  stone  and  cement, 
which  have  certainly  perpetuated  the  fame  of  the  race  of  kings  that 
raised  them,  in  defiance  of  time  or  invasion,  through  many  and  many  an 
age.  Mr.  Moore,  while  devoting  several  pages  of  his  work  to  this  topic, 
thinks  these  towers  were  used  as  well  for  astronomical  purposes  as  re- 
ligious. The  four  windows  generally  found  at  the  top,  as  pointing  to 
the  four  cardinal  points  of  the  compass,  —  north,  south,  east,  west, — 
the  stone  steps,  leading  upwards,  through  the  inside,  to  these  apertures, 
plainly  prove  these  towers  to  have  been  erected  for  utility  as  well  as 
show.  There  is,  in  my  opinion,  nothing  in  the  supposition  inconsistent 
with  the  wisdom  and  pride  of  our  progenitors.  We  can  readily  conceive 
the  motives  of  a  distinguished  man,  who,  in  raising  a  monument  to  per- 
petuate his  memory,  chose  a  mode  which  would  forever  connect  his 
name  with  science,  and  preserve  a  recollection  of  his  existence  in  the 
minds  of  enlightened  men.* 

Before  I  enter  farther  into  this  question,  I  deem  it  proper  to  present 
outlines  of  three  of  these  ancient  erections,  which  are  evidently  akin  to 
each  other.     No.  1  is  Egyptian  ;  No.  2,  Indian  ;  No.  3,  Irish. 

*  See  note,  in  reference  to  Mr.  Peitre's  new  theory  on  this  subject,  at  the  end  of 
the  book. 


OBELISKS    OF    EGYPT. OF    INDIA.  135 

No.  1.  The  obelisk  of  Heliopolis  is  the  sole  remaining  one  of  a 
pair  that  stood  together,  which  were  erected  by  Osortasen,  king  of 
Egypt,  about  2070  B.  C.  Gliddon  tells  us  that,  about  six  hundred 
and  forty-seven  years  ago,  Abd-el-Cateef,  the  Arab  historian,  wrote 
there  were  then  two  upon  the  spot.  The  height  of  the  remaining  pillar 
is  about  sixty-one  feet,  and  its  base  six  and  a  half.  The  Pharaohs  of 
Egypt  erected  these  comparatively  small  towers  before  their  great  mon- 
uments and  pyramids,  to  receive  the  written  memorials  of  their  existence 
and  quality.  That  presented  in  the  annexed  diagram  contains  a  series 
of  hieroglyphic  characters ;  the  translation  of  some  of  which  is  as  follows : 
—  "  Pharaoh,  sun  offered  to  the  world,  lord  of  Upper  and  Lower 
Egypt,  the  living  of  men,  son  of  the  sun,  Osortasen,"  &c.  Sic. — 
This  obelisk  was  dedicated  to  the  sun,  to  which  was  dedicated  the  city, 
on  the  ruins  of  which  it  still  stands.  There  are  several  of  these  Egyp- 
tian obelisks  existing  in  Thebes,  Alexandria,  and  other  cities,  along  the 
Nile.  All  of  these  contain  inscriptions  of  some  sort  or  another,  record- 
ing the  deeds  of  kings  and  heroes.  By  some  these  erections  have  been 
called  Cleopatra's  Needles,  but  this  is  a  popular  misnomer.  The  obelisk 
in  the  Hippodrome,  at  Constantinople,  is  a  work  of  Thotmus  the  Fourth. 
That  at  Rome  bears  inscriptions  of  various  Pharaohs  and  Roman  em- 
perors. Of  all  the  obelisks,  the  largest  and  most  beautiful  is  that  of 
Karnac,  at  Thebes,  cut  by  Queen  Amense,  before  Christ  1760.  It  is 
a  single  shaft,  of  the  purest  and  most  exquisitely  polished  sienite,  in 
height  about  ninety  feet,  and  in  weight  about  four  hundred  tons. 

In  Egypt,  where  the  passion  for  erecting  stupendous  monuments  over 
the  dead  was  nurtured  for  ages  by  national  policy  and  popular  senti- 
ment, these  obelisks  were  of  secondary  importance  —  something  in  the 
way  of  ornament  to  the  main  erection ;  but  in  those  distant  countries 
into  which  the  Egyptians  and  Phoenicians  penetrated,  where  the  popula- 
tion was  yet  thin,  and  building  material  scanty,  their  kings  and  chiefs 
contented  themselves  with  erecting  the  smaller  towers,  which,  according 
to  the  changing  circumstances  of  climate  and  country,  were  linked  by 
the  builders,  for  the  reasons  already  stated,  with  both  the  religious  and 
■scientific  studies  of  the  people. 

In  reference  to  the  Indian  tower,  marked  No.  2,  all  we  can  learn 
about  it  is  little  indeed.  Sir  William  Betham  says,  "  We  find  round 
towers  in  every  respect  identical  with  our  own,  scattered  over  the  entire 
surface  of  the  peninsulas  of  India.  Two  Buddhist  towers  are  now 
standing  at  Bigpore,  described  by  Lord  Valentia,  and  there  is  another 
standing  at  Cole,  near  Allyghur,  as  appears  from  a  drawing  by  my  friend 


136  BtJDDHISM. 

Captain  Smith,  late  of  the  44th.  His  lordship  observes,  '  It  is  singular 
that  there  is  no  tradition  concerning  them,  nor  are  they  held  in  any 
respect  by  the  Hindoos  of  this  country.  The  rajah,  Jyanagur,  consid- 
ers them  holy,  and  has  erected  a  small  building  to  shelter  the  great 
number  of  his  subjects  who  privately  come  to  worship  them.'"  On 
their  general  uses,  and  their  identity  with  the  age  and  objects  of  the 
Irish  towers.  Sir  William  Betham  thus  reasons :  "  The  opinions  and 
tenets  of  the  Buddhist  faith  supply  the  strongest  evidence  that  the 
towers  of  India  and  those  of  Ireland  originated  with  the  same  opinions, 
and  were  erected  for  the  same  purpose  —  evidence  which,  taken  as  a 
whole,  I  never  even  hoped  would  be  so  satisfactory  and  conclusive  as  it 
now  appears.  In  papers  published  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal 
Irish  Academy,  I  attempted  to  show  that  the  Ptolemaic  maritime 
geographical  names  of  the  Indian  seas  were  significant  of  the  local 
character  and  peculiarities  of  each  place  in  the  Irish  language.  This 
was  to  me  a  matter  of  surprise,  but  at  that  time  I  did  not  contemplate 
that  the  tenets  of  the  Buddhist  faith,  (the  faith,  be  it  remembered,  which 
preceded  the  Brahmins  in  India,)  the  most  ancient  faith  of  all  India,  and 
still  of  the  Island  of  Ceylon,  the  ancient  Taprobana,  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  further  peninsula  of  India  and  China,  should  be  found  nearly 
in  perfect  accordance  with  that  of  the  Celtic  Druids.  Such,  however, 
is  the  fact,  as  far  as  we  know  of  the  latter,  and  the  remains  of  that 
people  in  our  island  also  coincide.* 

"  Buddha  Gaudma  is  supposed  to  be  an  incarnation  of  the  deity. 
There  were  many  before  him  ;  he  is  now  the  Buddho,  The  Lama  of 
Tibet  is  supposed  also  to  be  a  living  incarnation,  or  representation  of 
Buddho,  by  the  Chinese  called  Foe,  and  on  the  death  of  his  body,  the 
soul  immediately  is  born  again  in  another  person.  It  is  necessary  to 
say  thus  much  to  account  for  the  numerous  holy  relics  of  Buddha, 
which  have  been  deposited  in  many  dagobas,  tcypes-,  and  towers,  in 
India. 

"  The  Buddhist  believes  in  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punish- 
ments, in  the  transmigration  of  souls.  A  bad  man  may  be  born  again  a 
pismire ;  a  good  one,  a  heavenly  being,  an  angel.  Heaven  awards  not- 
its  blessings,  or  hell  its  pains,  eternally,  but  according  to  the  merits  or 
demerits  of  the  individual. 

"Buddha  issued  ten  commandments  I     Of  these  — 

«  1.    Thou  shalt  not  kill. 

"  2.   Thou  shalt  not  steal. 

"  3.    Thou  shalt  not  commit  fornication. 

•  See  a  further  evidence  of  this  identity  in  language  at  page  101- 


BUDDHISM.  137 

"  4.    Thou  shalt  not  say  any  manner  of  falsehood. 

"  5.    Thou  shalt  not  drink  any  intoxicating  liquor. 

"  These  five  were  to  be  observed  by  all  his  disciples,  but  by  the  holy 
priests  are  added  to  the  third  above  recited,  '  or  admit  a  lustful  desire, 
or  suffer  the  touch  of  a  woman.'' 

"  6.    Thou  shalt  not  eat  at  any  unpermitted  hour. 

"  7.    Thou  shalt  not  dance,  sing,  or  play  music,  or  see  them  done. 

"  8.    Thou  shalt  not  use  high  and  great  seats. 

"  To  the  inferior  priests  are  enjoined  the  following,  in  addition  :  — 

"  9.    Thou  shalt  abstain  from  the  use  of  flowers  or  perfumes. 

"  10.  Thou  shalt  not  receive,  use,  or  touch  gold,  silver,  or  money 
of  any  kind. 

"  The  breach  of  these  laws  is  committed  by  thought,  word,  and  deed, 
thus,  in  stealing  :  — 

"  1.    The  knowledge  that  the  property  is  another's. 

"  2.    The  desire  of  stealing. 

''  3.    Projecting  means  to  steal. 

"  4.    Actual  commission  of  theft. 

"  The  3d,  of  fornication  :  — 

"  1.  Desiring  a  woman  not  your  wife,  or  a  woman  a  man  not  her 
husband. 

"  2.    Lustful  desire  in  man  or  woman. 

"  3.    Planning  a  committal. 

"  4.  Actual  commission. 

"  The  4th,  of  falsehood  :  — 

"  1 .    The  knowledge  of  its  being  a  falsehood. 

"  2.    The  saying  it. 

"  3.   The  making  the  hearer  believe  it. 

"  The  5th,  drinking  intoxicating  liquor :  — 

"  1.    The  knowledge  of  its  being  intoxicating. 

"  2.    The  drinking  it. 

"  3.    Suffering  under  its  effects. 

"  There  are  ten  sins :  three  committed  by  deeds  —  killing,  stealing, 
and  debauching. 

"  Four  by  words  —  lying,  backbiting,  slandering,  or  speaking  to  hurt 
another's  feelings,  and  idle  talk. 

"  Three  by  mind  —  covetousness,  envy,  and  false  belief. 

"  This  brief  statement  of  the  opinions  and  belief  of  Buddhism  clearly 
shows  that  the  late  Mr.  O'Brien  totally  misunderstood  its  precepts,  and 
that,  all  his  premises  being  erroneous,  his  conclusions  must  be  equally  so. 
18 


1  38  BUDDHISM. DRUIDS.  C JiSAR. 

The  religion  of  Buddha  has  nothing  in  common  with  the  obscenities  of 
Siva,  or  the  worship  of  the  Phallus. 

"  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  Buddhist  religion  is  pure  in  its  prac- 
tical effects :  its  theory  alone  is  pure ;  but  it  requires  something  more 
than  pure  laws  to  produce  pure  lives.  It  is  well  said,  '  It  inculcates 
benevolence,  tenderness,  forgiveness  of  injuries,  and  love  of  enemies ;  it 
forbids  sensuality,  love  of  pleasure,  and  attachment  to  worldly  objects ; 
yet  it  is  destitute  of  power  to  produce  the  former  or  subdue  the  latter. 
It  is  like  an  alabaster  image,  beautiful  in  all  its  parts,  but  destitute  of 
life,  and  being  so,  provides  no  atonement  for  sin.  Here,  also,  the 
Gospel  triumphs  over  this  and  every  other  religion.'    #     *     * 

"The  Druids  have  long  ceased  to  exist  in  Gaul  and  Britain,  and  none 
of  the  Roman  or  Greek  writers  afford  any  satisfactory  clew  to  their  doc- 
trines and  dogmas,  except  what  we  find  in  Caesar.  We,  in  fact,  know 
but  little  of  them ;  St.  Patrick's  zeal  for  the  Christian  faith  destroyed  all 
the  books  of  the  Irish  Druids. 

"  The  little  Caesar  supplies  is,  however,  of  the  first  importance.  To 
the  pen  of  that  great  man  we  are  indebted  for  what  we  know  of  the  early 
history  of  the  British  islands.  He  possessed  the  highest  order  of  human 
intellect ;  he  was  the  greatest  soldier,  the  most  profound  statesman,  and 
most  elegant  scholar,  not  only  of  his  own  day,  but  of  the  periods  which 
preceded  him,  at  least  so  far  as  profane  history  speaks," 

It  is  due  to  truth  to  insert  here  the  character  of  Julius  Caesar  by 
the  learned  Sir  Richard  Phillips :  "  He  was  a  profligate  young 
patrician,  who,  being  two  millions  in  debt,  obtained  by  corruption  the 
command  of  the  army,  with  which  he  plundered  and  enslaved  several 
nations,  and  then  turned  it  against  the  freedom  of  his  own.  He  ulti- 
mately paid  the  penalty  of  his  tyranny  and  treachery  by  the  loss  of 
his  life  at  the  Capitol.  Most  of  the  commentaries  which  bear  his 
name  were  written  by  Hirtius  and  AppiusJ' 

"  Csesar  says,  '  The  Druids  are  occupied  with  the  sacred  duties  of 
expounding  their  religion,  and  ordering  the  ceremonies  of  their  public 
and  private  sacrifices.  To  them  the  youth  are  committed  for  education, 
and  they  are  held  in  such  honor  and  reputation,  that  all  controversies,  or 
disputes,  both  public  and  private,  are  referred  to  their  decision.  If  any 
offence  be  committed,  as  murder  or  manslaughter,  or  any  dispute  re- 
specting estates,  lands,  or  inheritance,  it  is  the  Druids  who  decide, 
punishing  the  guilty  and  rewarding  the  virtuous.' 

" '  They  teach,  as  their  chief  doctrine,  that  men's  souls  are  immortal, 
and  move  from  one  body  to  another  after  death.' 


DRUIDS. BAAL.  139 

"  Let  us  now  compare  the  Druid  and  Buddhist  systems,  and  first  their 
religion.  They  both  believe  in  the  metempsychosis,  or  transmigration  of 
souls  —  a  system  so  peculiar  and  singular  in  its  character  and  ramifica- 
tions, as  to  negative  at  once  the  idea  that  it  could  have  originated  from 
separate  sources ;  the  most  credulous  and  speculative  would  scarcely 
venture  an  assertion  so  improbable.  If  this  be  admitted,  we  know  that 
the  metempsychosis  was  essentially  an  opinion  taught  by  Pythagoras, 
and  promulgated  over  the  world  by  the  Phoenician  people,  both  in  the 
east  and  west. 

"  The  Druids  and  Buddhists  were  both  skilful  astronomers ;  of  this  I 
have  already  given  sufficient  evidence  in  Ctesar  and  Upham,  and  the 
Mahawansa. 

"  BAAL. 

"  Among  other  coincidences  between  the  opmions  and  customs  of  the 
Buddhists  and  the  Celts,  Is  to  be  numbered  the  planet  worship  of  the 
Baalim,  which  prevails  in  Ceylon,  and  wherever  Buddhism  rules.  It 
will  not  be  denied  that  the  worship  of  Baal  prevailed  in  Ireland,  and 
other  Celtic  countries,  except  by  those  whose  ignorance  is  only  to  be 
equalled  by  the  confidence  with  which  they  put  forth  their  pretensions  to 
knowledge.  The  lighting  of  the  fires  of  the  Bealtin,  on  the  eve  of  the 
summer  solstice,  the  name  of  Baal  scattered  over  the  whole  of  Ireland, 
in  its  topography,  as  Baal  iigh  more,  the  great  house  of  Baal,  in  Cork; 
Baltinglass,  the  Green  of  Baal's  Fire,  in  Wicklow ;  Baall  agh,  or 
Baal's  Ford,  in  Mayo,  at  which  place,  by  the  bye,  is  a  round  tower, 
prove  the  fact :  it  is  useless  to  multiply  examples. 

"  Mr.  Upham  says  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Bali  in  Ceylon,  (page  1 16,) 

" '  Planet  influence  is  styled  Bal-le-ah,  which  may  bear  acuity  to 
Baal: 

"These  Indian  towers,  like  the  Irish,  are  circular;  they  are  both  soli- 
tary buildings,  with  an  entrance  elevated  from  eight  to  twelve  feet  from 
the  ground ;  they  each  have  small  apertures  for  the  admission  of  light, 
at  regular  distances  from  the  elevation,  with  four  apertures  near  the  top, 
at  the  four  cardinal  points,  and  each  is  covered  with  a  round  or  conical 
top.  The  Buddhist  writings  declare  that  they  were  built  over  the 
bones  or  relics  of  their  saints,  or  to  commemorate  some  act  of  their 
incarnate  Buddho,  In  the  tower  of  Timahoe,  in  Ireland,  an  urn  was 
found,  which  contained  human  bones. 

"  In  India  are  abundance  of  dagobas,  or  mausolea  of  dome-like  masses, 
covering  the  body  of  a  deceased  Buddho,  solid,  save  the  chamber,  where 
the  body  was  deposited.     In    Ireland  we  have  conical  hills,  as  New 


140  ROUND    TOWERS    OF    IRELAND. 

Grange,  Killeavy,  Dowth,  Ratoath,  Cloncuny,  of  exactly  the  same 
character." 

The  tower  of  Ardmore,  No.  3,  in  the  diagram,  stands  in  the  county 
of  Waterford,  on  the  coast,  near  the  entrance  of  Youghal  Bay.  It  is 
above  one  hundred  feet  high,  forty-two  feet  in  circumference,  fifteen  in 
diameter.  "  It  is  divided  on  the  outside,  by  projecting  bands,  into  four 
unequal  stories,  with  a  window  in  each,  except  the  upper,  in  which  are 
four  opposite  to  each  other.  The  door  is  about  fifteen  feet  from  the 
ground.  This  is  the  only  tower  in  Ireland  (at  least  I  believe  so)  which 
has  the  projecting  bands,  in  which  it  resembles  much  the  Indian  towers 
of  Boglipor." 

Sir  William  Betham,  in  concert  with  other  antiquarians  of  Ireland, 
has  had  many  of  those  Irish  towers  closely  examined,  and  the  earth 
dug  up  for  several  feet  beneath  their  foundations.  As  tlie  description  of 
one  experiment  would  nearly  answer  for  all,  I  content  myself  with 
giving  that  made  in  Ardmore,  in  July,  1841,  by  Mr.  Hackett,  who  de- 
scribes the  root  of  the  tower  thus :  "  Mr.  Odell's  letter  described  our 
labor  in  reaching  the  bottom  ;  let  me  now  describe  what  appears  to  have 
been  the  manner  in  which  the  builders  of  the  tower  proceeded.  They 
first  went  about  ten  feet,  or  more,  below  the  surface,  and  there  laid  their 
foundation  of  large  rocks  ;  about  four  feet  from  the  bottom  they  laid  the 
body  across,  the  head  and  feet  resting  on  the  rocks  at  the  opposite  side, 
the  body  lying  on  a  bed  of  mould,  four  or  five  feet  in  diameter  ;  they  then 
continued  to  carry  up  the  foundation,  the  ends  irregularly  serrated,  so  as 
to  overlay  the  head  on  one  side,  and  the  feet  on  the  other;  they  then 
covered  the  body  with  about  two  feet  of  mould,  which  they  covered 
with  a  floor  of  mortar ;  over  this,  they  wedged  in,  with  such  force  as  to 
render  them  impervious  to  ordinary  labor,  large  blocks  forming  a  com- 
pact mass  of  unhewn  stones,  and  above  them  another  layer  of  similar 
stones,  but  not  so  compact;  over  this  were  indications  of  another  mortar 
floor,  which  being  only  visible  at  the  edges,  indicated  a  former  attempt 
at  exploration.  Only  about  one  course  or  two  of  large  blocks  were  laid 
higher  than  the  outside  plinth ;  above  these  was  a  loose  mass  of  small 
stones,  five  or  six  feet  deep,  of  the  same  kind  of  stones  as  the  substratum 
of  blocks,  all  of  which  are  different  from  the  stone  of  which  the  tower 
was  built.  I  am  thus  minute  in  the  description,  because  it  has  been 
suggested  that,  as  the  skeleton  was  found  lying  east  and  west,  as  the 
bodies  do  in  the  surrounding  cemetery,  the  tower  had  been  built  over  a 
grave  unknown  to  the  builders.  This  induced  me  to  examine  it  with 
more  care,  and  I  took  with  me  an  intelligent  mason,  who  agreed  with 


NUMBER    AND    SIZE    OF    THE    IRISH    ROUND    TOWERS.  141 

me  that  this  tower  was  certainly  intended  as  a  sepulchre,  for  the  whole 
was  carefully  and  artificially  prepared  for  that  purpose  ;  first,  laying 
down  a  concrete  floor,  then  four  successive  layers  of  mason's  work,  and 
finally,  above  these,  a  second  floor  of  concrete  ;  all  this  would  not  be 
accidentally  built  over  a  body  previously  deposited,  for  the  last  floor 
and  the  walls  rest  on  the  solid  rock. 

"  On  the  29th  of  July,  I  received  a  letter  from  my  friend,  John 
Windele,  Esq.,  of  Cork,  confirming  Mr.  Hackett's  statements  ;  and, 
on  the  18th  of  August  following,  one  from  Mr.  Odell,  stating  that  he 
had  discovered  a  second  skeleton,  so  imbedded  in  the  solid  work  of  the 
tower,  he  had  '  not  been  able  to  extract  it,  but  that  it  can  be  got  out 
without,  ill  the  slightest  degree,  interfering  with  or  endangering  the 
foundation,  which  rests,  as  I  had  anticipated,  upon  the  rock.'  " 

Similar  experiments  were  made  in  the  foundations  of  the  towers  of 
Cashell,  Cloyne,  Roscrea,  Drumbo,  Maghera,  and  other  places.  There 
are  sixty  of  these  ancient  edifices  in  Ireland,  and  two  in  Scotland,  viz., 
at  Brechin  and  Abernethy  ;  their  general  height  ranges  between  ninety 
and  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet.  Moore  says  of  them,  in  the  con- 
clusion of  his  interesting  essay,  (published,  however,  previous  to  the 
important  discoveries  made  by  Sir  William  Bethain  and  his  friends,) 
"  They  [the  towers]  must  therefore  be  referred  to  times  beyond  the 
reach  of  historical  record."  That  they  were  destined  originally  to 
religious  purposes,  can  hardly  admit  of  question  ;  nor  can  those  who 
have  satisfied  themselves,  from  the  strong  evidence  which  is  found 
in  the  writings  of  antiquity,  that  there  existed  between  Ireland  and 
some  parts  of  the  East  an  early  and  intimate  intercourse,  harbor  much 
doubt  as  to  the  real  birthplace  of  the  now  unknown  worship,  of  which 
these  towers  remain  the  solitary  and  enduring  monuments. 

Some  of  the  round  towers  have  marks  of  Christianity  cut  in  the 
door-ways,  and  in  other  parts  of  the  building.  From  this  circumstance, 
certain  writers  have  taken  occasion  to  insist  that  some  of  them  were 
built  in  Christian  times  ;  but,  on  examination,  this  will  be  found  un- 
tenable. We  know  that  the  early  Christian  missionaries  adopted  the 
policy  of  weaving  in  as  many  of  the  previous  customs  of  their  converts 
as,  consistent  with  their  principles,  they  could.  For  instance,  the 
Baaltine  fires,  lit  up  throughout  Ireland  at  midsummer,  in  honor 
of  Baal,  (the  sun,)  were  not  suppressed  by  St.  Patrick,  but  the  custom 
was  turned  to  Christian  account,  by  annexing  to  it  the  festival  of  St. 
John :  thus  did  they  in  all  countries.  These  venerated  towers  were  not 
destroyed,  nor  the  custom  of  assembling  round  them  abolished ;  but 


142     IDENTITY    OF    THE    OLD    IRISH    CASTLES    AND    EGYPTIAN    HOUSES. 

Christian  churches  were  erected  close  to  them,  and  the  Christian  rites 
were  performed  nearly  on  the  very  sites  of  the  pagan  sacrifices.  Even 
in  our  own  times,  a  reverend  gentleman  in  the  south  of  Ireland 
has   erected    two    round    towers    on    the    ancient  principle. 

With  a  view  of  proving  the  identity  of  the  early  buildings  of  Ireland 
and  those  of  Egypt,  I  present  drawings  of  an  old  Egyptian  house,  and 
of  a  building  which  is  a  specimen  of  many  that  are  yet  to  be  seen  in 
Ireland.  No.  1,  I  have  copied  from  a  drawing  presented  by  Mr. 
Gliddon  in  his  lectures  on  Egypt,  which  he  sketched  from  one  of  the 
ancient  Egyptian  houses  to  be  found  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  No.  2, 
I  have  sketched,  according  to  the  impressions  made  on  my  memory  of 
an  old  castle  to  be  found  in  Ireland,  near  the  banks  of  the  Grand 
Canal,  at  the  village  o(  Balateage,  about  twenty-four  miles  south-west 
of  Dublin.  I  have  seen  this  old  castle  many  a  time,  and  have  often 
run  up  its  old  stone  steps  when  a  boy.  The  old  arched  vault  is  still 
in  perfect  order,  and  over  it  is  a  layer  of  earth,  which  forms  a  second 
floor  or  story.  The  roof  has  long  since  decayed  away,  and  the  upper 
part  of  the  walls  are  mouldering  slowly.*  This  castle,  like  all  the  others 
of  its  kind  through  Ireland,  is  supposed  to  have  been  erected  several 
centuries  ago  by  a  certain  Gobbawn  Seir,  or  masonic  conjurer,  whom 
popular  tradition  has  linked  with  every  extraordinary  or  ancient  build- 
in  o-  of  which  there  is  no  certain  history  known.  No.  3,  is  a  sketch 
of  the  ancient  Castle  of  Carlingford,  near  Dundalk,  in  the  county 
Louth.  Near  this  castle  is  the  ruin  of  an  old  abbey,  which  was 
erected  Several  ages  ago:  the  castle  was  then  an  ancient  ruin.  There 
are  still  lingering  in  Ireland  a  few  others  of  those  very  ancient 
erections,  —  one  at  Kilgobbin,  another  at  Kilcullen,  he.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  entertained  by  any  man,  that  they  are  of  Egyptian 
orio-in,  and  are  nearly  coeval  in  date  with  similar  erections  yet  found 
in  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  which  gives  them  an  age  of  better  than  three 
thousand  years. 

No.  4,  is  an  accurate  drawing  of  a  leather  sandal,  found  in  the 
year  1833,  by  some  turf-cutters,  deep  in  the  bog  near  Kilnemnon, 
in  the  county  Tipperary.  I  take  the  engraving  and  description  from 
Fold's  Dublin  Magazine,  1834.  The  gentleman  who  describes  it  says, 
"  The  drawing  is  done  to  life  ;  the  smallest  minutia  of  the  carving, 
and  even  two  cuts,  which  the  sandal  unfortunately  received  from  the 
tools  of  the  workman  ere  it  was  discovered,  being  faithfully  delineated. 
This  valuable  relic  of  antiquity  is  made  of  leather  curiously  carved ; 
*  These  walls  are  eight  feet  thick. 


EGYPTIAN    SANDAL    FOUND    IN    IRELAND.  143 

and  I  need  not  add,  that  it  is  well  tanned.     The  possessor  is  of  opinion 
that  it  is  near  a  thousand  years  old." 

I  took  this  drawing  to  Mr.  Gliddon,  of  whom  I  have  made 
honorable  mention  on  several  previous  occasions,  to  ascertain  his 
opinion  as  to  its  origin.  He,  without  hesitation,  declared  it  to  be  an 
Egyptian  sandal.  Mr.  Gliddon  resided  in  Egypt  three-and-twenty 
years  as  the  consul  of  the  United  States,  and,  during  that  time,  made 
the  antiquities  of  that  country  his  favorite  study.  He  pointed  out  to 
me,  amongst  his  drawings,  the  outline  or  profiles  of  many  Celtic  heads, 
which  are  still  seen  chiseled  in  the  monuments  of  Thebes.  He  as- 
sured me  that  it  was  the  opinion  of  the  learned,  who  had  studied  this 
subject,  that  these  profiles  bore  so  strong  a  resemblance  to  the  Irish  of 
the  present  day,  that  they  might  be  said  to  be  sketches  of  the  living 
race,  instead  of  their  progenitors  entableted  near  four  thousand  years 
ago  !  1  could  indeed  give  other  engravings  of  ancient  coins,  weapons, 
and  ornaments,  which  will  go  still  farther  to  prove  the  immediate  rela- 
tionship of  ancient  Ireland  with  Egypt. 


CKOMLEAGUS. CAVES.  •  ]  45 

Here,  perhaps,  is  the  best  place  to  introduce  the  celebrated  passage 
from  the  Egyptian  writer  Heccataeus,  transcribed  by  Diodorus  the 
Sicilian,  in  reference  to  the  "Land  of  the  Hyperboreans,"  which 
proves  how  highly  Ireland  was  then  esteemed  by  the  scribes  of  that 
great  nation.  "  They  say  that  Latona  was  born  here,  [in  Ireland,] 
and,  therefore,  that  they  worshipped  Apollo  above  all  other  gods  ;  and, 
because  they  are  daily  singing  songs  in  praise  of  this  god,  and  ascribing 
to  him  the  highest  honors,  they  say  that  those  inhabitants  demean 
themselves  as  if  they  were  Apollo's  priests,  who  has  here  a  stately 
grove  and  renowned  temple  of  round  form,  beautified  with  many  rich 
gifts ;  that  there  is  a  city  likewise  consecrated  to  this  god,  whose  citi- 
zens are  most  of  them  harpers,  who,  playing  on  the  harp,  chant 
sacred  hymns  to  Apollo  in  the  temple,  setting  forth  his  glorious  act?. 
The  Hyperboreans  use  tht  ir  own  natural  language ;  but,  of  long  and 
ancient  time,  have  had  a  special  kindness  for  the  Grecians,  and  more 
especially  for  the  Athenians,  and  them  of  Delos ;  and  that  some  of 
the  Grecians  passed  over  to  the  Hyperboreans,  and  left  behind  them 
divers  presents,  inscribed  with  Greek  characters  ;  and  that  Abaris  for- 
merly travelled  from  thence  into  Greece,  and  renewed  the  ancient 
league  of  friendship  with  the  Delians,"  &c. 

These  drawings,  and  what  I  have  said  respecting  them,  relate  only 
to  the  ancient  architecture  of  Ireland.  The  ages  antecedent  and 
subsequent  to  Christianity  gave  birth  to  a  different,  and  a  more 
varied,  style,  which  shall,  when  we  come  to  the  affairs  of  those  ages, 
be  fully  considered. 

Under  the  head  of  "  ancient  erections  "  of  Ireland  may  be  ranked 
the  cromleaghs  and  caves,  which  were  of  Phoenicio-Etruscan  origin. 

"  The  Etruscan  mode  of  burial  was  the  most  sumptuous  and  ex- 
pensive of  any  ancient  nation,  except,  perhaps,  the  Egyptians.  It 
does  not  appear  that  they  embalmed  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  but  they 
hewed  out  chambers  in  the  natural  rock,  in  which  they  placed  sarcoph- 
agi of  marble,  and  other  stones,  and  also  of  burned  clay,  and  placed 
about  them  vases  and  bronzes  of  great  beauty  and  exquisite  taste  ;  on 
the  bodies  they  left  sumptuous  ornaments  of  gold  and  precious  stones. 

"  To  give  even  a  sketch  of  this  very  interesting  portion  of  the 
Etruscan  remains,  would  occupy  too  much  space.  The  object  here 
is  merely  to  make  a  comparison  between  the  mode  of  sepulture  of 
the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Ireland   and   those  of  Italy. 

"  The  damp  climate,  and  consequent  wetness  of  the  soil  of  Ireland, 
forbids  the  general  adoption  of  excavating  chambers  in  the  natural 
19 


146  CAVES. 

rock ;  nor  does  the  hard  stone,  of  which  Irish  rocks  are,  for  the  most 
part,  composed,  admit  of  such  an  operation  ;  while  the  soft  tufa  of  Italy 
is  peculiarly  fitted  for  the  purpose :  we  cannot,  therefore,  expect  to 
find  many  similar  chambers  in  Ireland.  The  Etruscans,  however,  had 
also  their  large  artificial  hills,  or  tumuli,  with  long  galleries,  or  passages, 
leading  to  the  centre,  where  were  lofty  chambers,  formed  of  large 
stones  of  Cyclopian  architecture,  in  which  they  deposited  the  mighty 
dead. 

"  The  monument,  or  tumulus,  called  Cucumella,  in  the  plains  of 
Canino,  partakes  of  the  character  of  the  round  tower,  as  well  as  of 
the  tumulus.  It  closely  resembled  Newgrange,  Dowth,  and  many 
other  Irish  sepulchral  tumuli,  as  to  its  external  appearance,  before  it 
was  opened." 

Ireland  still  presents  evidences,  in  her  caves  and  cromleaghs,  of  her 
Phoenicio-Etruscan  origin.  There  are  celebrated  caves  in  all  parts  of 
the  country,  some  of  them  evidencing,  in  the  inside,  the  expenditure 
of  considerable  labor  and  taste.  That  in  the  plains  of  Louth  is  inlaid 
with  marble,  on  which  figures  in  basso  relievo  have  been  well 
carved.  "  St.  Patrick's  Purgatory  "  is  a  narrow  cell  in  one  of  the 
islands  of  Lough  Derg.  It  is  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock,  and  was  a 
place  of  penance,  of  voluntary  imprisonment,  which  the  holy  man 
prepared  for  himself,  and  to  which  he  frequently  retired  as  a  punish- 
ment for  his  sins.  Skeheewrinky,  near  Cahir,  is  a  splendid  cave: 
after  descending  by  a  ladder  of  thirty  steps,  the  visitor  can  wander  for 
half  a  mile  under  ground,  and  find  on  every  side  rocky  altars,  columns, 
spires,  and  architectural  ruins,  resembling  a  fallen  city.  Bally  Cassidy, 
near  Enniskillen,  is  a  cave,  the  dome  of  which  rises  to  the  elevation 
of  twenty-five  feet,  and  the  different  chambers  are  adorned  with  Tuscan 
columns  of  limestone.  Indeed,  in  every  part  of  Ireland,  there  are 
time-honored  caves,  to  which  the  enthusiasts  in  religion  or  science 
withdrew,  to  enkindle  in  their  souls,  unimpeded  by  the  gross  world 
without,  the  celestial  fires  of  that  heaven  which  they  worshipped. 

For  a  further  account  of  Irish  architecture,  see  page  485. 
In  the  month  of  August,  1844,  and  since  the  preceding  pages  were 
stereotyped,  one  of  those  colossal  mounds,  having  a  cave  beneath,  was 
accidentally  opened  by  some  laborers,  near  Tarbert,  on  the  Kerry  side 
of  the  Shannon.  It  is  described  as  a  conical  hill,  two  hundred  yards 
from  the  base  to  the  summit.  It  is  surmounted  by  an  ancient  fort. 
Beneath  the  summit  was  discovered  a  vertical  entrance,  a  common  door- 
way, of  about  two  feet  square,  and  about  six  feet  below  the  surface. 


THE  PILLAR    TOWERS    OF    IRELAND.  147 

Five  or  six  persons  who  had  ventured  in,  one  after  the  other,  were  suffo- 
cated by  the  confined  air.  At  length,  when  its  suffocating  properties 
were  somewhat  neutraHzed  by  the  admixture  of  a  fresh  current,  others 
entered,  and  having  dragged  out  the  lifeless  bodies,  report  that  they  pro- 
ceeded through  the  narrow  passage  before  described,  and  at  the  distance 
oi  a  few  feet  were  able  to  stand  nearly  erect ;  they  thus  advanced 
through  four  cellars,  each  about  six  feet  long,  connected,  in  a  circuitous 
direction,  by  narrow  apertures,  the  walls  of  the  cellar  being  formed  of 
grit-stone,  overlapping  each  other. 

Having  passed  through  these,  the  party  reached  a  straight  hall,  about 
twelve  feet  long,  at  the  end  of  which  the  leader  (Bunnian)  struck  upon 
one  of  the  bodies  they  were  seeking.  It  is  probable  that  before  this 
book  goes  to  press,  some  further  information  may  be  obtained  about  the 
interior  of  this  second  Irish  pyramid.  This  discovery,  together  with  the 
pyramid  called  New  Grange,  near  Drogheda,  discovered  only  seventy 
years  ago,  leaves  no  longer  any  doubt  that  the  original  settlers  of  Ireland 
were  from  the  shores  of  the  Nile.  The  following  beautiful  stanzas,  by 
Desmond,  in  the  Dublin  Nation,  are  appropriate :  — 

THE   PILLAR   TOWERS   OF   IRELAND. 

<'  The  pillar  towers  of  Ireland  —  how  wondrously  they  stand, 
By  the  lakes  and  rushing  rivers,  through  the  valleys  of  our  land ! 
In  mystic  file,  through  the  isle,  they  lift  their  heads  sublime, 
These  gray  old  pillar  temples  —  these  conquerors  of  time! 
Two  favorites  hath  Time  —  the  pyramids  of  Nile, 
And  the  old  mystic  temples  of  our  own  dear  isle  ; 
As  the  breeze  o'er  tlie  seas,  where  the  halcyon  has  its  nest, 
Passeth  Time  o'er  Egypt's  tombs  and  the  temples  of  the  West ! 
The  names  of  their  founders  have  vanished  in  the  gloom, 
Like  the  dry  branch  in  the  fire,  or  the  body  in  the  tomb ; 
But  to-day,  in  the  ray,  their  shadows  still  tliey  cast  — 
These  temples  of  forgotten  gods  —  these  relics  of  the  past ! 
Around  these  walls  have  wandered  the  Briton  and  the  Dane, 
The  captives  of  Armorica,  the  cavaliers  of  Spain, 
Phoenician  and  Milesian,  and  tlie  plundering  Norman  peers, 
And  the  swordsmen  of  brave  Brian,  and  the  chiefs  of  later  years ! 
How  many  different  rites  have  these  gray  old  temples  known ! 
To  the  mind  what  dreams  are  written  in  these  chronicles  of  stone ! 
What  terror,  and  what  en-or,  what  gleams  of  love  and  truth, 
Have  flashed  from  these  walls  since  the  world  was  in  its  youth! 
Here  blazed  the  sacred  fire ;  and,  when  the  sun  was  gone, 
As  a  star  from  afar,  to  the  traveller  it  shone ; 

And  the  warm  blood  of  the  victim  have  these  gray  old  temples  drunk, 
And  Uie  death-song  of  the  Druid,  and  the  matin  of  the  monk." 


148 


MUSIC. 


EDMUND    OF    THE    HILL. 
(eamon   a   cnick.) 


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ADIEU,    THOU    FAITHLESS    WORLD. 

IS    * 


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MUSIC. 


149 


SHEELA    NA    GUIRA. 


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SLEEP    ON,    MY    KATHLEEN    DEAR. 


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Slow. M^^_  #A      _     ^ 


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inn^iizzrz*; 


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150 


MUSIC. 


CAIIOLAN'S    FAPvEWELL. 


sg^^l^^^P 


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%i^^^^SWf  ,"£  J 


LECTURE    V. 


Til  I'.    BAUDS. 


The   Banla.  —  Tlicir    iuicu>iit     Diitios. —  Rospect  shown  Ihcrii.  —  Nature   of  I'octry. 

—  Music  dofiiicd.  —  IJards  wore  cliorislu'd  by  tl»o  Ancionts.  —  Thoir  Modo  of 
hclpinjr  llic  Memory.  —  Material  of  tluMr  Books.  —  Public  Ijocturos  of  the 
Barda  delivered  in  Reci1,al,ivo.  —  Helpt^d  tli(>ir  Voice  with  tlie  Harp,  —  AcadcMuies 
of  the  Bards. — Tlic  Barred  and  Ring.  —  Bards  led  Iho  Armies  to  Battle. — 
Tiieir  Jnduencc.  —  Their  Dress. — Value  of  their  Dress.  —  Their  Duties  at  the 
Biiriiil  of  the  Dead.  —  The  Caione.  —  Ijamei\tation  over  Chucullen's  Tomb.  — 
The  Ulluhilh,  or  Irish  Cry  over  the  Dead.  —  Female  Voice  mingled  in  the 
Jianientalion.  —  Bardesses.  —  Bards  acted  as  Registrars.  —  Were  taken  as  Hos- 
tages.—  Blair's  Estimate  of  their  Character. —  Grew  in  Nund)ers  prodigiously. — 
Limited  by  King  Hugh  in  the  si.vth  Century.  —  Cohimba,  Kille  comes  from 
Scotland  to  plead  for  them.  —  Their  excessive  Numbers  prove  the  poetical 
and  musical  Taste  of  the  People.  —  The  Scottisii  Bards  received  tiieij  Education 
in  Ireland.  —  Destruction  of  Irish  poetic  Maiuiscri|ils. —  Irisli  Poetry. —  Rules  of 
th(!  Poets.  —  The  twenty-four  Laws  of  Irisli  Poetry  introduced  into  Wales  in 
the  eleventh  Century.  —  The  Irish  Miist(>rs  of  every  Sort  of  Versification.  — 
Their  Rules  adoptt^i  by  mod(;rn  Poets.  —  Sj)ecinien8  of  ancient  Irish  Poetry.  — 
Irish   Triads.  —  C.^lassified  Deliuition  of  English   Versification   by  Sir  R.  Piiillips. 

—  Oisin  the  old  Bard  of  Erin.  —  Learne<I  Disputes  about  his  Poems. —  Homer's 
•subject  to  similar  Disjjutes.  —  Oisin  n\{  Irisliuiati.  —  The  most  l(>arned  Men 
jidiuit  it.  —  Macplierson's  Translation.  —  (^iiariuM.er  of  Macpherson.  —  Speci- 
mens of  the  Oisiauic  Poetry.  —  Eionmaccounduill's  Advice  to  jiis  Son.  — 
Oisin's  Lamentation  for  the  Loss  of   his  Sight. 

Ouii  idea  of  a  bard  difTors  inatorially  from  llial  cnl.(Mtaincd  by  our 
Milesian  forefathers.  By  us,  llio  bard  is  vieweil  as  a  wandorinuj  rhyinor, 
songster,  or  sonio  eccentric  person  of  that  nature.  Hut  in  llie  early 
ages  of  Ireland,  ami  durini;  lur  long  career  of  independence,  the  bard 
was  esteemed  a  most  important  ofilcer.  In  his  pen-son  were  imited  tho 
attributes  and   functions  of  historian,  legislator,  judo(»,  poet,  and  niusi- 


152  RESPECT    SHOWN    THE    BARDS.  NATURE    OF    POETRY. 

cian,  and  sometimes  the  functions  also  of  Druid.  From  the  very 
first  settlement  of  the  Milesians  in  Ireland,  the  bard  was  viewed  by  the 
people  with  the  highest  respect.  In  the  reign  of  the  enlightened  Irish 
king  Tigernmass,  about  nine  hundred  years  before  Christ,  the  high 
respect  entertained  for  the  bardic  order  was  distinctly  marked  in  the 
sumptuary  laws  established  by  that  monarch  to  regulate  the  colors  in 
the  people's  dress.  That  celebrated  law  limited  the  common  people 
and  soldiery  to  one  color ;  military  officers  and  private  gentlemen  to 
two  colors ;  commanders  of  battalions  to  three  colors ;  beataghs,  or 
keepers  of  houses  of  hospitality,  to  four;  the  principal  nobility  and 
knights  to  five ;  and  the  ollamhs,  or  dignified  bards,  to  six ;  whilst 
to  the  king  seven  colors,  and  no  more,  were  permitted.  This  law,  while 
it  marked  distinctly  the  respect  rendered  to  the  bards,  ranking  them 
next  to  royalty  itself,  proves,  at  the  same  time,  the  order  which,  in  that 
remote  age,  prevailed  amongst  the  ancient  Irish,  and  establishes,  beyond 
the  power  of  calumniators  to  deny,  the  science  and  taste  which  must 
have  been  called  into  action,  to  supply  the  public  appetite  for  those 
various  colors.  The  Franks,  or  French,  in  the  time  of  Pepin,  adopt- 
ed this  custom  from  the  Irish,  and  have  continued  it  from  that  time  to 
the  present.  The  many-colored  garments  of  the  French  are  to  be 
traced  to  the  Irish  custom  here  noted.  Walker,  reflecting  on  this 
law,  asks,  with  patriotic  exultation,  "  Can  ■  that  nation  be  deemed 
unenlightened  or  barbarous,  in  which  learning  shared  the  honors  next 
to  royalty  ?  Warlike  as  the  Irish  were  in  those  days,  even  arms  were 
less  respected  amongst  them  than  letters.  Read  this,  ye  polished 
nations  of  the  earth,  and  blush  !  " 

In  all  ages,  and  in  every  nation,  poetiy  and  music  were  ever  held  m 
estimation.  Every  man  is  more  or  less  a  poet  or  musician,  and  is 
affected  more  or  less  with  the  one  or  the  other  expression  of  human 
feeling,  in  proportion  as  his  physical  and  mental  faculties  are  natural^ 
healthy,  developed,  and  cultivated.  Poetry  is  the  regulated  efferves- 
cence of  the  brain  ;  it  is  part  of  the  excitement  which  takes  place 
beyond  the  demands  for  natural  wants,  and  thus  displays  itself  in 
flights  called  imagination ;  those  flights  are  often  eccentric,  and  produce 
evil.  But  "  good  poetry,"  says  Sir  R.  Phillips,  "  is  the  able  display 
o^  feeling;  and  good  prose,  the  able  display  o{  fact,  correct  reasoning, 
and  acquired  knowledge." 

Music  is  the  more  sublimated  expression  of  human  feeling ;  its 
effect  depends  upon  the  power  and  variation  of  the  sounds  which  con- 
vey  it.      Music  may  be    defined    an   agreeable   stream   of    well-con- 


BARDS    CHERISHED    BY    THE    ANCIENTS.  153 

trasted  sounds,  formed  by  the  standard  of  the  human  voice  in  a  natural 
key,  continually  varying  from  that  to  a  lower  or  higher  pitch,  but 
uttered  in  a  manner  agreeably  to  the  organs  of  hearing,  or  the  seat  of 
sensations  in  the  brain.  Music,  like  language,  delights  in  simple 
sounds ;  yet  refinement,  as  it  proceeds,  sanctions  a  skilful  deviation  from 
simple  sounds^  as  the  acme  of  science.  An  ear  accustomed  or  edu- 
cated to  these  deviations  must  be  continually  fed  by  the  like  sounds, 
for  it  sickens  at  the  pure  voice  of  nature.  In  the  same  way  does  the 
physical  appetite  of  one,  who  has  been  fed  from  childhood  on  food  tor- 
tured from  its  natural  flavor  by  every  imaginable  invention,  sicken 
against  plain  meats  in   their  original   elements. 

In  the  next  section,  I  shall  enter  more  fully  into  the  subject  of 
MUSIC  ;  the  present  is  devoted  to  the  "  bards." 

Ancient  Ireland  was  surpassed  by  no  nation  on  the  earth  in  political, 
literary,  and  religious  institutions.  The  bards,  as  heads  of  education, 
and  administrators  of  laws,  were  a  privileged  and  an  influential  class. 
They  were  greatly  respected  by  the  ancients  of  every  nation.  The 
Egyptians  and  PhcBnicians  honored  them  highly ;  and  the  Greeks 
and  Romans  —  pupils  of  those  learned  nations — honored  their  bards 
after  the  custom  of  their  great  teachers.  Even  Alexander  the  Great 
was  accompanied  by  a  bard,  Cherijlus,  who  received  a  piece  of  gold 
for  every  good  verse,  and  a  blow  for  every  bad  one.  Our  great 
Irish  bard  Oisin  speaks  of  a  king*  who  kept  one  hundred  bards  in  his 
court. 

As  books  were  very  scarce  in  those  ancient  times,  the  bards  turned 
their  histories  and  laws  into  poetic  or  rhyming  metre,  the  more  easily  to 
fasten  them  in  the  memories  of  the  hrehons  (judges)  and  legislators. 
Some  classes  of  the  bards  were  required  to  recite  from  memory  the 
genealogies  and  history  of  twenty  kings.  Others  were  required  to 
recite  in  verse  the  whole  history  of  Ireland,  including  all  the  laws  and 
battles  that  had  taken  place  from  the  first  landing  of  the  Milesians  to 
their  own  times.  These  exercises  must  have  wonderfully  increased  the 
power  of  their  memories.  Their  academical  discipline  enjoined  that, 
on  every  new  day,  the  business  of  the  preceding  should  be  rehearsed, 
the  conversations  and  exercises  renewed,  till  all  that  was  deemed  most 
valuable  was  stamped  indelibly  on  the  leaves  of  memory.  It  was  the 
practice  of  those  learned  men  to  store  their  heads  with  knowledge. 
The  learned  of  our  aays  keep  their  knowledge  packed  in  their  libraries. 

The  bards  wrote  on  the  inner  bark  of  the  beech-tree.  The  term 
book  was  derived  from  bench,  a  beech-tree.  The  book  of  Dedan, 
*  Cormac,  in  the  third  century. 


154  MATERIAL    OF    THEIR    BOOKS. 

written  in  Ireland  before  the  Christian  era,  which  was  deposited  by 
James  the  Second  in  the  College  of  Paris,  is  of  that  material.  The 
Egyptians  cut  their  laws  and  histories  on  stone.  They  also  wrote  them 
on  leaves  of  the  papyrus  plant.  The  Phoenicians  engraved  on  bronze 
tables  ;  the  Romans  on  ivory ;  and  the  Irish  on  wood,  iron,  bark,  and 
the  skins  of  beasts.  Parchment  volumes  were  commonly  rolled  on  a 
stick  having  a  ball  at  each  end ;  the  composition  began  at  the  centre. 
These  were  called  "  volumes,"  and  the  outsides  were  inscribed  just  as 
we  now  letter  books.  Flatted  horn  and  thin  plates  of  brass  were  used 
in  religious  recitals,  and  in  schools.  The  horn-book  of  our  nurseries  is 
a  primitive  book.  Parchment  volumes  were  scarce ;  they  frequently 
sold  for  double  their  weight  in  gold.  Information  was  communicated 
to  assemblies  by  the  bard,  as  it  now  is  by  the  lecturer.  He  recited,  in 
sweetly-modulated  tones  and  in  metre,  the  deeds  of  kings,  heroes,  ad- 
venturers, mariners  at  sea,  the  relations  which  the  stars  bore  towards 
each  othej',  &ic. 

All  they  deemed  worth  preserving,  in  science,  law,  or  worship,  was 
committed  to  verse,  and,  through  the  sweet  medium  of  poetry,  con- 
ducted to  the  heart,  and  marked  on  the  memory. 

Each  succeeding  generation  of  the  Milesian  family  recognized  the 
attributes  and  authority  of  the  "  bard,"  as  a  legislator,  an  administrator 
of  the  law,  poet,  historian,  and  instructor  of  youth.  Occasionally  their 
voices  were  accompanied  by  an  instrument  —  the  harp,  most  likely,  as 
that  instrument  was  very  generally  in  use,  in  those  ages,  in  Ireland. 

We  are  told  by  the  Abbe  Dubois,  an  old  French  writer,  that  the 
early  Grecian  and  Roman  orators,  in  their  public  orations,  sustained 
their  voices  by  musical  accompaniments.  Thales,  the  Cretan  legislator, 
conveyed  his  precepts  in  verse,  and  sung  them  to  his  lyre.  In  Ireland, 
there  were  places  set  apart  for  the  educatiori  of  the  "  bards."  These 
sacred  recesses  of  study  were  generally  sunk  in  sequestered  woods. 
The  eye  of  day  was  excluded,  and  learners  studied  by  the  light  of 
tapers,  torches,  and  lamps.  The  ollnmh  studied  twelve  yeai-s,  each  three 
of  which  were  devoted  to  a  chief  branch  of  science.  It  was  in  those 
primary  recesses  of  learning  that  the  Druids  instructed  the  bards.  The 
diet  and  dress  of  the  students  were  regulated  by  the  most  rigid  rules  of 
prudence.  The  attractions  and  lures  of  pleasure  were  strictly  kept 
away  from  these  homes  of  study ;  all  was  peaceful,  silent,  and  awful ; 
here  the  troubles  of  the  world  found  no  entrance  ;  here  genius  was 
fostered,  and  the  soul  sublimed. 

In  after  ages,  colleges  of  extensive  dimensions  were  founded  on  these 


ACADEMIES    OF    THE    BARDS.  155 

principles  in  Ireland.  Clogher,  Armagh,  Lismore,  and  Tamour,  were 
amongst  the  chief  seats  of  learning.  The  regulations  of  those  primary 
seats  of  literature  were  afterwards  copied  by  the  universities  of  France, 
Germany,  and  England.  The  bard,  thus  educated  for  about  twelve 
years,  received  his  degree  as  ollamh,  or  doctor,  when  the  square  cap, 
or  barred,  was  put  on  his  head,  and  a  ring  on  his  finger,  in  token  of  his 
learning  and  station ;  and  these  insignia  of  the  learned  are  continued  to 
our  own  time,  especially  in  the  ecclesiastical  customs  of  the  Christian 
church.  The  square  cap,  worn  by  modern  ecclesiastics  in  the  pulpit 
Sec,  is  the  barred  of  the  ancient  Irish. 

There  were  several  orders  of  bards.  The  most  learned  were  ad- 
mitted into  the  order  of  the  Druids,  which  was  the  highest  of  all. 
They  were  trained  to  arms,  and,  though  not  bearing  arn)S  in  the  field, 
joined  in  every  battle,  exciting  the  warriors,  by  singing  the  praises  and 
glories  of  their  fathers.  Their  persons  were  held  sacred  by  all  sides ; 
it  was  a  sort  of  sacrilege  to  injure  them  in  person,  property,  or  repu- 
tation. They  animated  the  troops,  before  and  during  an  engagement, 
with  Rusga-Catha,  —  the  inspiring  war-song, —  and,  when  they  shook 
the  "  chain  of  silence,"  contending  armies  stopped  the  battle,  and 
listened  to  the  voice  of  negotiation.  They  were  the  heralds  and 
constant  attendants,  in  the  field  of  battle,  of  the  chiefs  whom  they 
served,  marching  at  the  head  of  their  armies,  arrayed  in  white  flowing 
robes,  harps  glittering  in  their  hands,  and  their  persons  surrounded 
with  a  staff  of  vocal  and  instrumental  musicians.  While  the  battle 
raged,  they  stood  apart,  and  watched,  in  security,  every  action  of  the 
chief.  Their  business  on  the  field  of  danger  was  as  much  to  record 
the  noble  deeds  of  their  chiefs,  as  to  stimulate  them  by  the  ani- 
mating strains   of   their   martial    music. 

"The  Muse  her  piercing  glances  throws  around, 
And  quick  discovers  every  worthy  deed." 

It  was  the  province  of  one  of  these  bardic  orders,  the  Jilea,  to 
mark  the  backsliding  of  his  chief,  and  correct  any  tendency  to  evil  he 
might  discover  in  him.  Mr.  O'Conor,  of  Belenagar,  says,  that  these 
bards  were  supposed  by  the  common  people  to  be  gifted  with  the 
power  of  prophecy ;  and  this  delusion  was  favored  and  encouraged  by 
the  military  chieftains,  in  whose  interest  they  exerted  their  extraordinary 
influence  over  the  p3ople  in  the  various  struggles  for  governmental 
sway,  which  then,  as  now,  possessed  the  hearts  of  men. 

The  dress  of  these  bards,  as  I  have  said,  consisted  of  a  white  flowing 


156  DRESS    OF    THE    BARDS. 

toga,  or  cotJia,  hung  loosely  over  their  shoulders,  bound  by  a  girdle 
round  the  loins.  The  cotha  of  the  Irish  was  the  toga  of  the  Romans. 
The  limbs  were  encased  in  a  thruise,  made  of  weft,  which  fitted  so 
closely,  that  the  action  of  the  muscles  could  readily  be  seen  through 
the  web.  This  thruise  went  down  to  the  ankles,  where  it  was  tightly 
fastened,  and  there  was  observable,  in  stripes,  the  exact  number  of 
colors  peculiar  to  his  order.  He  wore  his  beard  long,  and  his  flowing 
locks,  which  reached  over  his  neck  and  shoulders,  were  bound  round  by 
a  golden  fillet.  "His  harp,  in  good  grace,  was  pendent  before  him. 
And  thus  in  a  moment  of  inspiration  does  he  move. 

"He  is  entranced.     The  fillet  bursts  that  bound 
His  liberal  locks.     His  snowy  vestments  fall 
In  ampler  folds ;  and  all  his  floating  form 
Doth  seem  to  glisten  Avith  divinity  !'" 

The  value  of  a  bard's  dress  was  fixed  by  a  royal  ordinance  of  Mogha 
Nuadhad,  one  hundred  and  eighty  years  after  Christ,  at  five  milch  cows, 
which  would  equal  fifty  pounds  of  present  British  currency.  There 
are  frequent  allusions  in  this  ordinance  to  the  "  old  laws,"  which  prove 
that,  in  very  remote  ages,  this  matter  was  attended  to  by  the  kings. 
We  see,  from  the  whole  train  of  Iiish  history,  that  this  order  of  men 
possessed  a  very  considerable  influence  in  the  affairs  of  Ireland.  They 
appeared  to  be,  in  those  early  ages,  the  models  and  the  censors  of 
society.     Their  duty,  as  expressed  by  one  of  their  order,  was,  to 

"Applaud  the  valiant,  and  the  base  control, 
Disturb,  exalt,  enchant,  the  human  soul!" 

Another  office,  performed  by  the  bard  with  pomp  and  circumstance, 
was  the  ceremony  of  lamentation  at  the  burial  of  the  dead.  When  a 
prince  or  a  chief  fell  in  battle,  or  died  by  the  course  of  nature,  "  the 
stones  of  his  fame"  were  raised  amid  the  voices  of  bards.  On  this 
occasion,  the  Druid  having  performed  the  rites  prescribed  by  religion, 
and  the  pedigree  of  the  deceased  being  recited  aloud  by  his  seanachai, 
the  caione,  or  funeral  song,  (composed  and  set  to  music  for  the 
occasion,)  was  sung  in  recitativo  over  his  grave  by  a  racaraide,  or 
rhapsodist,  who  occasionally  sustained  his  voice,  with  arpeggios  swept 
over  the  strings  of  his  harp ;  the  symphonic  parts  of  this  solemn 
ceremony  being  performed  by  minstrels  who  chanted  a  chorus  at  inter- 
vals, in  which  they  were  joined  responsively  by  other  attending  bards, 
the  relations  and  friends  of  the  deceased  mingling  their  sighs  and 
tears. 


LAMENTATION  OVER  CHUCULLEn's  TOMB.  157 

The  following  lamentation  of  the  bards  over  Chucullen's  tomb,  as 
translated  into  English,  will  give  an  idea  of  the  soul  they  infused 
into  their  compositions :  — 

"  By  the  dark  rolling  waves  of  Lego,  ^ 

They  raised  the  hero's  tomb,  Luath; 
At  a  distance  lie  the  companions 
Of  ChucuUen  at  the  chase. 
Blest  be  thy  soul,  son  of  Semo ! 
Thou  wert  mighty  in  battle! 
Thy  strength  was  like  the  strength 
Of  a  stream ;  thy  speed  like  the  eagle's  wing. 
Thy  path  in  the  battle  was  terrible; 
The  steps  of  death  were  behind  thy  sword. 
Blest  be  thy  soul,  son  of  Semo! 
Thou   hast  not  fallen  by  the  sword  of  the  mighty; 
Neither  was  thy  blood  on  the  spear  of  the  valiant. 
The  arrow  came,  like  the  sting 
Of  death,  in  a  blast;  nor  did 
The  feeble  hand  which  drew  the  bow 
Perceive  it.     Peace  to  thy  soul  in  thy  cave, 
Chief  of  the  Isle  of  Mist! 
The  mighty  are  dispersed,  O  Mora! 
There  is  none  in  Cormac's  hall: 
The  king  mourns  in  his  youth,  for 
He  does  not  behold  thy  coming. 
The  sound  of  thy  shield  is  ceased ; 
His  foes  are  gathering  round: 
Soft  be  thy  rest,  in  thy  cave,  chief  of  Erin's  wars. 
Bragcla  will  not  hope  thy  return, 
Or  see  thy  sails  in  ocean's  foam; 
Her  steps  are  not  on  the  shore,  nor 
Her  ear  open  to  the  voice  of  thy  rowers. 
She  sits  in  the  hall  of  shells,*  and  sees 
The  arms  of  him  that  is  no  more. 
Thine  eyes  are  full  of  tears,  daughter 
Of  car-borne  Sorglars. 
Blest  be  thy  soul  in  death,  O  chief  of  shady  Cromla." 

The  custom  was  founded  in  sound  policy.  The  bards  were  directed 
to  seize  on  the  solemn  occasion  of  interments  to  soothe  the  tumultuous 
passions  of  human  nature,  and  to  impress  on  the  minds  of  their  hearers 
a  reverence  and  imitation  of  virtue,  or  what  in  those  heathenish  days 

Hall  of  music  ;    so  called    from    various    musical  shells  used  by  the  ancients ; 
the  musical  principles  of  which  have  been  imitated  in  modern  brass  instruments. 


158  IRISH    CRY    OVER    THE    DEAD. 

was  deemed  virtue.  They  dwelt  on  the  excellences  and  heroism  of 
the  deceased,  recounting  all  his  acts  of  humanity  and  valor ;  closing 
every  stanza  with  some  remarkable  epithet  of  their  hero.  Walker 
observes  on  this  custom,  "  David's  lamentation  for  Jonathan,  and  the 
conclamaiio  over  the  Phoenician  Dido,  as  described  by  Virgil,  coincide 
with  the  caione,  or  Irish  cry :  the  ululuh  of  the  Irish,  and  the  Greek 
word  of  the  same  import,  are  exactly  alike." 

This  ceremony  was  considered  of  such  moment  that  the  man  to 
whom  it  was  denied  was  deemed  accursed,  and  his  ghost  supposed  to 
wander  through  the  woods  bewailing  his  miserable  fate.  Thus  the 
woods  and  wilds  became  peopled  with  shadowy  beings,  whose  cries 
were  supposed  to  be  heard  in  the  piping  winds,  and  the  banshee's  moans 
were  believed  to  mingle  in  the  terrific  lamentation, 

"  Deepening  the  murmur  of  the  falling  floods, 
And  breathing  browner  horrors  on  the  woods." 

The  melting  sweetness  of  the  female  voice  was  deemed  necessary 
in  the  chorus  of  the  funeral  song.  Women,  whose  vocal  powers  gave 
effect  to  the  voice  of  song,  were  taken  from  every  class  of  life,  and 
instructed  in  all  the  music  then  practised. 

The  cur  sios,  or  elegiac  measure,  was  chiefly  taught  them,  that  they 
might  assist  in  heightening  the  melancholy  which  that  solemn  ceremony 
was  calculated  to  inspire. 

Mr.  O'Halloran  says  it  was  ever  considered  that  a  fine  female  voice, 
modulated  by  sensibility,  is  beyond  comparison  the  sweetest  and  most 
melting  sound  in  art  or  nature. 

It  appears,  in  every  age  of  our  country's  history,  that  women  exer- 
cised an  active  influence  in  the  political  and  social  government  of 
society.  They  cultivated  and  nourished  music  and  poetry  as  a  passion. 
They  often  employed  those  divine  powers  in  softening  the  manners  of 
the  men,  rendered  harsh  by  the  practices  of  the  camp  and  the  battle- 
field. What  an  unbounded  influence  must  those  arts,  united  with  the 
irresistible  sway  of  female  beauty,  have  given  the  women  of  those  ages  1 
Accordingly  we  find  them  guiding,  in  secret,  the  helm  of  the  state,  and 
proving  the  primary  cause  of  great  revolutions.  While  embattled  ranks 
waited  the  arrival  of  expected  invaders,  women  often  passed  through  the 
lines,  animating  the  soldiery  with  suitable  war-songs,  accompanying  their 
voices  with  cruits,  or  portable  harps.  On  such  occasions,  if  the  danger 
was  imminent,  they  appeared  in  black,  and  assumed  a  frantic  air :  — 


BARDS.  BLAIr's    ESTIMATE    OF    THEIR    CHARACTER.  159 

" Througrh  our  ranks 


Our  sacred  sisters  rushed,  in  sable  robes, 
With  hair  dishevelled,  and  funeral  brands 
Hurled  round  with  menacing  fury ! " 

When  armies  returned,  in  triumph,  from  foreign  wars  or  domestic 
battles,  troops  of  virgins,  clad  in  white,  each  bearing  a  small  harp  in  her 
band,  advanced  with  a  tripping  step  to  meet  them,  with  congratulatory 

songs : — 

"  With  the  voice  of  songs  and  the  harp, 
They  will  hail  their  heroes." 

These  influences  proved  strong  incentives  to  valor  ;  and  its  universal 
practice  throughout  Ireland  could  have  no  other  effect  than  that  of  pro- 
ducing, which  it  did,  a  nation  of  heroes. 

A  further  duty  of  the  bard  was  to  fix  the  degree  of  honor  won  by  his 
chief,  or  that  realized  by  his  ancestors.  An  officer  for  registering  the 
titles  and  honors  of  nobility  is  still  continued  in  Ireland  for  each  of  the 
four  provinces.  One  of  these  is  Sir  William  Betham,  the  ablest  scholar 
and  most  profound  antiquarian  in  Europe.  The  bards  were  deemed  of 
so  much  consequence  in  the  state,  that  they  were  sometimes  accepted  as 
hostages.  Aodh-Dubh,  king  of  Munster,  would  not  consent  to  the  in- 
vestiture of  Aodh-Caomh,  in  the  sixth  century,  till  he  delivered  up 
hostages  to  him  :  this  was  agreed  to,  and  Breannin,  the  abbot  of  Clonfert, 
with  M Lenin,  the  bard,  were  delivered  up  as  sureties.  It  is  no  wonder 
that  the  bards  were  held  in  this  high  estimation.  It  was  through  their 
means  only,  that  the  prince,  or  chieftain,  could  hope  for  immortality  to 
his  fame.  The  bard  mingled  in  every  social  and  convivial  circle. 
Without  him  the  feast,  however  luxuriantly  spread,  would  prove  insipid. 
Blair,  noticing  the  respect  paid  to  them  by  the  Irish,  says,  "  So  strong 
was  the  attachment  of  the  Celtic  nations  to  their  poetry  and  their  bards, 
that,  amidst  all  the  changes  of  their  government  and  manners,  even  long 
after  the  Druids  were  extinct,  and  the  national  religion  altered  from  the 
worship  of  the  sun  to  the  worship  of  its  Creator,  the  bards  continued  to 
flourish ;  not  as  a  set  of  strolling  songsters,  like  the  Greek  rhapsodists 
in  Homer's  time,  but  as  an  order  of  men  highly  respected  in  the  state, 
and  supported  by  a  public  establishment.  We  find  them,  according  to 
the  testimonies  of  Strabo  and  Diodorus,  before  the  age  of  Augustus 
Caesar  ;  and  we  find  them  remaining  under  the  same  name,  and  exer- 
cising the  same  functions,  as  of  old,  in  Ireland  and  in  the  north  of 
Scotland,  almost  down  to  our  own  times."  After  the  introduction  of 
Christianity,  some  of  our  bards  acted  in  the  double  capacity  of  bards  and 


160  THE    BARDS    GREW    IN    NUMBERS    PRODIGIOUSLY. 

clergymen.  As  late  as  the  thirteenth  century,  we  find  Donchad  O'Daly, 
abbot  of  Boyle,  excelling  all  the  other  bards  of  his  time  in  the  hymnal 
species  of  poetry.  In  the  next  section  I  shall  show  the  share  which 
the  bards  and  the  early  Christian  fathers  took  in  the  cultivation  of  music. 

Invested  with  honors,  wealth,  and  power,  says  Walker ;  endowed 
with  extraordinary  privileges,  which  no  other  subject  presumed  to  claim ; 
possessed  of  an  art  which,  by  soothing  the  mind,  acquires  an  ascendency 
over  it ;  respected,  by  the  great,  for  their  learning,  and  reverenced  almost 
to  adoration,  by  the  vulgar,  for  their  knowledge  of  the  secret  composition 
and  hidden  harmony  of  the  universe,  the  bards  became,  in  the  reign 
of  Hugh,  about  A.  D.  560,  intolerably  insolent  and  corrupt,  and  their 
order  a  national  grievance.  They  arrogantly  demanded  the  golden 
buckle  and  pin  which  fastened  the  royal  robes  upon  the  monarch's 
breast,  and  had  been,  for  many  generations,  the  jewelled  associates  of 
the  crown.  They  lampooned  the  nobility,  and  were  guilty  of  several 
immoralities,  and  not  only  grew  burdensome  to  the  state,  but  increased 
so  prodigiously,  that  the  mechanic  arts  languished  from  want  of  artif- 
icers, and  agriculture  from  want  of  husbandmen.  Many  regulations 
had  been  put  into  operation,  during  the  reign  of  several  monarchs,  to 
restrain  them  ;  and  the  monarch  (Hugh)  called  an  assembly  of  the 
estates  in  Donegal,  principally  to  expel  them  from  the  kingdom,  and 
abolish  the  whole  order.  But,  at  the  intercession  of  St.  Columba 
Kille,  who  came,  with  a  considerable  deputation  from  Scotland,  (then 
a  colony  of  Ireland,)  to  attend  this  assembly,  he  spared  the  order, 
but  reduced  its  numbers,  allowing  only  to  each  provincial  prince,  and 
to  each  lord  of  a  cantred,  one  registered  ollamh,  who  was  sworn 
to  employ  his  talents  to  no  other  purpose  but  the  glory  of  the  Deity, 
the  honor  of  his  country,  of  its  heroes,  of  its  females,  and  of  his 
own  patron. 

The  Welsh  bards  grew  so  arrogant,  in  the  times  of  Griffudd  ap  Cy- 
nan,  (twelfth  century,)  that  it  became  necessary  to  control  them  by  a 
law,  which  restrained  them  from  asking  for  the  prince's  horse,  hawk,  or 
greyhound. 

The  excessive  number  of  the  Irish  bards,  and  the  very  laws  passed, 
in  later  ages,  to  limit  and  control  them,  prove  the  pervading  taste  of  the 
Irish  nation  for  poetry  and  music,  during  a  long  succession  of  ages. 
This  prominent  attribute  in  our  national  character,  together  with  count- 
less facts,  well  attested,  that  history  has  left  us,  which  shall  be  presented 
as  I  proceed,  must  establish  for  Ireland,  in  the  minds  of  all  unprejudiced 
men,  her  claim  to  be  ranked  the  school  of  Western  Europe  in  poetry 


SCOTTISH    BARDS    RECEIVED    THEIR    EDUCATION    IN    IRELAND.     161 

and  music.  In  the  celebrated  letter  of  Dr.  Macpherson  to  Blair,  there  is 
a  long  and  interesting  account  given  of  the  bards  of  the  MDonald,  the 
most  eminent  of  the  chieftain  race  of  Scotland.  The  genealogy  of  the 
family  hard  is  traced  back  through  nineteen  generations.  They  had 
lands  and  pay  appropriated  to  their  use  by  their  patron,  the  M'Donald. 
Their  duty  was  to  continue  the  family  record,  the  deeds  of  the  chief, 
the  intermarriages  with  other  families,  the  history  of  the  national  wars, 
and  general  vicissitudes  of  the  clans ;  to  make  periodical  visitations, 
every  three  years,  to  all  the  branches  of  the  chieftain's  family  ;  to  enter 
and  correct  records  of  the  births,  marriages,  deaths,  survivorships, 
transfer  of  lands,  &c.  These  entries  were  taken  as  evidences,  in  all 
courts  of  law,  in  Scotland,  Leland,  and  Wales,  down  to  a  modern  epoch. 
That  which  more  especially  deserves  our  notice,  in  this  interesting  rem- 
iniscence, is  the  closing  remark  of  Dr.  Macpherson,  himself  a  Scotch- 
man :  "  The  last  of  the  race  was  a  man  of  letters,  and  had,  like  his 
ancestors,  received  his  education  in  Ireland,  and  knew  Latin  tolerably 
well." — See  Macpherson's  letter  to  Dr.  Blair. 

Many  of  the  most  sublime  pieces  of  our  ancient  poetry  are  lost,  never 
to  be  retrieved.  Our  poetic  gatherings  have  been  destroyed  at  thi-ee 
periods  in  our  history.  The  first  took  place  in  the  fifth  century,  at  the 
introduction  of  Christianity,  by  St.  Patrick,  who  burnt  all  poetic  compo- 
sitions not  embracing  laws  or  history  ;  the  second  during  the  tempo- 
rary subjection  of  the  Irish  to  the  Danes,  in  the  ninth  century,  when  a 
general  destruction  of  the  national  poetry,  as  well  as  schools  and  colleges, 
took  place,  under  the  direction  of  the  Danish  chiefs ;  and  the  third  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  at  the  terrible  period  of  the  reformation,  when 
the  sacking  of  convents  and  the  burning  of  whole  libraries  were  the 
ruffian  occupation  of  British  soldiers  and  adventurers. 

Through  all  those  vicissitudes,  there  were  some  children  of  poetry,  in 
whose  hearts  the  godlike  fire  could  not  be  extinguished,  who,  like  Cagsar, 
when,  pitched  from  his  bark  into  the  current  of  the  Delta,  he  buf- 
feted the  struggling  surge  with  one  hand,  while /vith  the  other  he  bore 
his  Commentaries  above  the  waves  in  triumph  to  the  shore,  clung, 
with  a  death-struggle,  to  the  poetic  remains  of  their  heroic  ancestors. 

The  attention  of  the  most  learned  has,  in  latter  years,  been  turned 
to  the  nature  and  construction  of  Irish  poetry.  It  was  found  in  the  old 
Irish  code  of  poetic  rules,  entitled  Uiraicecht  na  Neagir,  (Rules  for  a 
Poet,)  that  the  most  extensive,  exact,  and  minute  laws  were  laid  down 
for  the  government  of  their  poetic  compositions.  Dr.  Molloy  says, 
the  construction  and  variety  of  Irish  metre  are  the  most  difficult  he  had 
21 


162  IRISH    POETRY. RULES    OF    THE    POETS. 

ever  seen  or  heard  of.  In  its  composition,  these  things  are  required  — 
number,  quartans,  number  of  syllables,  concords,  correspondence,  ter- 
mination, union,  and  caput ;  the  subdivisions  of  all  which  are  again 
minute  and  perplexing.  The  authors  of  that  able  work  on  the  poetry 
and  music  of  Wales,  entitled  the  Myvyrian  Archaeology,  published  un- 
der the  superintendence  of  the  society  of  Welsh  antiquarians,  enter  on 
a  profound  inquiry  into  this  subject. 

Referring  to  a  second  era  in  Welsh  poetry  and  music,  (the  twelfth 
century,)  on  which  those  learned  antiquarians  pause  to  comment,  they 
bring  forward  the  great  and  broad  fact,  that  "  from  Ireland  [in  that  cen- 
tury] was  brought  into  Wales,  by  Griffudd  ap  Cynan,  certain  cunning 
musicians  and  bards,  well  skilled  in  poetry  and  music ;  and  then  was 
established  twenty-four  elementary  principles  of  versification :  these, 
with  their  subdivisions,  [say  the  authors,]  include  every  species  of 

TERSE  THAT  HAS  EVER  YET,  IN  ANY  AGE,  Or  AMONGST  ANY  PEOPLE, 
BEEN  PRODUCED,  BESIDES  A  PRODIGIOUS  NUMBER  OF  ORIGINAL  CON- 
STRUCTIONS, WHICH    CAN    BE    FOUND   WITH    NO    OTHER    PEOPLE."       The 

learned  Wormius,  who  wrote  in  the  sixteenth  century,  speaks  iri 
wondering  terms  of  the  pupil  of  a  learned  Scot,  (the  Irish  were,  in 
those  ages,  called  Scots,)  who  was  master  of  no  fewer  than  one, 
hundred  different  kinds  of  verse,  with  the  musical  modulation  of 
words  and  syllables,  which  included  letters,  figures,  poetic  feet, 
tones,  and  tune.  Macpherson  says  of  the  poetry  belonging  to  the 
era  of  Oisin,  (the  third  century,)  "  Each  verse  was  so  connected 
with  those  which  preceded  or  followed  it,  that,  if  one  line  had  been 
remembered  in  a  stanza,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  forget  the  rest. 
The  cadences  followed  in  so  natural  a  gradation,  and  the  words  were  so 
adapted  to  the  natural  turn  of  the  voice,  after  it  is  raised  to  a  certain 
key,  that  it  was  almost  impossible,  from  a  similarity  of  sound,  to  substi- 
tute one  word  for  another.  This  excellence  is  peculiar  to  the  Celtic 
tongue,  and,  perhaps,  is  to  be  met  with  in  no  other  language.  Nor  does 
this  choice  of  words  clog  the  sense,  or  weaken  the  expression.  The 
numerous  flections  of  consonants,  and  variation  in  declension,  make  the 
language  very  copious." 

Here  must  the  reader,  if  he  have  Irish  blood  streaming  in  his  veins, 
be  forced,  as  I  have  been,  to  pause  in  admiration  of  those  almost  for- 
gotten forefathers,  and  to  lament,  for  human  nature's  sake,  the  existence 
of  that  ignorance,  or  that  prejudice,  which,  in  our  days,  refuses  to  them 
the  deserved  distinction  of  a  refined  and  intellectual  reputation. 

The  refined  poetry  which  the  Irish  produced,  from  the  second  to  the 


THEIR    RULES    ADOPTED    BY    MODERN    POETS.  163 

ninth  century,  is  at  once  a  monument  of  their  learning  and  their  culti- 
vated taste.  The  critical  rules  laid  down  for  the  construction  of  poetry, 
by  Alexander  Pope,  in  modem  times,  were  understood  and  developed, 
fifteen  hundred  years  ago,  by  the  poets  of  Erin. 

««'Tis  not  enough  no  harshness  gives  offence; 
The  sound  must  seem  an  echo  to  the  sense. 
When  Ajax  strives  some  rocKs  vast  weight  to  throw, 
The  line  too  labors,  and  the  words  move  slow. 
Not  so  when  swift  Camilla  scours  tlie  plain, 
Flies  o'er  th'  unbending  corn,  and  skims  along  the  main." 

Pope. 

The  principle  in  poetic  composition  so  expressly  recommended  by 
Pope  was,  as  we  have  seen,  understood,  practised,  and  taught,  by  the 
men  who  have,  with  equal  charity  and  truth,  been  described,  by  some 
English  writers,  as  semibarbarous. 

Spirit  of  tlie  godlike  Oisin ! 

Whene'er  you  wander  o'er  Temora's  ruins, 

Along  tliy  radiant  pathway  in  the  clouds, 

Look  down  upon  those  slanderers 

With  heaven-created  scorn! 

And  smite  the  reptiles  back 

Into  that  hell  from  whence  alone 

They  e'er  could  have  emerged! 

This  may  be  the  best  place  to  give  a  few  specimens  of  the  ancient 
Irish  rhyme,  which  I  take  from  Logan  and  others. 

"  In  Gaelic  poetry,  the  rhythm  sometimes  consists  in  the  similarity  of 
the  last  words  of  the  first  and  third,  and  second  and  fourth  lines,  as  in 
English  composition,  thus :  — 

*Measg  aoibhneis  an  talla  nam  fear 
Mar  so  thog  cronan  am  fonn 
Dh'eirich  maduinn  a,  soills'  o'n  ear 
Bughorm  air  an  lear,  an  tonn.' 

Carraig  Thwa,  ver.  195. 

"  In  the  stanza  which  immediately  follows  this,  the  rhymes  are  in  the 
last  syllables,  but  the  final  consonants  are  not  alike,  the  harmony  de- 
pending on  the  concord  of  the  vowels. 


16^ 


DESCRIPTIONS    or    VERSIFICATION. 


*Ghairm  an  righ  a  shiuil  gu  crann; 
Thanig  gaoth  a  nail  o'n  Chruaich: 
Dh'eirich  Innis-Thorc  gu  mall; 
Is  Carraig  Thura  iul  nan  stuadh.' 

Here  the  correspondence  is  in  the  a  in  the  first  and  third  lines,  and  in 
the  ua  in  the  second  and  fourth. 

"  Sometimes  the  conformity  between  the  last  word  of  a  line,  and  some 
word  or  part  of  a  word  about  the  middle  of  the  following  line,  constituted 
the  rhyme ;  as, 

'  'Suaigneach  m'  aigne  'n  uaimh  mo  bhroin ; 
'Smor  mo  leon  fo  laimh  na  h'aois. 
Ossag  'tha  gastar  o  Thuath 
Na  dean  tuasaid  ruim  'smi  lag.' 

Morduth. 

"  The  above  three  sorts  of  rhyme  are  often  found  in  one  composition, 
intermixed  with  couplets  rhyming  as  softly  and  perfectly  as  in  modem 
Italian ;  for  example  :  — 


'  Soilsichibh  Srad  air  Druim  feinne 
'Sthig  mo  laoich  o  ghruaigh  gach  beinne.' 


Morduth. 


"  Some  of  the  most  beautiful  passages  in  old  Gaelic  poetry  are,  how- 
ever, a  sort  of  blank  verse,  having  no  rhyme.  It  appears  that  the  bards 
sought,  in  this  case,  no  more  than  to  render  every  line  perfect,  with- 
out any  dependence  on  the  next,  of  which  the  following  'War  Song* 
furnishes  specimens. 


'A  mhacain  cheann, 

J^an  cursan  strann, 

Ard  leumnach,  righ  rCd!n  sleagh! 

Lamh  threin  ^sguch  cas 

Croidhe  ard  gun  sc&. 

Ceann  airm  nan  rinn  gear  girt, 

Gearr  sios  gu  has, 

Gun  bharc  sheol  ban 

Ehi  snamh  ma  dhubh  Innishtore. 

Mar  tharnanech  hhavil 

Do  bhuill,  a  laoich! 

Do  shuU  mar  chaoir  ad  cheann^ 

Mar  charaic  chruin, 


Offspring  of  the  chiefs, 

Of  snorting  steeds,  high  bounding ! 

King  of  spears ! 

Strong  arm  in  every  trial! 

Ambitious  heart  without  dismay. 

Chief   of  the    host    of  severe    sharp- 

Cut  down  to  death,   [pointed  weapons, 

So  that  no  white-sailed  bark 

May  float  round  dark  Innistore. 

Like  the  destroying  thunder 

Be  thy  stroke,  O  hero ! 

Thy  forward  eye  like  the  flaming  bolt ; 

As  tlae  firm  rock, 


SPECIMENS    OP    ANCIENT    IRISH    POETRY.  165 

Do  cTiroidhe  gun  roinn.  Unwavering  be  thy  heart; 

Mar  lassan  oidhch  do  lann.  As  the  flame  of  night  be  thy  sword. 

Cum  suar  do  scia  Uplift  thy  shield, 

Is  crobhhui  nial  Of  the  hue  of  blood. 

Mar  chih  bho  reul  a  bhaish,  As  you  see  his  death  shall  be  real. 

A  mliacain  cheann  Offspring  of  the  chiefs 

JVan  cursan  strann,  Of  snorting  steeds, 

Sgrios  naimhde  sios  gu  lar.  Cut  down  the  foes  to  eartL'" 

"  The  ease  with  which  the  language  is  rendered  harmonious  is  the 
cause  that  there  are  so  few  bad  verses  in  Gaehc.  Many  of  the  sweet- 
est lyrics  have  no  other  rhyme  than  the  frequent  sound  of  a  single 
vowel  or  diphthong  running  throughout  the  stanza,  with  hardly  any 
regularity  of  situation. 

'A  nighean  donn  na  buaile 

—  * 

Gam  bheil  an  gluasad  farusd 

Gun  tug  mi  gaol  co  buan  difit 

'Snach  gluais  e  air  an  Earrach  so 

Mheall  thu  mi  le  d'  shughradli, 

Le  d'  bhriodal  a's  le  d'  chuine 

Lub  thu  mi  mar  fhiuran 

'Scha  duchas  domii  bhi  fallain  uaith.' 

Anon, 

"In  singing  or  playing  these  compositions,  the  rhyming  vowels  are 
apparent,  and  prove  the  harmony  of  the  measure.  The  Aged  Bard's 
Wish  is  probably  older  than  the  introduction  of  Christianity  among 
the  Gael,  for  he  displays  his  belief  in  the  ancient  Celtic  theology,  and 
anticipates  the  joys  that  await  him  in  the  elysium  of  the  bards  —  in  the 
hall  of  Ossian,  and  of  Daol.  It  shows  that,  at  a  very  early  period, 
harmony  of  numbers  was  sedulously  studied.  There  is  a  beautiful 
poetical  translation  of  this  piece  by  Mrs.  Grant ;  for  the  literal  version 
of  the  stanzas  quoted,  I  am  indebted  to  the  author  of  Melodies  from 
the  Gaelic. 

'THE   AGED   BARD'S   WISH. 

*Ocairibh  mi  ri  taobh  nan  allt 
A  shiubhlas  mall  le  ceumaibh  ciuin. 
'  Fo  sgail  a  bharraich  leag  mo  cheann 

'S  bith  thus  a  ghrian  ro  chairdeil  rium. 


166  SPECIMENS    OF    ANCIENT    IRISH    POETRY. 

Gu  socair  sin  's  an  f  heur  mo  thaobh 
Air  bruaich  na'n  dithean.'snan  gaoth  tla, 
Mo  chos  ga  slioba  sa  bhraon  mhaoth, 
Se  luba  thairis  caoin  tren  bhlar. 

Biodh  sobhrach  bhan  is  ailli  snuadh 
M'an  cuairt  do  ra'  thulaich,  'suain  fo  dhriuchd, 
'San  neonain  bheag  's  mo  lamb  air  chluain 
'San  ealbhuigh  mo  chluas  gu  cur.' 

Translation. 

*0  lay  me  by  the  streams  tliat  glide, 
With  gentle  murmurs  soft  and  slow; 
Let  spreading  boughs  my  temples  hide ; 
Thou  sun,  thy  kindest  beams  bestow. 

And  be  a  bank  of  flowers  my  bed, 

My  feet  laved  by  a  wandering  rill: 
Ye  winds,  breathe  gently  round  my  head; 

Bear  balm  from  wood,  and  vale,  and  hill. 

Thou  primrose  pale,  with  modest  air, 

Thou  daisy  white,  of  grateful  hue. 
With  other  flowers,  as  sweet  and  fair, 

Around  me  smile  through  amber  dew.'" 

There  was  a  very  peculiar  measure  of  poetry  in  great  favor  with  the 
ancient  Irish,  called  a  triad,  connecting  three  lines  in  a  special  har- 
mony. Cormac,  king  of  Ireland,  in  the  third  century,  wrote  a  cele- 
brated work  in  this  measure,  called,  by  his  Latin  contemporaries,  De 
Triadibus ;  this  work  was  very  highly  applauded  by  the  old  writers. 
Of  the  philosophic,  the  elegant  Cormac,  who  rebuilt  the  halls  of  Tara 
iin  carved  marble,  I  shall  have  much  to  say  in  its  place.  He  was  the 
Pericles  of  Ireland  !  and  yet  who  knows  any   thing  of  him  ? 

Fingal,  the  father  of  Oisin,  wrote  triads.  Camden  mentions  a  Welsh 
\\()rk,  Triadiim  Liber,  and  there  are  others  yet  existing.  Thomas 
Davis,  of  the  Nation,  the  present  war  bard  of  Erin,  wrote  the 
celebrated  lament  over  Father  Tyrell's  grave  partly  in  that  measure ; 
and  perhaps,  than  it,  there  never  was  any  composition  in  the  English 
language  which  produced  amongst  the  people  so  deep  a  feeling  of  com- 
bined sorrow  and  revenge.     The  circumstances  which  caused  the  death 


TRIAD    VERSIFICATION.  167 

of  Father  Tyrell  will  be  related  under  the  head  of  the  "  State  Trials  " 
of  1844.  —  I  give  a  specimen  of  the  lament  over  the  martyr. 

"A    MARTYR'S   BURIAL. 

"  And  shall  we  bend  and  bear  forever  ? 
And  shall  no  time  our  bondage  sever? 
And  shall  we  kneel,  and  battle  never 
For  our  own  soil  ? 

And  shall  our  tyrants  safely  reign 
On  thrones  built  up  of  slaves  and  slain, 
And  nought  to  us  and  ours  remain. 
But  chains  and' toil.'' 

No !  round  this  grave  our  oath  we  plight. 
To  watch,  and  labor,  and  unite, 
Till  banded  be  the  nation's  might, 
Its  spirit  steeled ! 

And  then,  collecting  all  oiu*  force, 
We'll  cross  oppression  in  its  course, 
And  die,  or  all  our  rights  enforce 
Upon  the  field." 

This  is  another  evidence  of  the  knowledge  of  human  passion  which 
our  great  forefathers  acquired  by  the  cultivation  of  mind.  Here  are  we, 
in  the  blaze  of  the  nineteenth  century,  — after  poetry  has  been,  for  the 
past  fifteen  hundred  years,  twisted  and  tortured  into  a  thousand  forms 
and  fashions,  even  as  ladies  change  their  dresses,  —  confessing,  by  our 
imitation  and  adoption  of  their  style  and  rules,  their  intellectual  power. 

I  regret  the  limits  of  this  work  will  not  permit  me  to  give  more  of 
those  specimens.  The  lover  of  genuine  poetry  will  find  in  Hardiman's 
Minstrelsy,  Walker's  Irish  Bards,  Bunting's  Collection,  Moore's  immor- 
tal Melodies,  the  Green  Book,  Spirit  of  the  Nation,  specimens  of  every 
style  of  Irish  poetry ;  some  of  the  latter  are  to  be  found  in  the  musical 
pages  of  this  book. 

Sir  Richard  Phillips  has  given  a  very  brief  list  of  the  terms  and 
rules  of  modern  English  poetry,  which,  like  the  English  language  itself, 
have  been  compounded  from  the  rules  of  several  nations.  A  poet, 
skilled  in  the  Irish  language,  and  rules  for  Irish  poetry,  can  easily 
discover  that  many  of  the  laws  which  govern  English  poetry  have  been 


168  LEARNED    DISPUTES    ABOUT    OISIn's    POEMS. 

drawn,  like  their  best  common-law  maxims,  and  the  trial  by  jury,  their 
letters,  and  their  Latin,  from  persecuted  Ireland. 

"  Heroic  measure,  in  English  poetry,  is  ten  syllables.  Iambic  verse 
is  when  unaccented  syllables  alternate  with  accented ;  in  anapcstic 
verse,  the  accent  falls  on  every  third  syllable ;  a  daciyle  is  one  long 
and  two  short  syllables ;  a  trochee  is  one  long  and  one  short  syllable ; 
a  fijjondee  is  two  long  syllables ;  and  iambics  arc  like  trochees.  There 
are  twenty-eight  feet,  or  metres,  consisting  of  two,  or  three,  or  four, 
short  and  long  syllables.  Hexameter  verse  is  of  six.  feet  —  the  first  four 
dactyles  or  spondees,  the  fifth  a  dactyle,  and  the  sixth  must  be  a  spondee. 
Pentameter  is  five  feet,  the  two  first  dactyles  or  spondees,  the  third  a 
spondee,  and  the  two  last  anapests,  or  two  short  and  one  long  syllable.'* 
—  Sir  Richard  Phillips. 

Anxious  as  I  feel  to  conclude  this  protracted  section  on  our  an- 
cient bards  and  poetry,  I  cannot  do  so  without  devoting  a  page  to 
the  poetry  attributed  to  Oisin.  There  are  few  who  are  not  aware 
that  the  scattered  poetic  works  attributed  to  this  poet,  have  been 
translated  from  very  old  Irish  manuscripts  by  Mr.  Macpherson,  a 
Scotchman,  about  seventy  years  ago.  These  scattered  fragments  were 
collected  in  some  cottages  of  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  where  the 
old  Gaelic  (Irish)  is  yet,  and  probably  ever  will  be,  spoken.  Mac- 
pherson understood  the  old  language, — a  rare  accomplishment  in  an 
educated  man.  He  discovered  the  fire  and  soul  originally  infused 
into,  and  still  vividly  existing  in,  those  fragmental  pieces.  They 
were  chiefly  founded  on  the  wars,  successes,  or  reverses,  deaths,  vic- 
tories, or  loves,  of  the  Irish  heroes,  who  accompanied  Oisin  and  his 
father's  legions  in  their  warlike  expeditions  against  the  Romans  in 
Caledonia  and  the  north  of  Britain.  These  poems  were  written  in 
detached  pieces  in  the  camp  or  on  the  march.  The  scenery  around 
their  homes,  their  marches,  and  the  fields  of  their  conflicts,  are  accurate- 
ly sketched  ;  the  incidents  are  colored  in  Homer's  style  ;  the  con- 
nection between  their  actions  and  the  spirits  of  those  who  preceded 
them  —  the  communion  of  the  living  with  the  dead  —  is  traced  in  the 
vivid  sublimity  of  Milton.  Although  Oisin,  who  flourished  in  the 
third  century,  may  have  written  some  of  these  pieces,  there  is  internal 
evidence  in  the  poems,  as  proved  by  very  learned  men,  that  many  of 
them  belong  to  eras  some  centuries  more  modern  than  Oisin's  time, 
whilst  others  again  assert  that  some  of  them  are  Macpherson's  own 
creation.  Now,  it  may  be  probable  that  the  majority  of  all  these  rea- 
soners  are  right. 


homer's  subject  to  similar  disputes.  169 

The  poems  of  Homer,  which  have  been  gathered  into  two  distinct 
works,  viz.,  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey,  are  not  all  of  his  composition, 
nor  of  his  age.  The  wars  of  the  Trojans,  which  form  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Iliad,  took  place  1150  B.  C,  and  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  before  he  wrote.  He  was  blind  during  the  prime  of  his 
life  ;  and,  therefore,  many  of  his  compositions  were  delivered  orally, 
and  committed  to  the  memory  of  others,  according  to  the  practice  of 
that  era.  He  travelled  much  in  Egypt,  where  he  composed  some 
portions  of  the  works  attributed  to  him.  They  were  gathered  there 
and  elsewhere,  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  his  death,  by  Lycur- 
gus,  the  Spartan  lawgiver,  and  others,  from  the  lips  of  men,  and  not 
from  books.  Although  it  is  now  believed  by  the  learned  (see  Sir 
Richard  Phillips,  p.  602)  that  Homer  did  not  write  all  the  works  at- 
tributed to  him,  yet  no  one  values  them  the  less  on  that  account.  He 
probably  began  a  certain  style  of  poetic  description,  apt,  natural,  and 
exciting,  which  he  sang  or  recited  with  great  effect  to  the  people  of  his 
age.  Others  imitated  his  style,  and  elongated  his  story.  Copyists  in 
succeeding  ages  purified  the  composition  as  they  transcribed  it  from 
hand  to  hand.  This  was  a  privilege  and  practice  assumed  by  copyists 
before  the  era  of  printing,  and  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  the  works  of 
old  authors  have  come  to  our  hands  so  pure. 

The  Oisianic  poems  may  have  descended  to  us  attended  by  like 
circumstances.  The  uncertainty  as  to  the  origin  and  the  age  of  some 
of  them,  is  a  characteristic  that  appertains  to  other  great  works,  which 
are,  nevertheless,  highly  valued.  That  Oisin  was  the  son  of  Fion 
M'  Coumhall,  the  Irish  general  of  the  Leinster  militia,  (Irish  also,)  is 
admitted  by  all ;  that  he  commanded  in  his  father's  legions,  in  Cale- 
donia, against  the  Roman  legions,  in  the  third  century,  is  equally  certain  ; 
but  that  he  was  a  Scotchman,  as  Macpherson  has  it,  is  untenable, 
improbable,  and  untrue.  As  well  might  it  be  said  that  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  is  an  Englishman,  or  a  Spaniard,  because  he  fought  the 
wars  of  England  in  Spain.  Oisin,  his  father  Fion,  and  his  legions, 
were  Irish,  who,  under  the  Irish  and  Caledonian  compact,  fought  the 
Romans  on  the  plains  of  Britain.  The  heroes  he  celebrates  were 
Irish  ;  the  scenery  he  describes  is  Irish.  It  can  yet  be  seen  in  Done- 
gal, between  the  Screen  and  Tara,  from  the  Hill  of  Allallou  to  the 
Morna  Mountains.  In  the  county  Donegal  there  is  a  cloud-capt  moun- 
tain called  Alt  Ossoin,  around  which  is  some  of  the  scenery  so  finely 
described  by  Oisin. 

I  say  so  much,  and  adduce  the  proof  that  follows,  to  show  that 
22 


170  OISIN    PROVED    TO    HAVE    BEEN    IRISH. 

Oisin  was  not  a  Scotchman,  because  I  find  in  a  book  now  before  me, 
by  Logan,  published  in  Scotland,  and  in  this  country,  that  the  old  heresy 
of  MacjDherson  is  by  him  revived ;  to  which  I  oppose  the  opinions  of 
Laing,  Pinkerton,  Dr.  Johnson,  Sir  Walter  Scott,  the  Edinburgh  Re- 
view, Sir  James  Mackintosh,  Nicholson,  Warner,  and  common  sense. 

The  learned  Dr.  Young,  Bishop  of  Clonfert,  an  erudite  Irish 
scholar,  went  to  Scotland  himself,  in  1784,  to  search  for  Gaelic 
poetry.  The  following  extract  from  his  letter  from  the  Highlands, 
on  the  subject  of  his  mission,  is  given  by  the  Gaelic  Society  of 
Dublin  :  "  The  Irish  language  is  spoken  with  considerable  accuracy 
in  many  parts  of  the  Highlands  of  modern  Scotland.  This  I  conclude 
from  having  conversed  with  several  gentlemen  of  this  country  with  the 
greatest  ease  and  familiarity ;  and  I  must  add  that  none  of  them 
refused  an  immediate  and  unequivocal  acknowledgment  that  the  Gaelic 
of  Scotland  was  a  dialect  of  the  mother  tongue  of  Ireland,  as  well  as 
the  Highland  Scots  were  the  descendants  of  a  colony  from  the  mother 
country.  They  readily  assented  to  the  dishonorable  fabrication  of 
Macpherson,  and  declared  they  knew,  from  undisputed  tradition,  that 
Fingal,  Oisin,  Oscar,  and  all  the  other  Finnian  heroes,  were  Irishmen." 
The  bishop,  in  another  publication,  charges  Macpherson  with  altering 
the  old  manuscripts,  erasing  the  name  of  St.  Patrick,  varying  dates, 
&;c.,  so  as  to  enable  him  to  build  upon  these  a  Scotch  fame.  The 
talented  Pepper  speaks  of  the  affair  thus :  "  Has  not  the  voice  of 
literary  Europe  reproached  them  [the  Scotch]  for  national  vanity,  in 
pluming  themselves  with  borrowed  feathers  clandestinely  plucked  from 
the  wings  of  Irish  songsters  ?  and  for  clothing  the  meagre,  deformed, 
and  decayed  skeleton  of  their  history  in  garments  stolen  from  the 
wardrobes  of  our  learned  antiquarians  and  annalists  ?  Macpherson  was 
certainly  a  poet,  whose  talents  had  graduated  in  the  Parnassian  col- 
lege ;  and,  while  we  deny  him  the  honor  due  to  candor,  we  cordially 
concede  that  these  poems,  which  we  award  him  the  full  credit  of 
having  framed  from  fragments  of  Irish  poetry,  possess  traces  of  genius 
that  would  have  reflected  credit  on  even  the  best  epic  of  Homer." 
James  Macpherson  was  born  at  Inverness,  1738.  In  1758,  he  pub- 
lished his  first  fragments  of  ancient  poetry  collected  in  the  Scottish 
Highlands;  in  1762,  he  produced  Fingal;  in  1763,  Temora  and 
others.     He  died  in  1796. 

Here  we  introduce  tv^^o  specimens  of  poetry  of  the  Oisianic  age. 
The  first  is  from  Baron  Harold's  translation  of  some  of  these  frag- 
ments.     It  is  a  remonstrance  addressed  by  Fion  MCoumhall  to  his 


FINGAIi's    REMONSTRANCE.  171 

son  Oisin,  on  choosing  a  wife.  The  second  is  the  lament  of  Oisin, 
in  his  old  age,  for  the  loss  of  his  sight.  It  equals,  in  my  opinion,  the 
lamentation  of  Milton  on  the  same  bereavement.  It  is  remarkable 
that  the  three  great  poets,  Homer,  Milton,  and  Oisin,  were  each 
totally  blind  for  many  years  of  their  lives. 


REMONSTRANCE    OF    FION   M'COUMHALL,    (FINGAL,)    ADDRESSED 
TO   HIS   SON,  ON    THE   CHOICE    OF    A    WIFE. 

"My  son,  of  the  noble  line 
Of  Heremonian  heroes ! 
Thou  gallant  descendant  of  Erin's  kings ! 
The  down  of  youth  grows  on  thy  cheek ; 
Martial  renown  is  loud  in  thy  praise; 
Romans  fear  thee  ;  their  eagles 
Were  dazzled  by  the  lightning  of  thy  spear! 
They  flew  before  thee  like  timid  birds 
Before  the  hawks  of  Leinster! 
Is  it  in  the  morning  of  thy  fame, 
Bright  with  the  sunbeams  of  martial  gloiy, 
That  thou  wouldst  ally  thyself 
With  the  daughter  of  tlie  Pict, 
And  thus  sully 
The  royal  purity  of  Milesian  blood  ? 

Thy  country  is  proud  of  thy  exploits, 

And  the  royal  virgins  of  Erin 

Sigh  for  thy  love, 

While  Cormac's  bards 

Sing  the  deeds  of  thy  bravery, 

In  the  battles  of  the  mighty ! 

O,  tlien,  Oisin, 

Of  dulcet  hai-mony. 

Listen  to  tlie  voice  of  thy  father. 

Albanian  maids  are  fair, 

But  fairer  and  lovelier  are 

The  chaste  daughters  of  thine  own 

Wave-washed  isle 

Of  wood-crested  hills ! 

Go  to  thy  happy  isle;  to  Branno's 

Grass-covered  field. 

Ever-Alien,  the  most  brilliant  gem 

In  ti.e  diadem  of  female  loveliness, 

The  trembling  dove  of  innocence, 

And  the  daughter  of  my  friend, 

Deserves  thy  attachment; 


172  oisin's  lamentation. 

The  pure  blood  of  Milesius 

Glows  in  her  guileless  heart, 

And  flows  in  her  blue  veins ; 

Majestic  beauty 

Flows  around  her  as  a  robe  of  light, 

And  modesty,  as  a  precious  veil, 

Heightens  her  youthful  charms. 

She  is  as  lovely 

As  the  mountain  flower, 

When  the  ruddy  beams  of  the  rising  sun 

Sparkle  on  its  dew-gemmed  side ! 

Go  I  take  thy  arms, 

Embark  in  yonder  dark-bosomed  ship, 

Which  soon  will  bear  you 

Over  ocean's  foam. 

To  green  Brannd's  streamy  vales, 

Where  you  will  win 

A  pure  virgin  heart,  that 

Never  yet  heaved  with  a  sigh  of  love ! 

For  thee,  the  vernal  rose  of  passion 

Will  first 

ESuse  its  sweetness  through  her  sighs, 

And  blush  in  all  its  beauty  on  her  cheeks." 


OISIN'S   LAMENTATION  FOR  THE   LOSS   OF  HIS   SIGHT. 

"O  thou  that  rollest  above! 
Round  as  the  shield  of  my  fatliers, — 
Whence  are  thy  beams,  O  sun. 
Thy  everlasting  light? 
Thou  comest  forth  in  thy  awful  beauty, 
And  the  stars  hide  their  heads  in  the  sky; 
The  moon,  cold  and  pale. 
Sinks  in  the  western  wave ; 
But  thou  thyself  alone, 
Who  can  be  a  companion  of  thy  course  ? 
The  oaks  of  the  mountains  fall ; 
The  mountains  themselves  decay  with  years , 
The  ocean  sinks,  and  grows  again ; 
The  moon  herself  is  lost  in  heaven ; 
But  thou  art  forever  the  same. 
Rejoicing  in  the  brightness  of  thy  course  ! 
When  the  world  is  dark  with  tempests. 
When  thunder  rolls  and  lightning  flies, 
Thou  lookest  in  thy  beauty  from  the  clouds, 
And  laughest  at  the  storm! 
But  to  Oisin  thou  lookest  in  vain, 


oisin's  lamentation.  173 

For  he  beholds  thy  beams  no  more, 

Whether  thy  yellow  hair  flows 

On  the  eastern  clouds,  or 

Thou  trerablest  at  the  gates  of  the  west; 

But  thou  art  perhaps  like  me, 

For  a  season,  and  thy  years  will  have  an  end; 

Thou  shalt  sleep  in  thy  clouds, 

Careless  of  the  voice  of  the  morning. 

Exult,  then,  O  sun ! 

In  the  strength  of  thy  youth ! 

Age  is  dark  and  unlovely; 

It  is  like  the  glimmering 

Of  the  mom,  when 

It  shines  through  broken  clouds ; 

And  the  mist  is  on  the  hills. 

The  blast  of  the  north  is  on  the  plain, 

And  the  traveller  shrinks 

In  the  midst  of  his  journey ! "  * 

There  are  many  other  poets  of  Erin,  from  whose  works  I  shall 
produce  occasional  specimens.  Goldsmith's  beautiful  poetry  is  in  every 
body's  mouth.  Furlong's  sentimental  and  euphonious  compositions 
ought  to  be  equally  circulated.  The  Irish  bards  of  the  present  age,  at 
whose  head  Moore,  Davis,  and  Barry  proudly  stand,  are  fully  equal  to 
the  bards  of  any  age  or  of  any  nation.  Some  emanations  of  their 
splendid  genius  will  be  found  scattered  along  these  pages.  Those 
who  would  understand  and  cultivate  Irish  poetry  have  an  opportunity 
herein  to  judge  of  its  varied  properties,  and  to  appreciate,  which  I 
humbly  hope  they  will,  the  selections  I  have  made,  and  look  kindly 
on  my  own  humble  dabbling  in  the  sublime  art. 

*  Within  the  present  year  a  valuable  manuscript  copy  of  poems,  written  by  Oisin, 
was  discovered  buried  in  an  old  church  near  Belfast.  The  precious  relic  was  incased 
in  an  iron  chest.  It  is  written  on  vellum,  in  the  ancient  Irish  character.  The  prop- 
erty on  which  it  was  discovered  belonging  to  the  Dublin  corporation,  the  manuscript 
was  claimed  and  taken  possession  of  by  that  body,  but  was  given  out  by  them  to  the 
ArchaBological  Society,  to  be  translated.  Some  of  the  poems  have  alre;idy  appeared 
in  English,  and  transcend,  in  majestic  beauty,  any  of  those  previously  published  by 
Macpherson. 


174 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


O!     BLAME    NOT    THE    BARD. 


BY    MOORE. 


I  have  in  this,  as  in  other  instances,  taken  liberties  with  Moore.  I  am  quite  aware 
of  the  presumption  of  the  act,  and  my  only  apology  is  my  fervent  desire  to  ani- 
mate the  hearts  of  my  countrymen.  When  Moore  wrote  this  affecting  piece,  he 
was  smarting  under  the  insinuations  of  his  countrymen,  that  he  devoted  his  tal- 
ents more  to  pleasure  than  to  patriotic  exertions.  He  had  been  a  living  witness 
of  his  country's  glory,  and  her  fall.  He  saw  her  deprived  of  freedom,  bleeding, 
prostrate,  and  destitute  even  of  the  hope  to  recover.  At  such  a  moment  his  muse 
was  melancholy,  and  mingled  her  sighs,  and  tears,  and  moans,  in  one  passionate 
flood.  But  Ireland's  wounds  are  almost  healed ;  her  tears  are  dried  up ;  her  vigor 
and  courage  have  returned,  and  she  stands  erect,  calling  on  the  plunderers  of  her 
liberty  for  its  restoration.  At  such  a  moment,  I  may  be  pardoned  by  the  patri- 
otic for  adding  an  appropriate  stanza  to  this  beautiful  song.  It  is  the  concluding 
one,  —  in  Italics. 


With  Expression. 


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MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


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176 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


breathes    but  the      song    of        de  -  sire,      Might  have 


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2. 

But  alas !    for  his  country  —  her  pride  is  gone  by, 

And  that  spirit  is  broken  which  never  would  bend; 
O'er  the  ruin  her  children  in  secret  must  sigh, 

For  'tis  treason  to  love  her,  and  death  to  defend. 
Unprized  are  her  sons  till  they've  learned  to  betray ; 

Undistinguished  they  live,  if  they  shame  not  their  sires ; 
And  the  torch,  that  would  light  them  through  dignity's  way, 

Must  be  caught  from  the  pile  where  their  country  expires ! 

Then  blame  not  the  bard,  if  in  pleasure's  soft  dream 

He  should  try  to  forget  what  he  never  can  heal ; 
O  !    give  but  a  hope,  let  a  vista  but  gleam 

Through  the  gloom  of  his  country,  and  mark  how  he'll  feel ! 
That  instant  his  heart  at  her  shrine  would  lay  down 

Every  passion  it  nursed,  every  bliss  it  adored. 
While  the  myrtle,  now  idly  entwined  with  his  crown. 

Like  the  wreath  of  Harmodius,  should  cover  his  sword.* 

4. 

But,  though  glory  be  gone,  hope  fades  not  aivay ; 
Thy  name,  loved  Erin !    shall  live  in  his  songs ; 


•  See  the  hymn,  attributed  to  Alcaeus,  "I  will  carry  my  sword,  hidden  in  myr- 
tles, like  Harmodius  and  Aristogilon,"  etc. 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY.  117 

Not  even  in  the  hour  when  his  heart  is  most  gay, 

Will  he  lose  the  remembrance  of  thee  and  thy  wrongs! 

The  stranger  shall  hear  thy  lament  on  his  plains ; 
The  sigh  of  thy  harp  shall  be  sent  o'er  the  deep, 

Till  thy  masters  themselves,  as  they  rivet  thy  chains, 
Shall  pause  at  the  song  of  their  captive,  and  weep ! 

5. 

But  arise,  dearest  Erin !   the  home  of  the  brave ! 

The  birthplace  of  heroes,  and  sages  of  light ! 
Send  your  voice  of  complaint  arid  resolve  o'er  the  ivave, 

And  the  nations  shall  join  in  your  cause  and  your  fight ! 
And  the   God  that  protected  his  children  before. 

Whom  the  tyrant  of  Egypt  oppressed  in  his  might, 
Shall  watch  o'er  the  struggle  around  your  green  shore. 

And  bless  the  brave  arms  of  your  sons  in  the  fight ! 


LEWIS    O'MORE. 


rhe  following  stanzas  were  sung  for  me  by  a  friend,  to  the  foregoing  air,  with  a 
great  deal  of  feeling,  and  affected  me  much.  They  evidently  belong  to  a  by- 
gone age,  and  must  be  a  translation  from  an  ancient  ode  in  the  Irish  language. 
O'More  was  an  illustrious  chieftain  of  Leinster.  The  chief  of  the  sept  was  a  To- 
parch,  and  ranked  next  to  the  Leinster  kings.  This  song  is  founded  on  his 
exploits  at  the  battle  of  Clontarf,  in  the  year  1016.  But  in  the  wars  with  the 
English  invaders,  for  more  than  four  hundred  years,  the  O'Mores  of  Leix  and 
Offalley  proved  to  be  the  unconquerable  enemies  of  England,  and  maintained 
their  independence.  [Sir  Thomas  More,  the  first  illustrious  victim  to  the  tyranny 
of  Henry  the  Eighth,  was  a  scion  from  this  house.]  Their  power  crumbled,  and 
their  territory  was  confiscated,  after  the  treacherous  butchery  of  the  three  hun- 
dred Leinster  chiefs  at  Mullaghmast,  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary, —  for  which, 
see  "  Mullaghmast." 

1. 

Remember  the  days  when  thy  children,  dear  Erin, 
In  myriads  assembled  around  thy  green  shore, 

When  the  cross  and  the  harp,  on  thy  bright  banner  beaming, 
Were  borne  by  the  chieftains  of  Lewis  O'More ! 
23 


178 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


When  the  heroic  legions,  to  battle  descending, 

Embossed  their  bright   skians  in  the  invader's  gore ; 

While  the  blood  of  its  guardians,  spontaneously  blending, 
Round  the  banners  of  Erin  and  Lewis  O'More  ! 

2. 

Bright  gleamed  the  sword  of  O'More  'mid  the  strong, 

And  fierce  was  the  look  he  bestowed  on  the  foe; 
They  shrunk  with  dismay  from  his  firm  knit  brow, 

Though   Odin  still  tried  to  avert  their  o'erthrow  1 
But  still,  while  the  harp  of  thy  minstrel  is  glowing 

With  grief  that  the  hero  of  our  isle  is  no  more. 
Let  us  send  the  cup  round,  with  the  grape  treasures  flowing, 

To  Malachy,  Morrough,  and  Lewis  O'More  ! 


BEAUTY    IN    TEARS, 


;fpp^fe:p£^?icF:ft^^ 

"^S^ ri — rrri    ri     i     ''  r |i. 


MUSIC. 


179 


MACFARLANE'S    LAMENTATION. 


(CUOMA    MAC     PHARLAIN.) 


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LECTURE    VI. 


THE    MUSIC    OF    IRELAND. 

A  Harper  and  Poet  accompany  the  Milesians  to  Ireland.  —  Ireland  deemed  ibe 
Island  of  Apollo.  —  Origin  of  vocal  Music.  —  Origin  of  the  Harp.  —  The  Irish 
Harp.  —  Superior  to  the  Greek  Lyre. — Music  mixed  in  all  the  Ceremonials 
of  the  ancient  Irish. — How  the  Music  of  Ireland  was  constructed.  —  Its  Nature. 

—  Its  Effect  on  a  Nation.  —  Greece  not  the  School  of  Music.  —  Fragment  of 
Grecian  Music  found  in  Ireland. — Its  inferior  Quality  proved  by  Burney. — 
Romans  ignorant  of  Music.  —  Irish  Bagpipes.  —  Ireland  the  true  School  of 
Music.  —  Revolution  effected  by  Music.  —  Ode  of  Moriat.  —  The  Harp  and 
Bagpipes  of  the  Irish  gave  Bass  and  Treble.  —  The  Harp  of  the  ancient  Irish  the 
Piano-Forte  of  the  Moderns.  —  Irish  addicted  to  Music  before  the  Christian 
Era.  —  Christian  Missionaries  adopt  the  Irish  Music,  and  introduce  it  into  the 
Churches.  —  Ireland  preserved  Literature,  Science,  and  Music,  when  Rome  fell. 

—  Irishmen  imparted  musical  Notation,  as  well  as  grammatical  Punctuation,  to 
Europe.  —  Terms  of  ancient  Notation.  —  Specimen  of  the  ancient  Notation  pre- 
served for  unnumbered  Generations  in  the  Family  of  the  Cavanaghs.  —  Two 
Schools  for  Music  in  Europe.  —  Efforts  of  the  first  Christian  Fathers  to  form  a 
Code  of  Church  Music.  —  The  Gregorian  Chants  established  A.  D.  600.  — 
Ireland  full  of  her  own  Church  Music  one  hundred  and  fifty  Years  previously. — 
Musical  Modes  and  Rules  well  known  in  Ireland.  —  Ireland  the  musical  School 
of  Western  Europe.  —  Rhyme  in  Poetry  an  Irish  Invention.  —  Proofs.  —  Moore's 
Opinion.  —  Camden's  Opinion.  —  Several  Pieces  in  the  Gregorian  Chants  com- 
posed by  Irishmen.  —  Columbanus,  an  Irishman,  introduced  Irish  Music  into 
Germany  and  France.  —  Irish  musical  School  totally  different  from  the  Latin.  — 
Opinion  of  Cambrensis.  —  Wales  derived  her  Music  from  Ireland. —  Caradoc's 
Opinion.  —  Ledwich's  Opinion.  —  Twenty-four  Irish  musical  Laws  introduced 
into  Wales.  —  Musical  Schools  of  the  Irish.  —  Italy  derived  the  Harp  and  Rules 
of  Playing  from  Ireland. — The  Violin  of  Irish  Origin.  —  Scotch  Music  essen- 
tially Irish.  —  Proof.  —  Opinions  of  English  Writers  on  Irish  Music. — Improve- 
ments in  the  Irish  Harp.  —  The  Horn.  —  The  Organ.  —  The  Piano-Forte  formed 
from  the  Harp.  —  Power  of  various  Instruments.  —  Music  of  England.  —  Speci- 
men of  the  first  Notes  used. —  Luther  introduced  Music  into  his  Churches. — 
George  the  Fourth  introduces  two  hundred  Strains.  —  Handel,  rejected  in 
London,  received  and  applauded  in  Dublin.  —  Change  in  the  Character  of  Irish 
Music.  —  Persecution  of  the  Minstrels. — Irish  Music  adapted  to  the  Passions  of 
Love  and  Sorrow.  —  Truly  constructed.  —  Irish  Musicians  copied  the  Sounds 
of  Men,  Birds,  and  Beasts,  on  their  Harjvsirings.  —  Variety  of  Character  of 
Irish  Music.  —  Lament  of  the  Minstrel  O'Gnieve.  —  Suppression  and  Decline  of 
Irish  Music.  —  O'Kane,  Carolan,  Jackson,  &c. — Revival  of  Irish  Music  after 
1782.  —  Belfast  musical  Convention  in  1792.  —  Assembly  of  Irish  Harpers.  —  Mr. 
Bunting's  Notes  of  that  Meeting.  —  Mathematical  Examination  of  the  Structure 
of  the  Irish  Harp.  —  The  old  Irish  Bards  formed  their  Harps  agreeably  to  the 
Philosophy  of  Sound.  —  "The  Harp  of  Tara."  —  Its  History.  —  Musical  Glasses 
invented  by  an  Irishman. — Moore  revives  the  Music  of  Ireland. —  General 
Revival    of   Irish    Music.  —  Lover.  —  Balfe.  —  Successful  Composers. —  Italian 


IRELAND    DEEMED    THE    ISLAND    OF    APOLLO. 


181 


Opinion  of  Irish  Music. -Present  musical  Spirit  of  Ireland.- General  Effects 
of  Music. -Attempt  to  define  its  Nature.  -  Style  of  most  of  the  fashionable 
Ferformers.-  Scientific  Examination  of  Sound.  -  Its  Laws.-  Echoes  -  Organs  o 
Hearing. -Musical  Keys. -Nature  of  the  Voice.  -  Mechanism  of  the  Throat, 
Chest,  &c.- Laws  of  Wind  Instruments. -Nurses  should  «i"g  *«  ^"f  "^^^•  " 
Hints  to  public  Singers. -Moore's  Suggestions  for  singing  his  Irish  Melodies. 
-Willis's  Description  of  Moore's  Singing. -Moore's  Visit  to  the  Dublm 
Theatre.  —  Eflfect  of  an  Irish  Tune  on  the  Boston  Public. 

The  music  of  Ireland  is  all  that  her  oppressors  have  left  her.     That 
proud  attribute  even  Cambrensis  allowed  her  seven  hundred  years  ago. 
That  Ireland  was  the  school  for  music  to  the  Western  nations  for  ages, 
I  am,  I  trust,  able  to  prove ;  that  she  possessed  musical  notations,  and  a 
series  of  the  most  exact  and   minute  rules  for  poetry  and  music,  her 
annals  testify ;    very  old   manuscripts,    containing    the   rules  and  the 
notations  anciently  in  use,  have  been  produced  by  Walker.     Facsim- 
iles of  the  ancient    notes  will  be  found   in  the  course  of  this  section, 
which  when  the  reader  has  perused,  together  with  other  proofs  of  a 
like  nature,  he  must  then  admit  the  preeminence  of  Ireland  over  all  the 
nations  of  Europe,  in  this  ancient  and  fascinating  branch  of  human  science. 
On  the  first  arrival  of  the  Milesian   colony  in  Ireland,   there  were 
places  and  positions  assigned   to  the   Dmids,  poets,  and  musicians 
AmbergUn,  one  of  the  sons  of  Milesius,  the  brother  of  Heber  and 
Heremon,  first  kings  of  the  island,  was  the  chief  Druid  bard,  the  head 
of  the  order.     This  proves  that  poetry  was  then  a  special  study,  and 
its  professors  an  ascertained  class.     The  old  historians  tell   us  that  the 
brother-kings,  Heber  and  Heremon,  quarrelled  about  the  exclusive  reten- 
tion of  two°celebrated  sons  of  song,  viz.,  Cirmacsis,  a  poet,  and  Onna 
Ceanfin,  a  harper;    but   that,  on    the   arbitration  of  Amberghin,  the 
poet  was  adjudged  to  Heremon,  and    the  musician  to  Heber.     The 
incident  proves  that  mu/ic  and  poetry  were  passionately  cherished  by 
the  ancient  Irish.     A  well-attested  fact  like  this,  occurring  upwards  of 
three  thousand  years  ago,  in  Ii'eland,  ought  to  be  received  as  strong 
evidence  of  the  general  prevalence  of  musical  taste  amongst  the  people. 
But  we  have  much  stronger  proofs  than  this.    Heccataus,  the  ancient 
Egyptian  historian,  quoted  by  Diodorus,  describes  Ireland,  then  called 
Hyberborea,  as  having  in  it  a  city,  in  the  midst  of  a  grove,  where  the 
priests  of  Apollo  sang  the  praises  of  that  god,    mingling  their  voices 
with  the  sounds  of  the  harp.    -The  following  is  the  passage,  according 
to  Booth's   translation  :  "  They  say  that  Latona  was  born  here,  and, 
therefore,  that   they  worshipped   Apollo  above   all    other   gods ;  and, 
because  they  are  daily  singing  songs  in  praise  of  this  god,  and  ascribing 


182  ORIGIN    OF    VOCAL    MUSIC. ORIGIN    OF    THE    HARP. 

to  him  the  highest  honors,  they  say  that  these  inhabitants  demean 
themselves  as  if  they  were  Apollo's  priests,  who  has  here  a  stately 
grove,  and  renowned  temple,  of  round  form,  beautified  with  many  rich 
gifts ;  that  there  is  a  city  likewise  consecrated  to  this  god,  whose  citi- 
zens are  most  of  them  harpers,  xvho,  playing  on  the  harp,  chant  sa- 
cred hymns  to  Apollo  in  the  temple,  setting  forth  his  glorious  acts." 
This  was  written  of  Ireland  five  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era. 
The  musical  ceremonies  in  the  temple  of  Apollo  were  nothing  more 
than  the  worship  of  the  sun,  which  was  sometimes  called  Baal,  and 
again  Apollo.  The  ceremony  consisted  in  part  of  vocal  chants,  in 
which  the  music  of  the  harp  was  blended.  The  island,  in  that  age, 
was  deemed  ancient  by  the  contemporary  nations.  It  was  called,  even 
then,  the  "  Holy  Island,"  a  name  suggested  by  the  strong  disposition 
evinced  by  its  people  to  celebrate  their  religious  ceremonies  with  great 
pomp  and  excitement,  and  also  from  its  having  been  made,  by  the 
Phoenician  colony  which  first  settled  in  it,  the  centre  of  their  radiating 
instruction  to  the  communities  that  began  to  grow  around  in  Albion, 
Wales,  and  Caledonia. 

I  have  already  proved  the  intimate  connection  that  subsisted  between 
ancient  Egypt  and  ancient  Ireland.  The  whole  system  of  worship, 
music,  science,  and  art,  as  then  known  in  Egypt,  was  carried  into  Ire- 
land. This  relationship  existed  ages  before  Greece  had  either  letters  or 
political  existence. 

The  Irish  of  those  ancient  days,  like  their  relatives  in  Egypt,  practised 
but  a  few  simple  musical  sounds.  These  were  regulated  by  the  human 
voice.  The  first  sound  uttered  by  the  open  mouth,  in  a  natural  key, 
vi'as  called  A.  That  sound  was  fixed  as  the  standard  note.  They 
faried  the  voice  above  and  below  that  standard,  producing  an  agreeable 
variation  of  vocal  sounds.  And  this  is  music,  —  the  fii'st  and  purest  sup- 
plied by  nature.  A  good  voice  was  found  capable  of  producing  sixteen 
tones,  perfectly  distinct  from  each  other,  agreeing  in  number  with  the 
sixteen  sounds  represented  by  the  sixteen  letters  of  the  old  Irish  al- 
phabet, which  was  the  alphabet  first  used  in  Egypt.  These  are 
measured  by  two  octaves,  of  eight  tones  to  each  octave. 

It  is  probable  that  ages  passed  away  ere  Egypt  had  arrived  at  the 
improved  eleven-stringed  harp.  In  the  times  of  Solomon,  David,  and 
Moses,  a  harp  was  used  ;  but  it  may  have  had  then  only  five  or 
eight  strings.  There  still  exist  on  the  monuments  at  Thebes,  in  Egypt, 
figures  of  the  ancient  instrument,  chiseled  into  the  enduring  granite. 
The  harp  must  have  been  first  formed   from  the  bow  of  the  archer. 


THE    IRISH    HARP    SUPERIOR    TO    THE    GIIF.EK    LYRE.  183 

The  sound  of  the  bowstring  would  indeed  suggest  the  existence  of  music 
in  that  simple  instrument.  It  did,  in  fact,  suggest  the  idea.  The  first 
harps,  as  appears  by  the  models  sculptured  on  the  Theban  monuments, 
were  formed  simply  like  the  bent  bow  of  the  warrior.  The  strings  were 
few  at  first,  producing  only  five  or  six  notes.  The  improved  harp,  of 
eleven  strings,  was,  no  doubt,  the  result  of  many  experiments,  which, 
when  accomplished,  was  deemed  worthy  of  eternal  perpetuation  on 
stone.  It  was  simply  the  bent  bow  of  the  archer,  generally  about  five 
feet  long,  the  longest  string  giving  the  bass  note,  and  the  others,  short- 
ening with  the  arc  of  the  semicircle,  gave  the  intermediate  tones,  up  to 
the  treble,  according  to  their  respective  lengths.  The  date  of  this  im- 
provement may  be  fixed  with  that  of  Thebes  itself,  which  was  in  the 
zenith  of  its  consequence  about  three  thousand  five  hundred  years  ago. 
The  harps  brought  into  Ireland  by  the  Milesian  colony  were  of  thai 
fashion,  as  we  find  by  some  old  traditional  sketches. 

The  improvements  made  in  the  harp  are  altogether  Irish.  The 
Greeks  do  not  seem  ever  to  have  had  an  instrument  like  our  harp. 
There  is  frequent  mention  made  by  their  poets  of  a  lyre.  As  they 
received  all  their  instructions  in  literature  and  arts  from  Egypt,  it  is 
probable  the  old  bent  boiv  of  the  Egyptians  passed  over  into  Gjeece ; 
but  the  Greeks  worked  it  into  an  instrument  differing  widely  from  the 
harp.  One  of  those  lyres,  having  eight  strings,  was  found  in  a  tomb  at 
Athens.  Its  form  is  that  of  the  bow,  bent  till  the  points  nearly  meet, 
which  are  then  bound  together-  Strings  are  fastened  in  the  centre,  and 
drawn  to  the  united  points ;  but,  from  the  construction  of  this  instru- 
ment, it  was  incapable  of  extension,  or  of  much  modulation.  And 
MontfauQon  remarks,  that  "  Greek  instruments  had  no  contrivances  for 
shortening  the  strings."  So  that  they  must  have  been  unacquainted 
with  the  expansive  and  vibrating  character  of  the  harp.  The  lyre 
usually  put  into  the  hands  of  Apollo,  by  painters  and  poets,  is  fash- 
ioned after  that  found  at  Athens.  But  it  would  be  far  more  cor- 
rect to  put  the  Irish  harp  into  the  hands  of  the  musical  god,  seeing, 
from  Heccat^us,  that  he  was  worshipped  by  tiie  ancient  Irish  with  the 
voice  of  song  and  the  sounds  of  the  harp,  during  the  vernal  equinox, 
before  the  Greeks  arrived,  if  ever  they  arrived,  at  an  advanced  stage  of 
musical  refinement. 

That  the  ancient  Irish  cultivated  the  music  of  the  voice,  and  of 
instruments,  is  proved  in  every  page  of  their  history.  Music  mixed  in 
every  ceremonial.  In  their  sun  worship,  the  song  of  praise  and  thanks- 
giving was  raised  to  the  giver,  in  their  opinion,  of  fniits,  and  regulator  of 


184    MUSIC  MIXED  IN  THE   CEREMONIALS   OF  THE  IRISH. ITS  EFFECTS. 

the  seasons.  At  their  funerals,  the  voice  of  lamentation  was  vented  under 
the  control  of  musical  notation.  In  the  battle,  the  harper  bards  led  on 
the  warrior  hosts.  At  the  festive  board,  and  in  the  banquet  hall,  there 
also  the  voice  of  music  stimulated  the  joyous  passions.  On  all  these 
occasions,  the  harper  bards  caught  the  most  touching  sounds  of  human 
sensations  as  they  rose,  and  copied  them  on  their  harp-strings.  These 
were,  upon  succeeding  occasions,  struck  out  again  from  their  strings,  to 
kindle  in  other  hearts  emotions  similar  to  those  which  gave  them  birth. 
In  this  manner,  a  series  of  the  most  touching  sounds  was  formed  by  the 
Irish  bards  into  a  code  of  melody,  which  has  lasted  through  unnum- 
bered ages.  This  melody,  whenever  played  according  to  nature's 
rules,  (ever  the  same,  in  all  ages,)  never  fails  to  reach  the  human  heart, 
and  awaken  therein  the  self-same  sensations  that  originally  gave  ex- 
istence to  the  melody  itself. 

For  this  reason,  the  music  of  Ireland  has  attracted  the  encomiums  of 
all  the  surrounding  nations.  The  elegant  and  erudite  Walker  remarks, 
that  "  the  Irish  music  is,  in  some  degree,  distinguished  from  the  music 
of  every  other  nation,  by  an  insinuating  sweetness,  which  forces  its  way 
irresistibly  to  the  heart,  and  there  diffuses  an  ecstatic  delight  that  thrills 
through  every  fibre  of  the  frame,  awakens  sensibility,  and  agitates  or 
tranquillizes  the  soul.  Whatever  passion  it  may  be  intended  to  excite 
it  never  fails  to  awaken.  It  is  the  voice  of  nature,  and  will  be  heard. 
We  speak  of  the  music  of  the  ancient  Irish  ;  for  music,  like  language,  the 
nearer  we  remount  to  its  rise  amongst  men,  the  moie  it  will  be  found  to 
partake  of  a  natural  expression."  And  Dr.  O'Conor  dilates  upon  the 
same  idea  thus :  "  In  every  concert,  the  abhram,  or  song,  accompanied 
the  instrumental  music,  and  the  ode  was  invariably  adapted  to  the  spe- 
cies intended,  whether  the  heroic,  the  dolorous,  or  the  somniferous.  By 
this  you  find  that  our  ancients  in  Ireland  were  far  from  being  strangers 
to  the  powers  of  hannonized  sound,  in  directing,  as  well  as  exciting,  the 
human  passions.  Sotmds  were  therefore  cultivated  and  modified,  so  as 
to  produce  extraordinary  civil  and  political  effects  on  the  minds  of  men.''* 

This  attention  to  the  cultivation  of  the  musical  art  evinces  a  degree 
of  refinement  of  manners  and  of  soul  amongst  the  Irish,  which  few 
other  nations  can  equally  claim.  "  If  a  rnan,  naturally  rough,  becomes 
softened, /or  the  <{me,  by  music, —  if  those  times  are  continually  re- 
newed,— habit  will  take  the  place  of  nature,  and  that  man's  character  will, 
to  a  certain  degree,  change." — Sherlock.  —  So  a  nation  kept  continually 
under  the  influence  of  music  must  become  softened,  susceptible,  refined. 
And  yet  there  are  English  writers,  who  have,  to  aid  the  base  purposes 


FRAGMENT  OF  GREEK  MUSIC.  185 

of  tyranny,  written  down  the  ancient  Irish,  and  the  modern  Irish  also, 
as  a  barbarous  people,  though  their  passionate  cultivation  of  music,  in 
all  ages,  would  of  itself  confront  and  abash  the  calumny. 

Collins,  who  wrote  the  Ode  on  the  Passions,  recited  so  often  by  our 
schoolboys,  began  it  with  a  falsehood  — 

"  When  Music,  heavenly  maid,  was  young, 
While  yet  in  early  Greece  she  sung." 

Collins  was  an  Englishman,  and  though  he  knew  in  his  heart  that  Ire- 
land, not  Greece,  had  the  best  claim  to  the  honorable  distinction  of 
school  for  young  Music,  yet,  to  sing  it,  or  even  admit  it,  would  make 
his  ode  and  himself  unpopular  amongst  his  countrymen.  He  therefore 
starts  with  his  musical  rhapsody  from  Greece ;  and  while  we  admire  his 
composition,  we  are  grieved  to  think  that  the  genius  of  poetry  should, 
in  his  person,  bend,  in  a  falsehood,  to  the  genius  of  tyranny. 

There  is  no  evidence,  either  on  the  page  of  history  or  in  musical  tra- 
dition, of  any  very  great  excellence  to  which  the  Greeks  attained  in 
music.  Moore,  quoting  Anacharsis,  says,  "  The  sweetness  of  their  an- 
cient music  had  already  been  lost  when  all  the  other  arts  were  but  on 
their  way  to  perfection  ; "  and  Wood,  in  his  Essay  on  Homer,  has  the 
following :  "  The  old,  chaste  Greek  melody  was  lost  in  refinement 
before  their  other  arts  had  acquired  perfection."  But  we  have  the 
means  of  ascertaining  the  character  of  Greek  music,  furnished  by  a  frag- 
ment of  their  own  composition,  in  the  days  of  their  highest  degree  of 
refinement.  It  is  an  astronomical  hymn,  composed  by  Dionysius.  It 
is  in  three  parts.  The  first  was  dedicated  to  Calliope  ;  the  second,  to 
Apollo ;  the  third,  to  Remisius.  This  fragment  has  marked  upon  it  the 
very  notes  by  which  the  Greeks  chanted  it.  And,  curiously  enough,  it 
was  discovered  in  the  sixteenth  century,  by  Archbishop  Usher,  in  the 
archives  of  the  cathedral  of  Armagh,  in  Ireland.  When  this  ancient 
fragment  was  given  to  the  world,  it  created  a  strong  excitement,  espe- 
cially in  the  musical  circles.  Galleli,  the  Italian  composer,  published 
it,  in  1587,  with  musical  notes,  in  his  Dialogue  upon  Ancient  and 
Modern  Music. 

This  fragment,  having  occupied  the  attention  of  the  learned  and 
musical  world  for  a  long  period,  is  thus  defined,  in  the  scale  of  ex- 
cellence, by  the  great  Burney,  whose  work  on  music  is  a  standard 
authority  :  — 

"  In  reference  to  those  ancient  melodies,  I  have  only  to  say,  that  no 
pains  have  been  spared  to  place  them  in  the  clearest  and  most  favorable 
24 


186  ROMANS    IGNORANT    OF    MUSIC. IRISH    BAGPIPES. 

point  of  view ;  and  yet,  with  all  the  advantage  of  modern  notes  and 
modern  measures,  if  I  am  told  that  they  came  from  the  Cherokees  or 
the  Hottentots,  I  should  not  be  surprised  at  the  degree  of  excellence 
they  possess.  There  is  music  that  all  mankind,  in  civilized  countries, 
would  allow  to  be  good  ;  hut  these  fragments  are  certainly  not  of  that 
sort;  for,  with  all  the  light  that  can  be  thrown  upon  them,  they  have 
still  hut  a  rude  and  inelegant  effect,  and  seem  wholly  unworthy  of  so 
refined  and  sentimental  a  people  as  the  Gireeks  ;  especially  if  we  sub- 
scribe to  the  high  antiquity  that  has  been  given  to  two  of  the  hymns, 
which  makes  them  productions  of  that  period  of  time,  when  arts  and 
sciences  were  arrived  in  Greece  to  a  very  high  point  of  perfection." 

From  these  proofs  the  candid  *mind  must  conclude  that  the  taste  of 
the  Greeks  did  not  favor  very  much  the  growth  of  music.  That  is  all  I 
contend  for  here.  At  another  stage  in  this  work,  I  shall  enter  into  a 
short  comparison  between  the  Greek  and  Roman  political  institutions, 
laws,  customs,  morals,  &ic.,  and  those  of  Ireland,  in  parallel  ages. 

As  to  the  Romans,  thqy  knew  nothing  worth  naming  of  music,  and 
this  Cicero  himself  admits.  We  have  heard  that  "  Nero  fiddled  while 
Rome  was  burning ; "  but  the  fact  is,  Nero  never  saw  a  fiddle :  he  had  a 
sweet  voice,  and  sang,  in  the  theatre,  for  days,  and  even  nights,  without 
stopping  :  on  some  occasions  he  punished  his  courtiers  for  nodding  asleep 
during  his  performance ;  and  it  is  said  he  wrote  nearly  all  his  orders 
connected  with  his  government,  to  save  his  voice.  The  chief  instrument 
of  the  Romans  was  a  blow-pipe,  resembling  the  Scotch  bagpipe.  It  is 
said,  indeed,  that  the  Scotch  have  modeled  their  bagpipes  from  the  Ro- 
man. The  Irish  bagpipe  is  a  different  kind  of  instrument.  It  has  a  set  of 
drone  pipes,  which  give  a  base  an  octave  lower  than  the  chanter  pipe  :  all 
these  pipes  are  supplied  by  wind  from  a  bag,  into  which  it  is  puffed  by  a 
bellows  strapped  to  one  arm  of  the  player,  while  the  other  arm  squeezes 
the  wind-bag  which  supplies  all  the  pipes.  The  bagpipe,  as  thus  de- 
scribed, is  thoroughly  an  Irish  musical  instrument,  and  is  of  very  great 
antiquity.  In  the  ancient  parliamentary  assemblies  of  Tara,  a  place 
was  set  apart  for  the  cushlas,  the  Irish  name  of  the  players  on  the  bag- 
pipe, so  denominated  because  the  instrument  was  worked  by  the  inside 
of  the  arm,  the  region  of  the  arteries  which  run  to  the  heart. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  Ireland,  and  examine  for  ourselves  what  her  an- 
cient claims  are  to  musical  reputation.  We  have  seen  that  the  Egyp- 
tian historian,  in  describing  the  ancient  Irish,  noticed  their  musical 
exercises  on  the  harp.  The  history  of  Ireland  is  studded  all  over  with 
the  deeds  of  the  bards  and  musicians.     Indeed,  most  of  the  bards  were 


REVOLUTION  EFFECTED  BY  MUSIC.  187 

also  musicians,  and  taught  the  divine  art  to  the  youth' of  both  sexes.  In 
the  fragments  of  old  Irish  poetry  which  have  come  down  to  us,  we  find 
numberless  allusions  to  ladies  of  other  days,  who  struck  the  harp  with 
fairy  fingers,  accompanied  with  strains  from  their  own  hearts,  which 
melted  those  of  their  hearers,  even  as  the  sun's  rays  melt  down  the  snow. 
A  daughter  of  Erin  is  thus  described  by  a  bard  who  wrote  two  thousand 
years  ago :  — 

"  The  daughter  of  Moran  seized  the  harp ! 
And  her  voice  of  music  praised  the  strangers. 
Their  souls  melted  at  the  song, 
Like  a  wreath  of  snow  before  the  eye  of  the  sun ! " 

Another,  of  the  same  age,  is  thus  described :  — 

"  The  spouse  of  Thrathal  had  remained  in  her  house ; 
Two  children  rose  with  their  fair  locks  about  her  knees; 
They  bend  their  ears  above  the  harp, 
As  she  touched  with  her  white  hand 
Its  trembling  strings.     She  stops. 
They  take  the  harp  themselves, 
But  cannot  find  tlie  sound  which  they  admired. 
'Why,'  they  said,  'does  it  not  answer  us? 
Show  us  the  string  wherein  dwells  the  song ! ' 
She  bids  them  search  for  it  till  she  returns. 
Their  little  fingers  wander  amongst  the  wires." 

About  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  the  Christian  era,  a  revo- 
lution was  brought  about  in  Ireland,  by  the  power  of  music,  in  the 
following  manner :  The  Irish  monarch,  Leoghaire,  with  several  of  his 
sons  and  nobles,  was  murdered  by  his  brother,  Cobthaigh,  who  usurped 
the  throne.  One  only  of  the  king's  children,  named  Mahon,  escaped. 
His  friend  privately  conveyed  him  to  the  hospitable  mansion  of  the  king 
of  Munster.  Here  he  grew  up  a  youth  of  comely  person  and  of  great 
promise.  During  his  residence  at  the  court  of  Munster,  he  inspired  the 
lovely  Moriat,  the  prince's  daughter,  young  and  beautiful  as  himself, 
with  a  strong  affection  for  him.  The  usurper,  hearing  that  a  young 
prince  and  heir  to  his  ill-gotten  throne  was  still  alive,  was  about  to  de- 
clare war  against  the  king  of  Munster ;  whereupon,  for  greater  safety, 
Mahon  fled  the  kingdom,  and  found  an  asylum  in  the  court  of  the  king 
of  Gaul.  Here  he  signalized  himself  in  that  king's  service,  by 
several  brilliant  actions  in  war. 

The  fame  of  his  valor  reached  his  faithful  Moriat,  and,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  divine  passion  which  she  cherished,  she  composed  tlie  fol- 


188  THE    ODE     OF    MORIAT. 

lowing  beautiful  ode,  which  she  instructed  her  harper,  Craftine,  to  sing 
to  the  chords  of  his  harp,  in  affecting  melody,  and  sent  him  in  quest  of 
her  exiled  lover. 

When  the  minstrel  arrived  at  the  quarters  of  Mahon,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Loire,  in  France,  he  took  his  station  under  his  windows,  and 
sang  the  ode  of  Moriat. 

"  Warrior  prince !  son  of  a  thousand  kings 
Of  wave-wreathed  Erin! 
Hast  thou  forgotten  thine  own  native  land, 
And  the  imperishable  glory 
Of  tliy  sires  —  those 
Milesian  heroes,  who  were 
Towers  of  fire  in  the  battles  of  the  valiant  ? 
Is  the  voice  of  Erin's  harp 
Still  dear  to  recollection,  and 
Gladdening  to  the  soul  of  Prince  Mahon, 
The  hope  of  Innisfail  ? 
Listen,  O  prince,  to  strains 
That  would  speak  the  sorrows 
Of  tliy  oppressed  country,  and 

The  wailings  of  desponding  love.  * 

Know,  then,  that  Erin, 
Thy  country  and  kingdom. 
Invokes  thee,  her  darling  son. 
To  return  to  the  throne  of  thy  fathers, 
And  rescue  her  from  usurpation. 
Return!  return  to  green  Aelga, 
And  free  thy  people  from  the  yoke! 
The  harps  of  Tara  breathe  the  sounds  of  woe ; 
The  oaks  of  tliy  forests  sigh  in  the  breeze ; 
The  rocks  of  Meatli  respond,  in  echoes 
To  the  Banshee's  lamentations  ; 
And  the  ghosts  of  thy  royal  fathers. 
As  the}'  stalk  over  their  pathway  of  clouds, 
Call  upon  thee  to  rouse. 

And  make  victory  the  footstool  of  thy  throne ! 
But  if  tliy  country  cannot 
Awaken  pity  in  thy  breast, 
Surely  love  will  melt 
Thy  heart  to  compassion. 
As  the  vernal  sunbeams 
Dissolve  the  crystal  mirror 
Of  the  ice-plated  Shannon, 
When  hoary  Winter  becomes 
Shocked  at  his  own  imagfe. 


THE    ODE    OF    MORIAT.  189 

Dost  thou  still  remember  Moriat, 

The  maid  of  thy  first  love  ? 

Has  absence  obliterated 

The  record  of  thy  solemn  vow  ? 

Has  another,  fairer,  younger  princess 

Despoiled  the  heart-shrine 

In  which  thy  young  affection  first  placed  her  image  ? 

Have  you  forgotten  your  last  words, 

That  thy  'beloved  Moriat  should  be 

The  only  divinity,  thy 

Heart  would  worship?' 

This  fondly-remembered  declaration 
Is  the  very  life  of  her  hope. 
The  bright  beacon  that  shines 
In  the  wilderness  of  her  heart! 
Return,  O  wandering  warrior, 
To  the  maiden  of  thy  vow. 
Thy  presence  would  brighten 
The  darkness  of  her  woe !  ,  .  • 

O,  Mahon !  canst  thou  resist 
The  double  claim  of  country 
And  of  love  ? 

Come,  gallant  prince,  of  the  race  of  heroes, 
To  the  halls  of  thy  sires, 
And  at  the  head  of  the  warriors  of  Erin, 
Let  your  might  be  like  the  spirit  of  the  tempest 
Uprooting  tlie  pines  of  the  hill, 
And  your  vengeance  as  terrible 
As  the  mountain  torrent 
Sweeping  over  the  valley  of 
The  husbandman. 

Hasten,  then,  O,  hasten 
To  the  fields  of  exploit  of  thy  glorious  sires. 
Here  their  spirits  will  inspire  tliee  with  courage, 
And  nerve  thee  with 
Supernatural  power. 
And  give  thy  martial  arm  force 
To  prostrate  the  usurper  of  thy  throne." 


The  prince,  filled  with  the  passion  of  resistless  love,  and  the  fires  of  a 
lofty  ambition,  prevailed  on  the  French  king  to  grant  him  an  expedition 
to  recover  his  throne.  He  was  successful  —  he  landed,  and  marched 
directly  to  the  palace  of  the  murderer  of  his  father,  and  destroyed  him 
and  his  guards.  His  success  soon  flew  out  on  the  winds  of  fame.  His 
first  act  was  to  marry  his  faithful  Moriat.  His  marriage  and  coronation 
were  the  grandest  known  in  Ireland  for  many  previous  reigns. 


190  THE     KAHP    OF    THE    IRISH    THE    PRESENT    PIANO-FORTE. 

Both  the  harp  and  the  bagpipes  of  the  ancient  Irish  gave  a  bass.  This, 
standing  alone,  would  be  an  incontrovertible  evidence  of  their  thorough 
knowledge  of  music,  with  its  counterpoint,  bass,  and  harmonies.  Some 
of  the  musical  writers  say  that  counterpoint,  bass,  and  harmony,  were  not 
known  in  Europe  till  the  eleventh  century,  and  erroneously  attribute  the 
invention  of  these  improvements  to  Guido.  Now,  the  very  construction 
of  these  ancient  Irish  instruments  —  the  harp  and  bagpipes  —  must  dis- 
prove a  part  of  this  assertion.  It  is  true  that  bass,  counterpoint,  and  har- 
mony, were  not  known  in  the  south  of  Europe  till  the  eleventh  century  ; 
but  it  is  not  equally  true  that  Guido  invented  them,  inasmuch  as  they 
were  familiar  to  the  Irish  musicians  several  centuries  before  that  period. 

The  harp,  in  the  course  of  ages,  was  enlarged  by  the  Irish  musicians, 
from  eleven  strings,  the  old  Egyptian  number,  to  thirty-two,  which  gave 
them  sixteen  tones,  or  two  octaves,  below  C,  and  sixteen  tones,  or  two 
octaves,  above  that  note,  forming  a  comprehensive  scale,  which  com- 
prised the  full  complement  of  bass  and  treble  tones.  The  harpers 
touched  the  instrument  with  both  their  hands,  one  of  the  hands  sounding 
bass  notes,  and  the  other  the  treble,  as  players  upon  the  self-same 
instrument,  in  the  piano-forte,  do  at  present.  —  The  piano-forte  of  the 
present  day  is  simply  the  Irish  harp,  placed  horizontally  in  a  box,  and 
struck  by  machinery. —  The  old  Irish  harpers  obtained  their  flats  and 
sharps  by  pressing  the  string  about  to  be  struck  with  the  thumb  of  one 
hand,  while  they  struck  it  with  the  fingers  of  the  other.  This  old  con- 
trivance was  done  away  by  the  introduction  of  the  pedal.  Thus  each 
string  concealed  three  tones.  The  Irish  harp  produced  a  great  number 
of  tones  and  semitones  —  perhaps  one  hundred  —  affording  compass 
enough  for  bass  and  harmonies  ;  and  the  harp  even  now  supplies  the 
greatest  number  of  octaves  or  sounds  of  any  instrument  except  the 
organ.  No  other  nation,  either  in  Europe  or  in  any  other  part  of  the 
world,  cultivated  the  harp.  It  is  Ireland's  exclusively.  It  is  graven  on 
her  banners.  It  is  graven  on  her  people's  hearts.  It  is  the  symbol  of 
their  nation.  The  guitar,  the  violin,  and  many  other  instruments,  are 
variations  and  derivatives  from  the  harp ;  but  the  "  harp  of  Erin "  is 
Erin's  own,  and 

"Must  still  be  respected, 
While  there  lives  but  one  bard  to  enliven  its  tone." 

The  old  Irish  bagpipes,  as  I  have  said,  afforded,  in  its  three  drone 
pipes,  a  comprehensive  bass.  Two  of  the  drones  were  pitched  equal  to 
D,  on  the  chanter  pipe,  and  one  an  octave,  or  eight  tones,  lower.  The 
chanter  or  treble  pipe  gave  eight  or  ten  notes,  which,  by  a  stiff  blast, 


IRISH    ADDICTED    TO    JIUSIC    BEFORE    THE    CHRISTIAN    ERA.       191 

were  run  up  the  entire  of  the  G  clifF,  in  the  same  manner  that  the  flute 
is  made  to  play.  The  flat  and  sharp  notes  were  obtained  by  playing 
in  a  particular  way  the  end  of  the  chanter  on  a  leather  strap,  fastened 
to  the  knee,  and  by  half  stopping  the  finger-holes  of  the  chanter ; 
and  the  drone  pipes  were  so  contrived  that  the  player  could  lengthen 
and  shorten  them  at  pleasure,  deepening  or  contracting  his  bass  accord- 
ing to  the  demands  of  the  strain  played  by  the  chanter. 

More  than  enough  of  evidence  is  herein  offered,  to  show  that  the  an- 
cient Irish  understood  bass,  counterpoint,  and  harmony.  If  I  have  not 
already  wearied  out  the  reader's  patience,  I  beg  him  to  accompany  me 
through  this  inquiry.  The  ear  and  heart,  attuned  to  music,  will  be 
pleased  to  trace  the  progress  of  this  fascinating  art,  through  countless 
ages,  from  its  infancy  to  its  present  maturity.  As  I  said  already,  Rome 
knew  nought  of  music.  The  amusements  of  that  brutal  nation  consist- 
ed chiefly  of  inhuman  exercises,  involving  the  sacrifice  of  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  human  beings,  in  the  amphitheatres,  where  the  admiring 
eyes  of  patrician  beauty  gloated  on  sights  of  blood,  and  heard  with 
ecstasy  the  groans  of  the  dying.  Practices  such  as  these,  continued  for 
upwards  of  seven  hundred  years,  suffocated  all  the  tender  or  sensitive 
feelings  of  humanity,  which  alone  can  appreciate  and  foster  music. 

It  will  be  seen,  when  we  come  to  the  times  of  St.  Patrick,  and  the 
introduction  of  Christianity  into  Ireland,  that  the  people  were  passionate- 
ly addicted  to  music,  both  vocal  and  instrumental.  Their  sun  worship, 
their  funerals,  their  wars,  their  games,  and  their  festivities,  were  all  at- 
tended by  musical  performances.  The  apostle  of  the  cross  brought  no 
singers  with  him  into  Ireland ;  he  brought  no  music ;  but  he  found  it 
there.  The  pagan  deeds  and  ceremonies  of  their  ancestors  he  found 
celebrated  and  sung,  by  the  Irish  poets,  in  the  most  fascinating  versifi- 
cation, attuned  to  strains  of  touching  melody.  The  poetry  he  destroyed, 
but  the  music  he  turned  to  the  purposes  of  Christianity.  He  induced 
them  to  turn  their  musical  strains  towards  God  and  his  Son,  instead  of 
Baal.  Christian  objects.  Christian  heroes  and  saints,  held  the  place  of 
pagan  heroes  and  deities,  in  their  public  chants.  During  the  lifetime 
of  St.  Patrick,  several  hundred  churches  were  erected  throughout  Ire- 
land. Many  universities  and  monasteries  were  also  established.  In 
some  of  the  latter,  the  monks  formed  choirs  which  consisted  of  hundreds 
of  singers.  In  the  abbey  of  Benchoir,  which  was  founded  in  Carrick- 
fergus,  in  the  North  of  Ireland,  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  centuiy, 
there  were  three  thousand  monks,  all  of  whom,  in  turn,  joined  in  an 
eternal  song  of  praise  to  the  Almighty.     No  fewer  than  three  hundred 


192  MUSIC    INTRODUCED    INTO    THEIR    CHURCHES. 

at  a  time  were  so  engaged,  and  when  those  had  performed  their  share 
of  the  holy  duty,  they  were  reheved  by  others,  and  so  on,  throughout 
the  night  as  well  as  the  day,  from  year  to  year.  In  this  way  the  song 
of  praise  to  God  was  kept  up  for  many  ages.  The  term  Ben-choir,  the 
Irish  appellation  of  this  abbey,  means  sweet  music.  Archdale  says, 
"The  abbey  of  Mungret,  near  Limerick,  contained,  for  many  ^gQ^,  fif- 
teen hundred  religious  persons,  of  whom  five  hundred  were  skilled 
in  psalmody,  to  serve  continually  in  the  choirJ' 

In  truth,  the  monks  of  the  various  monasteries  established  throughout 
Ireland,  cherished,  practised,  and  taught  music,  inventing  several  ad- 
ditional rules  for  its  government,  suggested  by  a  passionate  cultivation 
of  the  science ;  and,  as  the  elaborate  Burney  hath  remarked,  "  the 
national  music  of  a  country  is  good  or  bad  in  proportion  to  that  of  its 
church  music,"  so  may  we  readily  give  our  belief  to  the  advanced 
state  of  musical  science  claimed  for  Ireland  at  the  era  we  are  consider- 
ing, viz.,  the  sixth  century  of  Christianity.  On  the  general  introduc- 
tion of  Christianity  into  Ireland,  through  the  mission  of  St.  Patrick,  in 
the  previous  century,  the  Roman  or  Latin  language  was  universally 
established  in  all  the  church  offices.  The  natural  influence  exerted  by 
the  church  over  the  newly-converted  Irish,  exalted,  in  their  estimation, 
to  a  certain  extent,  the  language  of  its  ritual  over  their  own.  Hence 
their  musical  and  religious  terms  were  gradually  clothed  in  the  language 
(Latin)  used  by  the  priesthood.  Some  writers  have,  on  this  very  slender 
ground,  alleged  that  the  Irish  received  their  musical  knowledge  from 
the  church  missionaries  who  came  from  Rome  ;  but  this  is  a  fallacy. 
On  the  decline  of  the  Roman  empire  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries, 
th.e  ancient  seat  of  their  government  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  barbarian 
tribes,  who  rushed  from  every  side  upon  the  centre  of  that  power 
which  oppressed  them. 

Every  thing  connected  with  the  cultivation  of  mind  was  swept  away 
by  the  infuriate  deluge.  Even  the  Latin  tongue,  the  language  of  the 
Roman  empire,  became  in  a  short  time  mixed  with  the  barbarous 
dialects  of  all  those  nations,  which  sent  in  their  hostile  legions  to  destroy 
her.  The  knowledge  of  writing  the  Latin  language  was  nearly  lost, 
and  its  old  pronunciation  completely  so.  The  few  books  which  escaped 
the  fury  of  war  were  written  in  Roman  or  Etruscan  capitals,  without 
the  least  distinction  or  division  of  words  or  sentences.  All  was  chaos 
in  government,  law,  literature,  and  music,  throughout  Europe.  And 
it  was  in  Ireland  alone,  where  the  eagles  of  conquering  Rome  never 
were  suffered  to  perch,  that   all  the   higher   attributes  of  civilization 


IRISH    MUSICAL    NOTATION.  193 

remained  in  pristine  vigor,  and  continued,  undisturbed  by  civil  commo- 
tion, to  approximate  to  matured  excellence. 

Even  the  language  of  fallen  Rome  was  preserved  in  its  original 
integrity  by  the  Christian  priesthood  of  Ireland,  and  by  them  carefully 
cultivated,  and  restored,  improved,  to  the  schools  of  Europe,  when 
order  was  at  length  reestablished  by  Charlemagne.  The  English 
nation,  says  the  English  Camden,  was  taught  Latin  by  Maildulphus, 
a  learned  Irishman,  anno  680.  —  See  Camden,  p.  176.  —  To  them  are 
we  indebted  for  the  application  of  the  principles  of  punctuation  to  the 
Latin  language.  In  the  ages  between  the  sixth  and  ninth  century, 
they  used,  says  Beauford,  a  number  of  points  and  marks,  not  only  to 
distinguish  and  point  out  to  the  reader  the  true  meaning  of  the  different 
parts  of  a  written  discourse  or  composition,  but  also  to  express  the 
several  todies  and  inflections  of  the  voice  in  which  such  compositions 
ought  to   be  pronounced. 

These  marks  they  divide  into  three  species,  viz.,  grammatical, 
rhetorical,  and  musical.  From  the  first  two  species  are  derived  the 
several  stops  and  marks  at  present  used  in  reading  and  writing  through- 
out the  greater  part  of  Europe.  The  third,  that  is,  the  musical,  were 
used  in  the  psalms,  or  other  divine  hymns,  to  render  the  singing  more 
easy,  and  to  regidate  the  modulation  of  the  voice. 

Walker  gives  a  translation  from  an  old  Irish  manuscript,  containing 
some  of  the  ancient  rules  for  singing,  from  which  I  quote  the  fol- 
lowing :  — 

"  '  The  ancient  Irish  poems,  as  sung  by  the  Jileas,  harpers,  &;c., 
were  frequently  accented,  to  render  the  singing  of  them  more  easy. 
The  characters  thus  made  use  of  were  the  same  as  those  adopted  by 
the  Latins,  differing  only  in  power,  according  to  the  genius  of  the 
language.  A  line  of  poetry  marked,  was  denominated  car,  or  a 
marked  line,  (being  the  same  as  the  Latin  sulcos ;)  and  the  characters 
used  therein  consisted  of  two  species,  that  is,  the  ceol,  or  sound,  (the 
tonus  of  the  Latins,)  and  annal,  or  breath,  from  whence,  in  the  Irish 
tongue,  car  came  to  signify  a  bar  or  line  in  music,  or  music  in  general ; 
and  ceol,  or  chieol,  a  musical  note.  But  ceol  properly  signifies  sound, 
and  the  marks  under  that  name  expressed  the  elevation  and  depression 
of  the  voice  on  any  syllable  in  musical  concord,  and  was  of  three 
species,  that  is,  ceol  ardceol,  basceol,  and  circeoL  The  ceol  in  this 
case  marked  the  middle  tone  or  pitch  of  the  voice,  (being  the  same  as 
the  Latin  modicus,)  and  in  our  language  was  seldom  denoted  by  any 
character,  the  syllables  in  this  pitch  being  left  without  an  accent.  The 
25 


194  IRISH    MUSICAL    NOTATION. 

ardceol,  (the  same  as  the  Latin  acutus,)  thus  ('  ),  marked  over  a  syl- 
lable, denoted  that  the  voice  was  raised  a  third  above  the  ceol,  or  middle 
pitch,  and,  when  the  character  was  doubled,  elevated  the  tone  to  the 
octave.  The  basceol,  thus  marked  (^),  depressed  the  voice  a  third 
below  the  ceol,  and  a  fifth  below  the  ardceol,  (being  the  same  as  the 
Latin  gravis,)  but,  where  marked  double,  fell  a  sixth  below  the  ceol, 
and  an  octave  below  the  ardceol.  The  circeol  (the  same  as  the  Latin 
circumjlexus)  denoted  the  turning  or  modulation  of  the  voice,  and 
depended  entirely  on  the  length  and  power  of  our  diphthongs  and  triph- 
thongs ;  for,  as  the  Irish  language  does  not  delight  in  the  harsh  sounds 
of  consonants,  there  is  no  tongue,  perhaps,  where  the  power  and  variety 
in  the  sound  of  the  vowels  are  so  great,  in  consequence  of  which,  the 
circeol  varied  its  power  according  to  the  different  inflections  of  the 
vowels.  The  first  species,  thus  marked  ( -^  ),  denoted  the  falling  voice, 
from  a  third  above  the  ceol,  to  a  third,  and  sometimes  a  fourth,  below, 
making  the  falling  fifth  or  sixth,  and  properly  belongs  to  the  diphthongs 

eu,  iu,  ao,  and   oi.     The  second  species,  thus  marked   {^  ),  denoted 

the  rising  voice  in  the   fifth  or  sixth,  passing  through  the  intermediate 

third,  and  was  generally  placed   over  the  diphthongs  and   triphthongs, 

•V    -^    ,/s 

ieu,  aoi,  ei,  he.     The  third  species  elevated  the  voice  a  third,  and  fell 

a  third,  alternately,  and  was  marked  thus  (  /" )  over  the  accented  vowel, 

as  ea ;  but  when  the  voice  only  fell  or  rose  a  single  note,  this  (  — '  )  for 
the  rising  note,  and  (       i  )  for  the  falling. 

" '  As  for  the  semitones,  they  were  seldom  marked,  being  left  to  the 
ear  of  the  musician,  according  to  the  key  he  sang  or  played  in.  And 
in  the  Irish  language,  all  vowels,  meeting  in  one  word,  without  a  conso- 
nant between  them,  make  but  one  syllable;  and,  however  they  may  be 
accented,  the  different  tones  are  sounded  in  the  time  or  length  of  the 
syllable,  whether  it  be  long  or  short ;  but  an  aspirated  consonant  be- 
tween two  vowels  makes  them  separate  syllables.  This  property  of 
the  Irish  language  renders  it  exceedingly  harmonious,  and  well  calcula- 
ted for  poetical  and  musical  compositions — far  superior  either  to  the 
Latin  or  any  of  the  modern  tongues.'  "  —  Here  let  the  reader  turn  to 
page  83,  under  the  head  of  "  Language,"  for  a  further  evidence  of 
musical  notation,  in  the  fac-simile  engraved  from  this  old  manuscript. 

If  the  reader,  who  has  perused  these  pages,  still  remains  unsatisfied 
as  to  the  degree  of  excellence  to  which  ancient  Ireland  attained,  I  will 
only  invite  his  attention  to  the  following  specimen  of  musical  note's  in 
the  ancient  character,  with  the  accompanying  translation  into  modern 
notation. 


s 

^ 


jtir 

> 

"-^ 

b-' 

> 

in 

r- 

P 

jn 

:>^ 

:ivo 

vx2> 

^/ 

rD 

•v^    >•> 


If-  >  ^^ 

ir 

ir-  > 

r> 
ir  V 


SPECIMEN    OF    THE    ANCIENT    IRISH    MUSICAL    NOTATION.  195 

The   annexed  ancient  char- 
acters were  symbols  of  musical 
sounds.      They    answered    all 
the  purposes  of  modern  notes, 
which    are    no   more.      These 
marks   of    musical    modulation 
must  be  thoroughly  conclusive 
as  to  the  possession  of  a  com- 
plete   musical    school    by    the 
Irish    several    centuries    before 
the  days  of  Pope  Gregory,  who 
sat  in  the  pontifical  chair  about 
594.     It  is  true,  Burney,  who 
saw    this    specimen,    does   not 
consider   that   it  belongs  to   a 
period  so  remote ;  but  Burney 
knew  nothing  of  Irish  history, 
or    the    Irish    language,     and 
viewed    Ireland    only    through 
the    medium    supplied   by    the 
writings  of  his  prejudiced  coun- 
trymen,* 

This  musical  curiosity,  says 
Walker,  was  given  to  Mr. 
Beauford  by  a  priest,  who  took 
it  from  a  manuscript  which  had 
been  for  many  generations  in 
the  possession  of  one  of  the 
families  of  the  Cavanaghs.  The 
characters  in  which  it  is  written 
are  the  Etruscan,  or  Latin,  of 
the  middle  ages. 


ir 

^-n 

h/ 

> 

^-> 

ir- 

"> 

w-> 

»r 

> 

^i^ 

1-^ 

V 

v^^ 

in 

IP" 

^ 

-^^ 

ifo 

L/ 

o 

irt 

r 

rD 

IS 7^ 

^ 

T 


"iiii 


I  am  aware  that  there  exists  a  difference  of  opinion  amongst  learned 
writers  on  the  point  whether  Ireland  received  most  instruction  m  music 
from,  or  communicated  most  to,  the  -  Latins."  It  would  be  difficult  1 
believe,  to  select  any  assertion,  proposition,  or  recorded  event,  withm 
the  knowledge  of  man,  about  which  there  is  not  a  difference  of  opinion. 
One  broad  fact  has  been  established  by  the  controversy,  namely,  that 
there  were  at  the  dawn,  and  during  the  early  ages  of  Christianity,  two 
distinct  musical  schools  in  the  world,  viz.,  the  Eastern  and  the  Western. 

*  Burney  admits,  however,  that  the  farther  back  he  traced  Irish  music,  the  more 
melodious  and  refined  he  found  it  to  be. 


196  EFFORTS    TO    FORM    A    CODE    OF    CHURCH    MUSIC. 

Some  of  the  theological  writers,  who,  since  the  reformation,  wrote  ad- 
versely to  the  supremacy  of  Rome,  have  gone  so  far  as  to  build  some- 
thing like  a  theological  argument  on  the  difference  which  they  found  in 
the  psalmody  and  music  used  in  the  churches  immediately  surround- 
ing the  pontifical  centre,  and  those  used  in  Ireland,  Britain,  and 
Gaul. 

That  the  Christian  fathers  adapted  their  psalms  and  hymns  to  what- 
ever rules  and  modes  they  found  existing  in  those  countries  which  they 
converted,  is  recorded  and  admitted  by  all  the  early  historians.  There 
were  hardly  any  of  the  nations  destitute  of  some  sort  of  musical 
chant ;  for  melody  belongs  to  the  mental  and  physical  formation  of  a 
human  being,  and  not  to  science.  It  belongs,  like  feeling  and  senti- 
ment, to  nature.  Although,  according  to  Burney,  the  Eastern  nations 
know  nothing  of  bass,  harmony,  or  counterpoint,  yet  we  may  readily 
admit  their  practice  of  chanting,  in  strains  of  rude  melody,  the  praises 
of  their  dead  or  living  great.  The  pagans  of  the  East  did  this,  and 
observed  the  method  of  chanting  with  one,  and  responding  with  an- 
other, set  of  voices.  St.  Paul  desires  the  Ephesians  to  speak  to  each 
other  in  psalms,  and  hymns,  and  spiritual  songs,  (Ephesians,  chap.  v. 
verse  19.)  Though  it  is  impossible  to  determine  of  what  kind  the 
ecclesiastical  musical  modes  were,  yet  we  may  conclude,  from  the 
frequent  allusions  made  to  the  subject  by  the  immediate  followers  of  the 
apostles,  that  some  musical  order  was  followed,  and  improvement 
aimed  at.  St.  Origen,  early  in  the  third  century,  says,  that  Christians 
sang  psalms.  The  terms  he  uses  in  reference  to  the  Christian! 
psalmody  are  of  Greek  origin,  which  lead  to  the  supposition  that  the 
"  rude  and  inehgayit "  music  of  the  Greeks  was  that  adopted  by  the 
Christian  fathers.  I  have  marked  the  definition  of  Greek  music  in 
Italics,  because  it  is  not  mine,  but  that  of  a  great  master  of  musical 
science  and  history,  Dr.  Burney. 

During  the  first  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  Christian  preaching, 
the  doctrine  was  so  violently  opposed,  and  the  teachers  so  inhumanly 
persecuted,  and  sacrificed,  by  the  pagan  Romans,  that  litde  order  and 
less  improvement  could  he  introduced  into  the  psalmody  of  the  church. 
It  is  computed  that,  in  the  space  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  years 
from  the  foundation  of  Christianity,  upwards  of  four  millions  of  human 
beings  were  put  to  death  for  professing  the  Christian  religion.  When, 
in  the  close  of  the  fourth  century,  one  or  two  of  the  Roman  emperors 
became  Christian,  this  horrible  persecution  abated,  and  then  some 
efforts  were  made  by  St.   Ambrose  to  regulate  the  church  psalmody. 


THE  GREGORIAN  CHANTS.  197 

About  the  year  384,  he  formed  a  compound  chant  of  the  Dorian, 
Lydian,  Mixolydian,  and  Phiygian  tones,  which  were  called  authentic 
modes.  To  this,  his  holiness  Pope  Gregory,  in  599,  added  three  or 
four  Plagal  tones.  The  chants,  thus  modeled  under  Ambrose  and 
Gregory,  continued  for  ages  the  songs  and  psalmody  of  the  church,  and 
even  down  to  our  own  days  stand  amongst  its  music  under  the  general 
designation  of  the  "Gregorian  chants."  They  were  the  first  efforts  of 
the  Latin  fathers  to  form  a  code  of  melody.  The  ever-existing  jealousy 
of  the  church  against  innovation  on  any  of  its  rules  or  principles,  and 
its  desire  to  secure  uniformity  in  the  sacred  song,  as  well  as  in  prayer, 
sacrifice,  and  sacrament,  forbade  any  change  in  the  Gregorian  chants  for 
several  ages  ;  but  in  the  twelfth  century,  improvements  were  made,  it 
appears,  by  the  Pope  Gregory  of  that  age. 

Such  are  the  material  components  of  the  musical  school  of  the 
Latins.  Let  us  now  turn  our  eyes  again  to  Ireland.  The  chants  of 
Pope  Gregory  were  established  in  the  year  600  of  the  Christian  era  ; 
but  St.  Patrick  entered  Ireland  in  the  year  427,  one  hundred  and 
seventy-three  years  before  Gregory's  time.  He  could  not,  therefore,  have 
introduced  the  music  of  the  Latins  into  Ireland,  inasmuch  as  the  Latins 
had  no  musical  code  at  the  time  of  his  appointment  by  Pope  Celestine, 
nor  had  they,  as  I  have  shown,  for  nearly  two  centuries  after;  and  yet 
all  the  churches  and  monasteries  —  and  they  were  numerous  —  erected  in 
St.  Patrick's  time  were  filled  with  choristers.  The  monastery  of  Ben- 
choir,  whose  very  name  (sweet  7nusic)  indicated  the  character  of  its 
performances,  had  as  many  as  three  thousand  choristers,  who  kept  up  the 
eternal  song  of  praise  to  the  Creator,  as  well  by  night  as  by  day,  min- 
gling with  their  voices  the  sounds  of  the  harp.  The  whole  island,  in 
the  course  of  St.  Patrick's  mission,  Vv^as  covered  over  with  churches 
and  monasteries,  some  built  of  stone,  some  of  wood,  and  some  of 
clay  ;  but  they  were  all  filled  with  singers  and  harpers.  We  find  that 
Dubh-thach,  the  great  poet  of  the  Irish,  on  the  arrival  of  St.  Patrick, 
reconstructed,  at  the  saint's  request,  many  of  his  own  poems,  and  those 
of  other  Irish  bards  living  and  dead,  accommodating  them  to  celebrate, 
in  melody  and  harmony,  the  praises  of  the  Christian  martyrs,  instead  of 
the  heathen  deities. 

We  find  that  a  series  of  musical  rules,  for  dividing  and  accenting 
poetical  compositions,  existed  in  Ireland  in  very  remote  ages.  We 
find  the  musical  diagram  for  regulating  the  harp  music  in  use.  We 
find  the  universal  cultivation  of  the  harp  prevaihng  amongst  the  refined 
classes  of  the  Irish.     We  find  that  even  the  clergy  sang  to  it  in  their 


19S    MUSICAL    MODES    AND    RULES    KNOWN    TO    THE    ANCIENT    IRISH. 

churches,  as  Cambrensis,  in  his  Topographia,  written  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, testifies.  "  Hence  it  happens,"  says  he,  "  that  the  bishops,  abbots, 
and  holy  men,  in  Ireland,  carry  with  them  their  harps,  and,  modulating 
them,  are  piously  delighted.  Whence  it  happens  that  St.  Keivcn^s 
harp  is  held  in  the  greatest  reverence  by  the  people  of  that  country."  — 
Chap.  12,  dis.  3.  —  In  the  Life  of  St.  Keiven,  it  is  stated  that  the 
king  of  Munster,  so  early  as  A.  D.  489,  had  the  best  band  of  harpers 
of  any  in  his  time,  who  accompanied  their  music  with  singing.  We 
find  the  bagpipes,  the  horn,  and  sundry  other  instruments,  in  use,  with 
rules  for  playing  on  them,  long  established  in  pagan  ages.  Such  ma- 
turity was  not  attainable  by  any  sudden  or  fashionable  application  ;  it 
must  have  been  the  effect  alone  of  long  practice  and  cultivation. 

The  more  we  proceed  on  this  interesting  inquiry,  the  more  numerous 
do  we  find  proofs  of  the  musical  science  of  Ireland.  1  have  shown,  from 
the  controversy  on  the  comparative  merits  of  the  Latin  and  Western 
nwisical  schools,  that  two  distinct  schools  existed  in  Europe.  Such,  in 
fact,  was  the  case :  the  Western  school  was  seated  in  Ireland.  That  it 
was  esteemed  the  hcst,  through  the  most  part  of  Europe,  we  shall  find 
established  by  the  following  evidence :  "  When  Neville  Abbey  was 
established  in  France,  in  the  close  of  the  sixth  century,  under  the 
auspices  of  King  Pepin,  Gertrude,  the  daughter  of  that  governor,  sent 
into  Ireland  for  musicians  and  choristers  to  serve  in  it.  A  band  of  these 
Irish  harpers  and  choristers  came  from  thence,  who  imparted  their 
music  and  rules  to  all  the  Franks,  which  were  adopted  by  the  court  and 
the  nation  ; "  and  we  find  that  the  great  Charlemagne,  in  the  eighth 
century,  appointed  two  Irishmen,  Clement  Albanius  and  Dungin, 
preceptors  for  the  two  great  universities  of  Pavia  and  Paris,  which  he 
established. 

If  the  Irish  school  were  not  esteemed  the  better  of  the  two,  its  pro- 
fessors would  not  have  been  selected  for  music  and  literature  by  those 
monarchs,  who  assisted  so  materially  in  restoring  civilization  and  letters 
to  Europe. 

But  far  more  remains  to  be  told.  The  construction  of  rhyme,  the 
father  and  mother  of  music,  is  purely  of  Irish  origin.  The  Greek  or 
Roman  poets  wrote  no  poetry  that  rhymed.  Theirs  was  written  in 
hluiik  verse,  that  is,  verse  without  rhymes.  The  translators  of  the  old 
Greek  and  Roman  poets  —  Dryden,  Pope,  Cowper,  and  others  — have 
clothed  their  translations  in  rhyming  verse,  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
popular  taste ;  but  their  great  originals  wrote  without  rhyme.  Singular 
as  it  may  appear,  nevertheless  it  is  true,  that  the  Irish  were  the  only 


RHYME    ORIGINATED    WITH    THE    IRISH. MOORe's    OPINION.        199 

people  of  ancient  days  who  rhymed  in  poetry.  The  ancient  ran, 
or  rin,  of  the  Irish  was  the  father  of  modern  rhyme.  —  The  reader 
will  please  turn  to  pages  163,  164,  for  specimens  of  ancient  Irish  rhyme  ; 
and,  further,  the  first  in  all  this  world  who  wrote  Latin  rhymes  were 
Irishmen ! 

On  this  head  let  us  hear  Moore.  "  It  would  appear,  indeed,  that  the 
modern  contrivance  of  rhyme,  which  is  supposed  by  some  to  have  had 
a  far  other  source,  may  be  traced  to  its  origin  in  the  ancient  rans  or 
rins  [stanzas]  of  the  Irish.  The  able  historian  of  the  Anglo-Saxons, 
[Turner.]  in  referring  to  some  Latin  verses  of  Aldhelm,  which  he 
api>ears  to  consider  as  the  earliest  specimen  of  rhyme  now  extant,  pro- 
fesses himself  at  a  loss  to  discover  whence  that  form  of  verse  could 
have  been  derived.  '  Here,  then,'  says  Turner,  '  is  an  example  of 
rhyme  in  an  author  who  lived  before  the  year  700,  and  he  was  an 
Anglo-Saxon.  Whence  did  he  derive  it?  Not  from  the  Arabs;  they 
had  not  y^t  reached  Europe.'  "  But  already  before  the  time  of  Aid- 
helm,  the  use  of  rhyme  had  been  familiar  among  the  Irish  as  well  in 
their  vernicular  verses  as  in  those  which  they  wrote  in  Latin.  Not  to 
dwell  on  such  instances  in  the  latter  language  as  the  hymns  of  St. 
Columba  Kille,  an  example  of  Latin  verses  interspersed  with  rhyme  is 
to  be  fovind  among  the  poems  of  St.  Columbaniis,  of  Ireland,  which 
preceded  those  of  Aldhelm  by  near  half  a  century,  viz. :  — 

"  Mundus  iste  transit  et  quotidie  decrescit ; 
Nemo  vivens  manebit  nullius  vivus  remansit" 

Though  the  rhymes,  or  coincident  sounds,  occur  thus  in  general  on  the 
final  syllable^  there  are  instances  throughout  the  poem  of  complete 
double  rhymes. 

So  far  back,  indeed,  as  the  fifth  century,  another  Irish  poet,  Sedulius, 
had>  in  some  of  the  verses  of  his  well-known  hymn  on  the  life  of 
Christ,  left  a  specimen  of  much  the  same  sort  of  rhyme,  viz. ;  — 

«A  solis  ortus  cardi?ie,  ad  usque  terrse  limitem 
Christum  canamus  principe?»  —  natum  virgine." 

But  it  is  still  more  correctly  exemplified  in  a  hymn  in  honor  of  St. 
Bn^id,  written,  as  some  say,  by  Columbkill,  but,  according  to  others, 
hy  St.  Ultan,  of  Ardbraccais. 

"Christum  in  nostra  insula,  quae  vocatur  Hibemia, 
Ostensus  est  homiuibus  —  maximis  mirabiliiits," 


200     Camden's  opinion.  —  irish  music  spread  through  Europe. 

From  the  following  account  of  the  metrical  structure  of  Irish  verse, 
it  will  be  seen  that  it  was  peculiarly  such  as  a  people  of  strong  musical 
feeling,  with  whom  the  music  was  the  chief  object,  would  be  likely  to 
invent  and  practise.  "  The  rhyme,"  says  Dr.  Drummond,  "  consists 
in  an  equal  distance  of  intervals  and  similar  terminations,  each  line 
being  divisible  into  two,  that  it  may  be  more  easily  accommodated  to 
the  voice  and  the  music  of  the  bards.  It  is  not  formed  by  the  nice 
collocation  of  long  and  short  syllables,  but  by  a  certain  harmonic  rhythm 
adjusted  to  the  voice  of  song  by  the  position  of  words  ivhich  touch  the 
heart  and  assist  the  memory.^' 

"  According  to  this  '  art  of  the  Irish,'  as  it  was  styled,"  continues 
Moore,  "  most  of  the  distichs,  preserved  by  Tigernach  from  the  old 
poets,  were  constructed  ;  and  it  is  plain  that  Aldhelm,  who  was  in- 
structed by  Maidulph,  a  native  of  Ireland,  derived  his  knowledge  of 
this,  OS  ivell  as  of  all  other  literary  accomplishments  of  that  day^ 
from  the  lips  of  his  learned  Irish  master.  How  nearly  bordering  on 
jealousy  was  his  own  admiration  of  the  schools  of  the  Irish,  has  been 
seen  in  the  sarcastic  letter  addressed  by  him  to  Eagfrid,  who  had  just 
returned  from  a  coui-se  of  six  years'  study  in  Ireland,  overflowing,  as  it 
would  appear,  with  gratitude  and  praise." 

Camden  admits  the  English  learned  Latin  from  the  Irish,  and 
adopted  the  Irish  letters ;  and  several  English  authors  admit  that 
rhyming  is  exclusively  an  Irish  practice. 

St.  ColumbanuSj  the  celebrated  Irish  scholar  and  Christian  mis- 
sionary, who  proceeded  from  Ireland,  in  the  sixth  century,  throughout 
Europe,  teaching  literature  and  Christianity,  used,  it  is  said,  to  enjoy  the 
music  of  the  harp ;  and,  on  one  occasion,  the  holy  man  is  described 
sitting,  along  with  his  brethren,  upon  the  banks  of  Lake  Kee,  in  Ireland, 
listening  to  the  songs  of  the  celebrated  poet  and  musician  Cronan.  He 
was  a  Leinster  man,  educated  in  the  Irish  college  of  Benchoir,  already 
alluded  to  ;  and  he  took  with  him  twelve  Irish  monks,  who  travelled 
with  him  through  several  places  on  the  European  continent,  preaching 
the  doctrines  of  the  cross.  Princes  and  potentates  welcomed  hirrs 
wheresoever  he  appeared,  gave  him  lands,  and  encouraged  him  to 
establish  his  disciples  as  teachers  amongst  their  people.  Wherever  he  es- 
tablished monasteries,  he  also  established,  says  the  Abbe  M'Geoghegan, 
the  perpetual  psalmody  by  different  choirs,  who  relieved  each  other  by 
day  and  night,  as  practised  at  the  time  at  Benchoir  and  other  Irish 
monasteries.     The  same  authoi'j  writing  in  France,  adds,  that  he  was 


SOME    GREGORIAN    CHANTS    COMPOSED    BY    IRISHMEN.  201 

the  first  who  estabhshed  the  monastic  order  among  the  French.  We 
may  fairly  presume  that  he  introduced,  through  his  order,  into  France, 
thus  early,  (sixth  century,)  the  sacred  music  of  Ireland. 

Germany  received  its  Christianity  and  psalmody  from  Ireland  in  thai 
century  and  the  one  succeeding,  as  shall  be  shown  more  fully  in  those 
pages  of  this  Work  which  treat  of  Christian  Ireland.  While  I  am 
writing,  an  address  appears  in  the  Irish  papers,  directed  to  Daniel 
O'Connell  by  the  clergy  of  Germany,  fully  confirming  all  I  have 
advanced.     I  make  a  very  brief  extract. 

"  We  never  can  forget  to  hole  upon  your  beloved  country  as  our 
mother  in  religion;  that,  already  at  the  remotest  periods  of  the  Christian 
era,  commiserated  our  people,  and  readily  sent  forth  her  spiritual  sons 
to  rescue  our  pagan  ancestors  from  idolatry,  at  the  sacrifice  of  her 
own  property  and  blood,  and  to  entail  upon  them  the  blessings  of  the 
Christian  faith." — Dublin  Nation,  13th  April,  1844. 

Indeed,  the  chants  of  the  Latin  church  received  many  contributionb 
from  Ireland  even  during  the  lifetime  of  Pope  St.  Gregory.  St. 
Columbkill  sent  three  pieces  to  Rome,  two  of  which  were  thought  very 
fine  by  his  holiness,  and  there  incorporated  in  his  chants.  The  first  of 
these  begins  with  the  lines 

"In  te,  Cliiiste,  credentium;" 
the  second  with 

"Noli,  pater,  indulgere." 

The  great  Sedulius,  the  Irish  evangelical  poet,  wrote  several  church 
hymns,  some  of  which  were  adopted  by  the  same  pontiff,  and  inserted 
in  the  breviary  of  hymns —  "  A  soils  ortus  cardine,"  for  the  nativity  ; 
and  "  Hostis  Herodes  impie,"  for  the  epiphany  ;  with  the  "  Salve, 
sancta,  parens  enixa  puerpera  regem"  which  is  used  as  an  introit  at  the 
masses  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  "  The  Catholic  Church  (says  Moore) 
has  selected  some  of  her  most  beautiful  hymns  from  this  poem.  Sedu- 
lius wrote  in  448  —  more  than  a  century  before  the  time  of  Pope 
Gregory." 

I  might,  indeed,  continue  to  produce  many  other  similar  instances,  if  I 
deemed  them  necessary.  It  is  evident  from  Irish  history  that  the  lay 
and  church  music  of  Ireland  grew,  under  their  own  cultivation,  from 
the  ancient  sounds  of  simple  melody,  to  a  complete  maturity.  The 
genuine  old  Irish  lay  melodies  are  capable  of  being  converted  into 
quick  or  dancing  measure,  and  vice  versa  —  a  test  of  their  correct  mode. 
This  the  dancing  airs  of  modern  times  do  not  admit  with  equal  propriety 
and  effect.  The  Irish  was  totally  distinct  from  the  Latin  mode,  which 
was  not  introduced  into  Ireland  till  about  the  twelfth  century.  At 
26 


202  OPINION    OF    CAftlBRENSIS. 

that  period,  by  the  strenuous  exertions  of  St.  Malachy,  Archbishop  of 
Armagh,  the  music  practised  at  the  chief  seat  of  the  Christian  church 
was  introduced  partially  into  the  church  service  of  L-eland.  But  this 
did  not  alter  the  general  character  of  the  lay  music  of  the  nation; 
for  we  see,  when  Geraldus  Cambrensis  visited  Ireland,  in  1186,  the 
music  of  Ireland  was  in  great  perfection,  and  in  high  estimation. 

Cambrensis  was  an  Englishman,  who  had  travelled  as  the  companion 
of  Henry  the  Second  all  over  Europe  ;  had  heard  the  best  music  of 
every  country,  and  of  the  most  refined  society.  In  his  Book  of  Travels 
is  the  following  remarkable  passage  on  the  Irish  music  of  that  age  :  — 

"  The  attention  of  this  people  to  musical  instruments  I  find  worthy 
of  commendation ;  in  which  their  skill  is,  beyond  all  comparison, 
superior  to  that  of  any  nation  I  have  seen;  for  in  these  the  modulation 
is  not  slow  and  solemn,  as  in  the  instruments  of  Britain,  to  which  we 
are  accustomed  ;  but  the  sounds  are  rapid  and  precipitate,  yet  at  the 
same  time  sweet  and  pleasing.  It  is  wonderful  how,  in  such  precipitate 
rapidity  of  the  fingers,  the  musical  proportions  are  preserved,  and,  by 
their  art,  faultless  throughout,  in  the  midst  of  their  complicated  modu- 
lations and  most  intricate  arrangement  of  notes,  by  a  rapidity  so  sweet, 
a  regularity  so  irregular,  a  concord  so  discordant,  the  melody  is  rendered 
hai-monious  and  perfect.  Whether  the  chords  of  the  diatesseron  or 
diapente  are  struck  together,  yet  they  always  begin  in  a  soft  mood,  and 
end  in  the  same:  that  all  may  he  perfected  in  the  sweetness  of  delicious 
sounds,  they  enter  on,  and  again  leave  their  modidations,  icith  so  much 
suhtilty,  and  the  tinglings  of  the  small  strings  sport  with  so  much 
freedom  under  the  deep  notes  of  the  bass,  delight  with  so  much 
delicacy,  and  soothe  so  softly,  that  the  excellence  of  their  art  seems  to 
lie  in  concealing  it." 

But  such  was  the  celebrity  of  Irish  music  a  century  preceding  the 
arrival  of  Cambrensis,  that  the  Welsh  bards,  so  celebrated  for  their 
knowledge  in  this  art,  condescended  to  seek  for  and  receive  instruction 
from  those  of  Ireland.  "  GrufFydh  ap  Conan,"  says  Powell,  "  brought 
over  with  him  from  Ireland  divers  cunning  musicians  into  Wales,  who 
devised  mostly  all  the  instrumental  music  that  is  now  there  used ;  as 
appeareth  as  well  by  the  books  written  of  the  same,  as  also  by  the 
names  of  the  tunes  and  meastires  used  among  them  to  this  date." 
This  is  found  in  Camden's  History  of  Britain  and  Ireland,  1584,  (page 
191.) 

The  learned  Selden  says  of  Welsh  music,  when  speaking  of  the 
subject,  "  Their  music,  for  the  most  part,  came   out  of  Ireland   with 


CAKODOC'S    OPINION. LEDWICh's    OPINION.  203 

GrufFydh  ap  Conan,  prince  of  North  Wales,  about  King  Stephen's 
time."  —  Notes  on  Drayton. 

Carodoc,  of  Lhancarvan,  a  Welshman,  in  the  twelfth  century,  assures 
us  that  the  Irish  devised  all  the  instruments,  tunes,  and  measures, 
in  use  among  the  Welsh.  "  Caradoc,  the  Welsh  king  and  historian," 
says  Ledwich,  "  without  any  of  that  illiberal  partiality  so  common 
with  national  writers,  assures  us  the  Irish  devised  all  the  instru- 
ments, tunes,  and  measures,  in  use  among  the  Welsh.  Cambrensis 
is  even  more  copious  in  its  praise,  when  he  declares  that  the  Irish,  aiove 
any  other  nation,  is  incomparably  skilled  in  symphonal  music.  This 
incomparable  skill  could  never  be  predicated  of  unlearned,  extempora- 
neous bardic  airs  :  it  implies  a  knowledge  of  the  diagram,  and  an  exact 
division  of  the  harmonic  intervals ;  a  just  expression  of  the  tones,  and, 
in  the  quickest  movements,  a  unity  of  melody.  Cambrensis  observes 
these  particulars  of  our  music ;  he  accurately  distinguishes  the  Irish  and 
English  styles :  the  latter  was  the  diatonic  genus,  slow,  and  made  up  of 
concords,  heavy,  the  intervals  spacious,  as  in  ecclesiastical  chant: 
the  former  was  the  enhai'monic  genus,  full  of  minute  divisions,  with 
every  diesis  marked,  the  succession  of  our  melodies  lively  and  rapid,  our 
modulations  full  and  sweet.  He  alone,  [Cambrensis,]  who  had  the 
sharpest  faculties,  and  was  the  most  profoundly  versed  in  the  musical 
art,  felt  ineffable  pleasure  in  hearing  Irish  musicians.  It  is  then  evident 
that  all  this  transcendent  excellence  in  music  could  be  derived  but  from 
two  sources  —  a  perfect  knoivledge  of  it  as  a  science,  and  its  universal 
cultivation^ 

Logan,  the  Scottish  antiquarian,  says,  "  Although  the  Welsh  were 
not  previously  ignorant  of  music,  it  is  related  that  Gryfith  ap  Cynan, 
being  educated  in  Ireland,  brought  its  music,  musicians,  and  instruments, 
to  his  own  country  about  1100,  and,  having  summoned  a  congress  of 
the  harpers  of  both  countries  to  revise  their  music,  the  twentyfour 
musical  canons  were  established  in  Wales." 

I  will  here  repeat,  from  my  chapter  on  the  bards,  the  nature  of  those 
rules  for  poetry  and  music  which  were  then  brought  from  Ireland  into 
Wales.  The  authors  of  that  able  work  on  the  poetry  and  music 
of  Wales,  entitled  the  Myvyrian  Archaeology,  published  under  the 
superintendence  of  the  Society  of  Welsh  Antiquarians,  enter  on  a 
profound  inquiry  into  the  subject.  Referring  to  the  rules  of  poetry  and 
music  introduced  from  Ireland  into  Wales  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
centuries,  they  say,  "  The  rules  consisted  of  twenty-four  elementary 
principles  of  versification.     These,   with    their   subdivisions,   include 


204  IRISH    MUSICAL,    LAWS    INTRODUCED    INTO    WALES. 

every  species  of  verse  that  has  ever  yet,  in  any  age,  or  amongst  any 
people,  been  produced,  besides  a  prodigious  number  of  original  con- 
struction, which  can  be  found  with  no  other  people."  Dr.  Molloy, 
already  quoted  by  ine,  says,  the  construction  and  variety  of  Irish  metre 
are  the  most  difficult  he  has  ever  seen  or  heard  of.  In  its  composition 
these  things  are  required — number,  quartans,  number  of  syllables, 
concords,  correspondence,  termination,  union,  and  caput,  the  subdivisions 
of  all  which  are  again  minute  and  perplexing. 

Ere  Dr.  Johnson  designated  Ireland  the  school  of  the  West,  he  had 
fully  satisfied  himself  that  she  deserved  the  appellation  ;  and  so  in  truth 
she  did.  Her  schools  of  literature,  science,  and  music,  were  celebrated 
throughout  Europe,  and  imparted  to  its  youth  the  light  of  wisdom. 
The  ancient  Irish,  according  to  Vallancey,  Walker,  and  other  anti- 
quarians, had  their  musical  schools,  in  which  the  bards  and  oirfidigh 
were  instructed  in  musical  science.  Into  these  schools,  the  stray 
musical  talent  of  the  country  was  collected,  maintained,  and  educated, 
at  the  expense  of  the  foundation  —  a  practice  we  find  prevalent  at  present 
in  the  Jesuit  schools  of  Germany,  and  also  in  the  pontifical  schools  at 
Rome.  In  those  Irish  musical  schools,  a  circle  of  the  learners  was 
formed,  called  draieacht,  to  distinguish  it  from  ogham,  the  prosodiacal 
circle. 

The  Irish  bishops  carried  the  harp  with  them  in  the  time  of  Cam- 
brensis,  and,  indeed,  the  clergy  were  often  excellent  bards.  Donchadh 
O'Daly,  abbot  of  Boyle,  in  1250,  excelled  all  the  bards  of  his  time. 
The  members  of  the  Scots  (Irish)  church,  says  Logan,  brought 
sacred  music  to  great  perfection,  and  rendered  it  celebrated  throughout 
Europe  in  very  early  ages ;  and  left  many  treatises  on  it. 

Wharton,  in  his  History  of  English  Poetry,  says,  "  Even  so  late  as 
the  eleventh  century,  the  practice  continued  among  the  Welsh  bards  of 
receiving  instructions  in  the  bardic  profession  from  Ireland^ 

Up  to  the  twelfth  century,  poetry  and  music  were  generally  cultivated 
by  the  same  person ;  so  that  all  things  that  were  said  of  one  branch 
applied  to  the  other.  After  that  period,  poetry  and  music  separated,  and 
each  was  pursued  by  different  votaries.  The  musician  gradually  be- 
came a  distinct  artiste,  and  so  of  the  poet. 

I  find  it  asserted  in  some  of  the  musical  works,  that  "  counterpoint,  or 
melody,  as  treble  and  bass,  were  invented  by  Guido,  an  Italian,  about 
the  year  1022,  and  the  time  table  by  Frameo,  in  1080."  I  cannot  see 
how  that  can  be  called  an  invention  In  Italy,  in  the  eleventh  century, 
which  was  known  in  Ireland  at  least  five  hundred  years  previously     But 


THE    VIOLIN    OF    IRISH    ORIGIN.  IRISH    GUITAR.  205 

this  fallacy  proves  lo  us  thai  the  Latins  knew  little  of  the  varied  musical 
principles  of  the  Western  (Irish)  school  for  a  long  period  after  their 
religious  intercourse  commenced.  Improvements,  it  is  said,  travel  much 
slower  than  snails.  We  can  readily  credit  the  fame  which  Guido  and 
Frameo  acquired,  by  the  introduction  to  their  countrymen  of  the  Irish 
rules  for  treble  mid  bass,  and  dividing  time,  which  they  offered  to  the 
world  as  inventions.  The  Italians,  according  to  their  oivn  great  musi- 
cal author,  Galleli,  "  derived  their  harp  from  Ireland  before  the  time 
of  Dante,''  (A.  D.  1300.)  The  instrument,  according  to  his  account, 
had,  at  that  time,  four  octaves  and  a  tone  in  compass,  viz.,  thirty-three 
strings.  As  Italy  got  her  harp  from  Ireland,  it  is  not  presuming  too 
much  to  say  she  got  the  instructions  for  playing  on  it  from  the 
same  quarter ;  for  they  must  be  very  subtle  casuists  indeed,  who  can 
draw  a  different  conclusion  from  those  plain  premises. 

The  violin,  though  brought  to  great  perfection  in  Italy,  in  1550,  by 
Amati  and  Straduarius  of  Cremona,  had  its  origin  in  the  Irish  creamh- 
tine  cruit,  (JValker  and  Vallancet/,)  an  instrument  of  six  strings,  four 
only  of  which  could  be  termed  symphonic,  and  these  were  stretched 
over  a  flat  bridge  on  a  finger-board.  The  two  lower  strings  projected 
beyond  the  finger-board,  and  were  not  touched  by  the  plectrum,  or 
bow,  but  occasionally  with  the  thumb,  as  a  bass  accompaniment  to  the 
notes  sounded  on  the  other  strings.  This  instrument,  the  parent 
of  the  violin,  was  used  as  a  tenor  accompaniment  to  the  harp  at 
feasts  and  convivial  meetings.  Martyn,  in  his  Journey  through  the 
Western  Highlands,  notices  the  prevalence  of  this  instrument,  and 
remarks,  "  As  it  is  not  denied  that  the  crcamhtine  emit  was  the  parent 
of  the  violin,  it  only  remains  to  be  admitted  that  the  Scots  borroiced 
this  instrument  from  the  Irish,  in  order  to  account  for  the  violin  being 
in  such  general  use  in  the  Western  Isles."  The  Welsh  had  a  similar 
instrument  long  in  use,  the  invention  of  which  some  of  their  writers 
having  claimed  for  them,  the  learned  Colonel  Vallancey,  the  English 
antiquarian,  grapples  with  the  assumption,  and  vindicates  the  claim  of 
Ireland  to  its  invention.  "  I  believe,"  he  says,  "  the  only  honor  they 
can  have  is  the  invention  of  playing  on  this  instrument  with  the  bow ; 
yet  this  seems  to  have  been  known  to  the  Irish  also,  for,  in  our  common 
lexicons,  we  find  '  Cpuit,  a   harp,  a  fiddle,  a  crowder.' " 

It  is  very  evident  that  this  instrument  may  have  been  played  by 
the  ancient  Irish  with  the  fingers,  hke  our  modern  guitars  ;  or,  rather,  may 
we  not  say  it  was  the  old  Irish  guitar?  It  was  capable  of  giving  four 
octaves,  or  thirty-two  natural  notes,  which  was  formerly  the   precise 


206  SCOTCH    MUSIC    ESSENTIALLY   IRISH. 

power  of  the  harp.  Upon  this  basis  the  viohn  of  Cremona  was  con- 
structed. Experiments  have  improved  it  so  much  that  a  bar  may  be 
bowed  above  fifty  different  ways.  Paginini  was  the  most  wonderful 
viohnist  that  ever  appeared.  He  transcended,  with  the  G  string  by 
itself,  all   other  performers  with  the  four  strings. 

The  Scottish  music  is  essentially  Irish  ;  their  ancient  language  was 
Irish  ;  their  kings,  their  laws,  books,  and  poetry,  were  all  Irish  in  origin  ; 
all  their  musical  instruments,  with  the  exception  of  the  bagpipes,  were 
Irish.  The  Scotch  bagpipe,  which  they  have  brought  to  very  great 
perfection,  and  play  on  delightfully,  is  of  Roman  origin. 

The  learned  Mr.  Beauford,  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Walker,  made  an 
exact  comparison  between  the  Irish  and  some  of  the  Highland  airs,  pub- 
lished, in  the  last  century,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  M'Donald,  and  it  was  dis- 
covered that  they  were  constructed  on  the  same  principles.  The  cause 
of  this  affinity  in  music,  between  these  two  people,  is  the  same  as  that 
which  made  their  language  common  or  identical,  namely,  a  common 
origin,  and  a  long  and  closely  continued  alliance  and  relationship.  Dr. 
Campbell,  in  his  Philosophical  Sui-vey,  confidently  asserts  that  the  honor 
of  inventing  the  Scots  music  must  be  given  to  Ireland.  The  Scottish 
historian  John  de  Fordun,  who  was  sent  over  to  Ireland,  in  the  four- 
teenth century,  to  collect  materials  for  a  history  of  Scotland,  (the  first 
that  ever  was  published  separately  on  Scotland,  from  the  time  of  its 
original  colonization  from  Ireland,)  expressly  says  that  '■^Ireland  was 
the  fountain  of  music  in  his  time,  whence  it  then  began  to  fiow  into 
Scotland  and  Wales." 

John  Major,  in  his  fulsome  panegyric  on  James  the  First  of  Scotland, 
(as  quoted  by  Walker,)  calls  that  prince  "  another  Orpheus,  who 
touched  the  harp  more  exquisitely  than  either  the  Highlanders,  or  even 
the  Irish,  who  ivere  the  most  eminent  harpers  then  known."  This  was 
written  in  1600.  Walker  continues  to  remark,  "  The  cause  of  this 
affinity  between  the  airs  of  the  two  nations  we  may  find  in  the  Scottish 
historians.  These  writers  inform  us  that,  about  the  period  of  which  we 
are  now  treating,  many  Irish  harpers  travelled  into  the  Highlands  of 
Scotland.  Here,  while  they  diffused  several  of  their  native  melodies, 
they  undoubtedly  occasioned  a  revolution  in  the  musical  taste  of  the 
country  for  the  excellence  of  their  performance  :  they,  standing  at  this 
time  unrivalled  in  their  profession,  must  have  excited  admiration  ;  and 
whatever  we  admire  we  are  ambitious  to  imitate." 

In  a  large  work,  entitled  Caledonia,  page  476,  quoted  by  Logan, 
a    Scotchman,   the   following    passage    appears:    "The    Welsh,    the 


OPINIONS    OF    ENGLISH    WRITERS    ON    IRISH    MUSIC.  207 

Scots,  and  the  Irish,  have  all  melodies  of  a  simple  sort,  which,  as  they 
are  connected  together  by  cognate  marks,  evince  at  once  their  relation- 
ship and  antiquity.  The  Manx  have  but  a  few  national  airs  that  much 
resemble  the  Irish.  Much  of  the  music  of  Ireland  seems  as  if  it  were 
composed  for  love  only." 

The  music  of  the  Isle  of  Man  is  altogether  Irish. 

Almost  all  the  English  poets,  who  wrote  on  Ireland  from  the  twelfth 
to  the  sixteenth  century,  noticed  the  preeminence  of  her  music  above 
all  the  nations  of  Europe.  Fuller,  in  his  History  of  the  Holy  War,  says, 
"  Yea,  we  may  well  think  that  all  the  concert  of  Christendom  in  this 
warre  could  have  made  no  musick  if  the  Irish  harp  had  been  wanting." 

Drayton  has  the  following :  — 

"The  Irish  I  admire, 
And  still  cleave  to  that  lyre, 

As  our  music's  mother; 
And  think,  till  I  expire, 

Apollo's  such  another." 

Lord  Bacon  says, "  The  harpe  hath  the  concave  not  along  the  strings, 
but  across  the  strings  ;  and  no  harpe  hath  the  sound  so  melting  and  so 
prolonged  as  the  Irish  harpe."  Moore  quotes  the  following  from 
Evylin's  Journal :  "  Come  to  see  my  old  acquaintance,  and  the  most 
incomparable  player  on  the  Irish  harp,  Mr.  Clarke,  after  his  travels. 
Such  music  before  or  since  did  I  never  hear,  that  instrument  beins: 
neglected  for  its  extraordinary  difficult}^;  but,  in  my  judgment,  far 
superior  to  the  lute,  or  whatever  speaks  with  strings."  Even  Spenser, 
the  poet  of  Queen  Bess,  praises  the  harp  of  Ireland,  and  says  he  had 
much  of  their  poetical  compositions  translated  to  him.  Walker  re- 
marks that  it  is  very  probable  Spenser  borrowed  several  of  his  beautiful 
fictions  from  some  of  these  Irish  poems  ;  for  in  them,  as  in  those  of 
Ariosto  and  Chaucer,  giants  and  fairies  may  be  found  in  abundance. 
Many  more  English,  and  also  French,  authorities  could  be  quoted,  if  I 
deemed  them  necessary. 

In  the  fifteenth  century,  the  Irish  harp,  according  to  Dean  Lynch, 
received  considerable  improvements  from  the  ingenuity  of  Robert  Nu- 
gent, a  Jesuit,  who  resided  in  Ireland.  He  enclosed  the  open  space 
between  the  trunk  and  upper  part  (or  arm)  of  the  instrument  with  little 
pieces  of  wood,  and  closed  it  up  after  the  manner  of  a  box,  and  the 
bored  part,  or  sound-hole,  on  the  right  side,  which  was  formerly  open,  he 
covered  with  a  lattice  work  of  wood,  as  in  the  clavichord,  and  then 


208  IMPROVEMENT    IN    THE    HARP. THE    HORN. 

placed  a  double  row  of  chords  on  each  side.  This  was  certainly  a 
valuable  improvement ;  for,  in  consequence  of  the  double  row  of  strings, 
which  was  stretched  along  each  side  ol  the  trunk,  there  were  two 
strings  to  each  tone,  so  that  two  parts  might  be  played  on  the  instru- 
ment at  the  same  time  —  the  treble  with  the  right  hand  and  the  bass  with 
the  left.  The  Welsh  have  used  a  double-stringed  harp,  in  latter  years, 
which  is  much  esteemed  amongst  musicians  ;  but  the  Irish  harpers  seem 
to  prefer  the  old  single-stringed  instrument.  The  old  harps  were  strung 
with  wire,  and  the  performers  struck  them  with  their  nails,  which  were 
suffered  to  grow  very  long  for  that  purpose.  Gut  is  now  used.  The 
Welsh  formerly  used  hair. 

There  were  many  other  instruments  in  use  amongst  the  ancient  Irish, 
which  want  of  space  will  not  permit  me  to  dwell  on.  The  ancient 
horn  was  a  simple  musical  instrument,  common  to  almost  all  the 
nations.  It  was  formed  from  the  horn  of  the  cow,  and  was  occasionally 
lengtliened  by  a  small  brass  or  tin  tube  inserted  in  the  smaller  end, 
which  was  put  into  the  mouth.  Holes  were  bored  in  this  instrument  at 
musical  distances.  Almost  all  chiefs,  knights,  bards,  and  travellers, 
wore  those  horns  suspended  over  the  neck,  by  the  side ;  and  when 
they  arrived  at  the  ancient  betagh,  (resting-place  of  free  entertain- 
ment,) they  sounded  either  the  horn  worn  by  themselves,  or  that  found 
suspended  at  the  gate.  It  is  said  that  St.  Patrick,  when  he  travelled, 
took  with  him  a  horn.  The  horn  was  used  as  a  drinking  cup  by  the 
Irish  chieftains ;  and  it  was  also  used  as  a  signet,  or  symbol  of  agree- 
ment, in  the  perfection  of  civil  contracts.  In  England,  as  in  Ireland, 
it  was  used  as  a  pledge,  in  the  transfer  of  inheritances,  and  its  presence 
upon  such  occasions  may  have  given  birth  to  that  old  Irish  and  English 
custom  of  having  a  drink  at  the  conclusion  of  a  bargain  or  contract. 
The  horn,  or  coniu,  does  not  seem  to  be  peculiar  to  any  nation;  it 
was  used  as  well  by  the  Jews,  Egyptians,  Phoenicians,  Greeks, 
Romans,  Gauls,  Germans  or  Tentones,  Caledonians,  as  by  the  Irish. 

When  the  bugle  horn  ceased  to  be  used  in  the  armies  of  the  Irish, 
and  the  other  European  powers,  it  was  either  slung,  as  an  ornament,  at 
the  side  of  domestics,  (^WaJker,)  or  employed  at  hunting  matches  to  call 
together  a  scattered  pack  of  hounds.  There  were  many  variations  of 
this  instrument,  such  as  the  clarion,  trumpet,  &;c.  The  flute,  pipe, 
flagelet,  and  boy's  whistle,  v/ere  originally  in  the  same  form.  The  Irish 
had  the  corobasnas,  a  chorus  instrument  of  a  complex  form,  which  was 
used,  as  its  Irish  name  imports,  for  marking  time  in  music.  It  consisted 
of  two  circular  plates  of  brass,  connected  by  a  wire  of  the  same  metal, 


THE    ORGAN.  PIANO-FORTE.  BELLS.  TROMBONE.  209 

twisted  in  a  worm-like  manner,  which  jingled  round  the  shanks,  when 
the  plates  were  struck  upon  by  the  fingers. 

The  ORGAN  was  invented  by  a  barber  of  Alexandria,  about  one  hun- 
dred and  thirteen  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ.  The  history  of  its 
improvements  from  the  rude  original  to  its  present  perfected  state,  is  inter- 
esting, but  too  long  for  this  work.  When  it  was  first  introduced  into  Ire- 
land, history  is  silent.  Organs  were  in  general  use,  in  the  churches  of  Italy 
and  France,  in  the  seventh  century  ;  about  which  time,  the  religious  of 
Ireland  and  of  those  countries  had  frequent  intercourse.  There  is  an 
organ  at  present  at  Amsterdam,  which  has  fifty-two  whole  stops,  besides 
half  stops,  and  two  rows  of  keys  for  the  feet,  and  three  for  the  hands, 
and  a  set  of  pipes  that  imitate  a  chorus  of  human  voices.  The  organ  at 
Haerlem  (^Gardiner)  is  one  hundred  and  eight  feet  high  and  fifty  feet 
broad,  with  five  thousand  pipes,  resembling  columns  of  silver,  from  the 
ground  to  the  roof.  It  produces  a  tone  of  thunder.  This  is  an  instru- 
ment capable  of  yet  greater  improvements. 

The  PIANO-FORTE,  as  I  have  already  said,  is  simply  the  Irish  harp, 
placed  horizontally  in  a  box,  and  struck  by  the  machinery  of  levers  and 
leathern  hammers,  touched  by  the  fingers.  This  instrument,  now  such 
a  universal  favorite,  was  constructed  in  London,  in  1766,  by  Zumpi,  a 
German.  The  compass  of  the  piano  extends,  like  the  modern  harp, 
through  six  octaves.  To  present  a  scale  showing  the  surpassing  com- 
pass of  the  harp,  I  give,  from  the  best  musical  authorities,  the  following 
calculation  :  the  compass  of  the  grand  action  harp  extends  through  six 
and  a  half  octaves ;  the  compass  of  the  grand  action  piano,  through 
six  and  a  half,  and  latterly  some  have  been  run  up  to  seven  ;  the 
guitar,  through  two  and  a  quarter ;  the  clarionet,  three  and  a  half; 
the  horn,  three ;  the  bassoon,  three ;  the  flute,  three ;  the  violin,  two 
and  a  half,  but  every  note  can  be  bowed  fifty  different  ways ;  the 
moloncello,  two  and  a  quarter ;  human  voices,  two.  In  an  organ  of 
eight  octaves,  the  pipes  of  the  lowest  tones  are  thirty-two  feet  long,  and 
of  the  highest,  one  inch  and  a  half. 

Bells  began  to  be  used  in  churches  on  the  introduction  of  Chris- 
tianity into  Britain  and  Ireland ;  but  large  bells,  suspended  in  towers, 
were  not  general  till  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries.  At  that  time,  on 
the  expulsion  of  the  Danes  from  Ireland,  the  clergy  converted  the 
old  round  towers  of  Ireland  into  belfries. 

The  trombone  is  the  sackbut  of  the  ancients ;  and  it  was  revived  about 
1790,  after  a  model  found  in  Pompeii.     It  produces  the  semitones  by 
sliding  out  and  in,  hke  a  telescope  tube. 
27 


210  MUSIC    OF    ENGLAND. 

The  English  had  no  musical  schools,  and  cultivated  the  science  very 
sparingly,  till  about  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century.  A  country  de- 
scribed so  accuratiely  by  one  of  their  own  accomplished  writers,  in  the 
few  compact  words  that  follow,  can  have  little  pretensions  to  music  ;  for 
it  is  the  offspring  of  peace,  art,  science,  literature,  and  political  inde- 
pendence. "  The  Roman  occupation  of  Britain  is  an  historical  blank. 
They  held  the  country  four  hundred  years  —  a  period  sufficient  to  change 
its  character;  but  we  have  few  evidences  of  their  improvements,  one?  ybr 
twelve  centuries  after  their  departure  civilization  was  in  the  lowest 
state."  —  Sir  Richard  Phillips. 

While  music  and  poetry  were  flourishing  in  Ireland,  coarse  ballads, 
set  to  rude  music,  were  the  delight  of  the  nobility  and  gentry  of  Eng- 
land. I  hope  no  person  from  that  country  will  deem  me  guilty  of 
disparaging  unjustly  the  character  of  the  English  nation.  Ireland  has, 
until  very  lately,  been  contemptuously  treated  by  the  majority  of  Eng- 
lishmen. Her  fair  character  has  been  stained  by  calumnious  writers. 
Under  the  shade  of  clouds  of  slander,  her  liberties  have  been  stolen 
away,  and  her  children  have  been  scattered,  houseless  and  friendless,  on 
a  cold  world.  If,  in  the  endeavor  to  remove  some  portion  of  that  vast 
cloud,  by  the  publication  of  this  book,  I  should  wound  the  sensibilities 
of  any  English  man  or  woman,  I  have  only  to  say  that  the  deed  is 
farthest  from  my  wish.  Although  the  great  body  of  the  English  people 
710W  feel  disposed  to  be  more  just  to  Ireland,  still  the  genius  of  history 
requires  that  I  should,  in  these  pages,  tell  the  truth,  the  whole  truth, 
and  nothing  but  the  truth  ;  and  that  I  shall  do,  under  the  favor  and  pro- 
tection of  the  Almighty. 

John  Baldwin,  an  English  writer,  published  a  work,  called  the 
"Canticles  or  Balades  of  Solomon,  A.D.  1549,"  in  which  he  thus  con- 
cludes his  address  to  the  reader:  "Would  God  that  such  songs  might 
once  drive  out  of  office  the  bawdy  balades  that  commonly  are  indited 
and  sung  of  idle  courtyers  in  princes'  and  noblemen's  houses."  This 
depravity  of  taste,  remarks  Walker,  which  Mr.  Baldwin  reprobates, 
must  have  been  gradually  stealing  on  his  countrymen. 

Henry  Lawes,  according  to  Milton,  who  was  himself  a  lover  of  music, 
was  the  first  improver  of  the  secular  music  of  the  English.  Milton's 
sonnet  to  him  begins  thus  :  — 

"Harrj'',  whose  tuneful  and  well-measured  song 
First  taught  our  English  music  how  to  span 
Words  with  just  note  and  accent,  —  not  to  scan 
With  Midas  ears,  committing  short  and  long,"  &c. 


GEORGE    THE    FOURTH    INTRODUCES    TWO    HUNDRED    STRAINS.      211 

So  much  for  the  secular  music  of  the  EngHsh.  Now  we  turn 
for  a  moment  to  iheir  church  music,  which  we  shall  find  in  a  very 
simple,  unimproved  state.  In  "  The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  noted, 
published  by  John  Marbeake,  in  1550,  which  contains  so  much  of  the 
common  prayer  as  is  to  be  sung  in  churches,"  there  were  but  three  or 
four  sorts  of  notes  used,  viz. 


?z=L==^Ei^;^[i:^ 


The  whole  is  filled  with  chanting  notes  on  four  red  lines  only  ;  but 
their  knowledge  of  harmony,  it  appears,  increased  in  the  year  1563,  for 
another  work  was  then  printed,  entitled  "The  Whole  Psalms,  in  Foure 
Partes,  which  may  be  sung  to  all  Musical  Instruments."  Yet  their  taste 
seems  not  to  have  kept  pace  with  their  practical  improvement ;  for 
Prinn,  in  a  work  published  in  1663,  calls  their  church  music  the  bleat- 
ing of  brute  beasts. 

Luther,  who  was  a  tolerable  musician,  introduced  some  new  rules 
into  English  psalmody.  He  caught  the  popular  airs  floating  in  the 
dance  and  wake,  and  gathered  them  into  his  churches.  The  Old 
Hundredth,  says  Phillips,  was  a  love  ditty  ;  Rebuke  me  not,  was  an 
Irish  jig ;  and  Stand  up,  O  Lord,  was  a  Poitou-dance. 

Burney  gives  the  first  tune  printed  in  English  notes,  and  it  appears  to 
be  the  old  Irish  air,  Ta  an  Sammodth  teacht,  "  The  Summer  is  coming," 
to  which  Moore  wrote  the  beautiful  words,  "  Rich  and  rare  were  the 
gems  she  wore,"  to  be  found  in  the  musical  pages  of  this  work. 

Madrigals  for  four  or  five  voices  were  introduced  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  when  Marinzio,  Este,  Morley,  and  VVilbye  composed  their 
glees  and  catches.  James  the  First,  himself  a  good  musician,  intro- 
duced into  Scotland  several  eminent  foreign  performers,  who,  it  is  said, 
improved  the  Scotch  style,  and,  on  their  return  to  Italy,  brought 
with  them  the  old  Irish  and  Scotch  music,  which  they  learned  during 
their  sojourn. 

George  the  Fourth^  a  few  years  ago,  with  the  aid  of  oup  countryman 
Michael  Kelly  and  Gardiner,  had  two  hundred  strains  of  Haydn,  Mo- 
zart, and  Beethoven,  adapted  to  as  many  of  the  best  versions  of  the 
Psalms.  The  English,  within  the  present  century,  have  become  great 
patrons  of  foreign  music,  whilst  they  have  nearly  altogether  neglected 
their  own,  meagre  though  it  be.  In  truth,  their  principal  stock  was  given 
to  them  by  Irish  composers.     Michael  Kelly,  alone,  wrote  the  music  of 


212  HANDEL    REJECTED    IN   LONDON,    APPLAUDED    IN   DUBLIN. 

sixty  English  operas  and  musical  pieces,  during  the  first  quarter  of  the 
present  century.*  He  composed  all  the  music  for  Dibdin's  songs,  sung 
by  him  with  powerful  effect  during  the  wars  against  Napoleon.  The 
taste  of  the  English  public  for  genuine  music  was  not  so  accurate  as  that 
of  their  contemned  neighbors,  the  Irish,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  follow- 
ing anecdote  of  Handel,  which  appears  in  Walker,  but  better  told  by 
Busby,  in  his  musical  work.  "  When  Handel  first  produced  his  Messiah 
before  a  London  audience,  in  1750,  it  was  condemned.  He  went  to 
Dublin,  reproduced  the  splendid  performance  there,  and  won  from  that 
more  discriminating  audience  thunders  of  applause.  In  fact,  it  created 
quite  a  sensation  in  Ireland.  On  Handel's  return  to  London,  he  had  the 
satisfaction  of  enjoying  the  most  enthusiastic  applause,  and  the  highest 
honors,  from  the  same  audiences  which  previously  condemned  his 
immortal  composition  ;  and  after  his  death,  his  natal  day  was  commemo- 
rated in  London  by  the  most  extravagant  musical  festivals."  At  the 
Handel  commemoration  of  1784,  which  took  place  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  four  hundred  and  eighty-three  performers  took  part ;  at  that  of 
1834,  there  were  six  hundred  and  twenty. 

The  music  of  Ireland  changed  gradually  in  its  character  after  the 
introduction  of  the  religious  wars  of  the  reformation.  Although  the  first 
settlers  from  England,  who  obtained  a  footing  in  Leinster,  through  the 
national  treachery  of  Dermod  M'Murrough,  in  1169,  had  given  their 
Irish  neighbors  considerable  annoyance,  —  and  although  King  Edward 
the  First,  of  England,  inhumanly  butchered,  at  a  feast,  three  hundred  of 
the  Welsh  harpers,  and  soon  after  caused  to  be  passed,  at  the  little  par- 
liament of  his  Pale,  a  statute  making  it  penal  to  entertain  any  of  the  Irish 
minstrels,  rhymers,  or  news-tellers,  —  still  the  heart  of  L'eland  was  not 
broken,  and  her  music  was  buoyant  as  her  spirit  was  light,  hearty, 
animating. 

But  after  the  desolation  which  followed  the  religious  wars  of  Henry 
the  Eighth,  Elizabeth,  James  the  First,  Cromwell,  and  William  the 
Third,  the  character  of  the  national  music  changed.  But  rather  than 
attempt  a  description  of  this  change,  I  give  that  of  the  elegant  and  accu- 
rate Walker,  from  whose  rare  work  I  have  already  drawn  so  largely. 
"  Such  was  the  nice  sensibility  of  the  bards,  such  was  dieir  tender  affec- 
tion for  their  country,  that  the  subjection  to  which  the  kingdom  was 
reduced,  affected  them  with  the  heaviest  sadness.  Sinking  beneath  this 
weight  of  sympathetic  sorrow,  they  became  a  prey  to  melancholy. 
Hence  the  plainliveness  of  their  music ;  for  it  being,  at  this  time,  (from 
1550  to  17BQj)  their  only  solace,  must  have  served  to  increase  their 
*  See  Michael  Kelly,  at  page  1190. 


IRISH  MUSIC  ADAPTED  TO  THE  PASSIONS  OF  LOVE  AND  SORROW.     213 

melancholy ;  for  music,  says  Bacon,  feecleth  that  disposition  of  the 
spirits  which  it  findeth :  the  ideas  that  arise  in  the  mind  are  always  con- 
genial to,  and  receive  a  tincture  from,  the  influencing  passion.  The 
bards,  often  driven,  together  with  their  patrons,  by  the  sword  of  oppres- 
sion, from  the  busy  haunts  of  men,  were  obliged  to  lie  concealed,  in 
marshes,  in  gloomy  forests,  among  rugged  mountains,  and  in  glens  and 
valleys,  resounding  with  the  noise  of  falling  waters,  or  filled  with  por- 
tentous echoes.  Such  scenes  as  these,  by  throwing  a  gloom  over  the 
fancy,  must  have  considerably  increased  their  settled  melancholy ;  so 
that,  when  they  attempted  to  sing,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  that  their 
voices,  thus  weakened  by  struggling  against  a  heavy  mental  depression, 
should  rise  rather  by  minor  thirds,  which  consist  but  of  four  semitones, 
than  by  major  thirds,  which  consist  of  five.  Now,  almost  all  the  airs  of 
this  period  are  found  to  be  set  in  the  minor  third,  and  to  be  of  the  sage 
and  solemn  nature  of  the  music  which  Milton  requires  in  his  Penseroso. 

' bid  the  soul  of  Orpheus  sing 

Such  notes  as  warbled  to  the  string, 
Drew  iron  tears  down  Pluto's  cheek, 
And  made  hell  grant  what  love  did  seek.'" 

The  great  Orientalist,  Sir  William  Jones,  remarks  on  the  advantage 
we  have  over  the  Greeks,  in  our  minor  scale,  which  enables  us  to  adapt 
our  music  so  admirably  to  subjects  of  grief  and  melancholy  —  love,  for 
instance.  Mr.  Marsden,  in  his  History  of  Sumatra,  says,  "  The  Sumatra 
tunes  very  much  resemble,  to  my  ear,  those  of  the  native  Irish,  and  have 
usually,  like  them,  a  flat  third."  "  Being  very  desirous,"  says  Walker, 
"  to  discover  the  cause  of  this  resemblance,  I  consulted  Mr.  Marsden  on 
the  subject,  the  result  of  which  was  the  following  curious  paper:  — 

" '  It  is  observed  that  the  popular  music  of  most  nations,  within  cer- 
tain limits  of  civilization,  is  confined  to  the  flat  or  minor  key.  The 
sharp  or  major  key  is  doubtless  the  more  obvious,  and  must  present  itself 
to  the  rude  essayers  of  the  art.  Accordingly  it  will  be  found,  that  peo- 
ple in  a  very  savage  state,  as  the  negroes  of  Africa,  seldom,  if  ever, 
demonstrate  any  acquaintance  with  the  minor  key.  Their  short  songs, 
by  which  they  regulate  the  motion  and  soothe  the  irksomeness  of  their 
labor,  are  all  in  the  major  Jcey,  which  accords  better  with  the  natural 
vivacity  of  their  disposition.  In  countries  where,  from  incidental  cir- 
cumstances, the  inhabitants  are  encouraged  to  devote  their  leisure  to  the 
improvement  of  their  musical  skill,  they  catch,  at  length,  the  succession 
of  tones  with  a  flat  interval ;  and  finding  this  more  expressive  of  passion, 


214  IRISH    MUSICIANS    COPIED    THE    SOUNDS    OF    BIRDS,    ETC. 

and  more  calculated  to  awake  the  feelings,  which  is  the  great  end  and 
object  of  music,  amongst  people  whose  genuine  sensations  are  not  blunt- 
ed by  the  polish  of  refinement,  they  attach  themselves  to  it,  and  the 
other  key,  being  comparatively  deficient  in  pathos,  falls  into  disuse. 
Where  the  art  is  carried  to  its  last  stage  of  perfection,  as  among  the 
European  nations,  and  where  the  object  of  the  musician  is  to  entertain 
by  variety,  and  surprise  by  brilliancy  of  execution,  —  to  captivate  the 
ear  rather  than  the  hearts  of  his  auditors,  —  there  both  the  keys  are 
indifferently  employed,  or  so  managed  as  to  produce  that  species  of 
pleasure  which  arises  from  sudden  transitions  and  contrasts. 

" '  Since  writing  the  above,  I  met  an  observation  by  a  French  author, 
that  singing  birds  always  tune  their  song  in  the  major  key,  and  that, 
although  it  has  frequently  been  attempted  to  teach  those  birds  which 
possess  imitative  faculties  to  pipe  airs  with  a  flat  third,  it  has  never  to 
any  degree  succeeded.'  " 

The  Irish  harpers  copied  the  sounds  of  birds  and  animals  upon  their 
harp-strings.  So  did  the  Irish  pipers  upon  the  bagpipes.  Hunting 
tunes  have  been  made  the  medium  of  numberless  variations,  in  which  the 
cries  of  the  hounds,  the  "  Tally  ho !  "  of  the  huntsman,  and  the  moans 
of  the  dying  stag  or  fox,  have  been  very  well  imitated.  Gardiner, 
in  his  Music  of  Nature,  has  put  into  notes  the  songs  of  twenty-four  birds, 
and  twenty  animals,  and  of  eight  or  ten  insects ;  also  twenty  expres- 
sions of  human  passion  or  feeling.  The  gnat  gives  the  note  A,  on  the 
second  space.  The  death-watch  calls  in  B  flat,  and  answers  in  C. 
The  three  notes  of  the  cricket  are  in  B.  The  buzz  of  a  beehive  is  in  F. 
The  wings  of  the  house-fly  are  in  F,  in  the  first  space.  The  humble- 
hce  is  an  octave,  or  eight  notes,  lower,  &£c. 

I  have  inserted  these  digressional  i-emarks  and  quotations  here,  for 
the  purpose  of  presenting  the  reader  with  some  of  that  variety  of  charac- 
ter which  belongs  to  Irish  music.  And  now  to  return  to  the  ages  of  its 
decline. 

A  people  hunted  like  wolves,  as  the  Irish  have  been,  by  their  barbaric 
neighbors,  for  the  last  three  hundred  years,  could  not  have  practised  the 
nice  and  minute  rules  necessary  to  keep  up  a  good  musical  school ; 
•they  were  not  able  to  improve  and  refine  according  to  the  rapid  de- 
velopment of  musical  science  in  other  happier  nations ;  and  hence 
there  is  found  a  marked  decline  in  its  cultivation. 

Walker  mentions  one  Maguire,  a  vintner,  who  resided  near  Charing 
Cross,  London,  about  the  year  1730,  and  played  exceedingly  well 
on   the  Irish  harp.     His  house  was   frequented  by  some  of  the  very 


LAMENT    OF    THE    MINSTREL    o'gNIVE.  215 

first  men  in  London,  even  members  of  the  cabinet,  wiio  came  to  hear 
his  melody.  Upon  one  occasion,  he  was  asked  why  the  Irish  airs  were 
so  plaintive  and  solemn.  He  replied  that  the  native  composers  were  "  too 
deeply  distressed  at  the  situation  of  their  country  and  her  gallant  sons  to 
compose  otherwise ;  but  remove  the  restraints  which  they  labor  under, 
and  you  will  not  have  reason  to  complain  of  the  plaintiveness  of  their 
notes."  Offence  was  taken  at  these  warm  expressions ;  his  house  be- 
came gradually  neglected,  and  he  died  soon  after  broken-hearted. 

Many  fragments  of  beautiful  lamentations,  as  well  as  incitements  to 
freedom,  composed  by  the  minstrels  who  lived  in  the  ages  of  persecu- 
tion, are  plentifully  scattered  through  the  history  of  this  period.  I  can 
make  room  for  only  one  specimen.  It  is  the  composition  of  O'Gnive 
family  ollanih  to  the  O'Neills  of  Clanaboy. 

« O 

The  condition  of  our  dear  countrymen! 
How  languid  tiieir  joys! 
How  pressing  their  sorrows ! 
The  wrecks  of  a  party  ruined! 
Their  wounds  still  rankling! 
The  wretched  crew  of  a  vessel 
Tossed  long  about,  finally  cast  away ! 

Are  we  not 
The  prisoners  of  the  Saxon  nation  ? 
The  captives  of  remorseless  tyranny  ? 
Is  not  our  sentence  pronounced? 
Is  not  our  destruction  inevitable  ? 
Frightful,  grinding  thought! 
Power  exchanged  for  servitude, 
Beauty  for  deformity,  the 
Exultations  of  liberty 
For  the  pangs  of  slavery, 
A  great  and  brave  people 
For  a  servile,  desponding  race ! 

How  came  this  transformation? 
Shrouded  in  a  mist,  which 
Bursts  down  on  you  like  a  deluge, 
Which  covers  you  with  successive 
Inundations  of  evil. 
Ye  are  not  the  same  people. 
Need  I  appeal  to  your  senses  ? 
But  what  sensations  have  you  left? 

*  9P  ^  ^  ^  iJf;  # 

The  suffering  children  of  Ireland  no  longer 

Recognize  their  common  mother. 

She  equally  disowns  us  for  her  children. 


216  SUPPRESSION    AND    DECLINE    OF    IRISH    MUSIC. 

We  both  have  lost  our  forms. 
What  do  we  now  behold 
But  insulting  Saxon  natives, 
And  native  Irish  aliens? 

Hapless  land! 
Thou  art  a  bark  through  which 
The  sea  hath  burst  its  way. 
We  hardly  discover  any  part 
Of  you  in  the  hands  of  the  plunderer. 
Yes !  the  plunderer  hath 
Refitted  you  for  his  own  habitation, 
And  we  are  new-moulded  for  his  purpose. 

Ye  Israelites  of  Egypt  — 
Ye  wretched  inhabitants  of  this  foreign  land. 
Is  there  no  relief  for  you  ? 
Is  tliere  no  Hector  left 
For  the  defence,  or  rather  for 
The  recovery,  of  Troy  ? 

It  is  thine,  O  my  God, 
To  send  us  a  second  Moses. 
Thy  dispensations  are  just; 
And  unless  tlie  children  of  Scythian  Scot 
Return  to  thee,  old  Ireland  is  not  doomed 
To  arise  from  the  thraldom  of  the  Saxon." 

This  is  not  the  place  to  record  the  milHons  of  human  beings,  of  everj 
age  and  of  both  sexes,  that  were  butchered  —  the  confiscations  and  the 
desolation  which  accompanied  the  wars  of  Elizabeth,  James  the  First, 
Cromwell,  and  William  the  Third.  The  reader  will  find  them  briefly 
discribed  in  the  proper  place  in  this  volume.  Every  attribute  of  the  Irish 
nation  which  we  should  admire  was  struck  down,  and,  as  eloquently 
expressed  by  the  heart-broken  bard,  "  the  slaves  of  Ireland  no 
longer  recognize  their  common  mother."  In  this  terrible  desolation  the 
music  of  Ireland  sank.  Nine  tenths  of  the  most  beautiful  compositions 
perished.  A  few,  compared  with  what  existed,  have  come  down  to  us ; 
and,  judging  by  their  surpassing  melody,  we  may  form  a  conception  of 
what  the  music  of  Ireland  really  was  in  the  ages  of  her  independence. 
During  the  pressure  of  the  penal  laws,  from  the  age  of  Elizabeth,  in  the 
sixteenth,  to  the  times  of  Grattan  and  Flood,  in  the  eighteenth  century^ 
the  intellect  of  Ireland  shrank  back  into  the  earth  as  fast  as  it  saw  the 
glare  of  tyranny.  Education  had  been  suppressed,  wealth  and  enter- 
prise forbidden,  freedom  extinguished,  and  the  songs  of  the  bard  silenced 
by  the  hangman  or  the  trooper.  Now  and  then,  however,  in  the  midst 
of  the  universal  gloom,  some  dazzling  genius  would  flash  his  meteor  rays 


o'kaNE.  CAROLAN.  217 

on  the  thick  surrounding  darkness,  —  but  only  to  make  the  darkness 
more  visible  ;  yet  those  involuntary  emanations  of  native  talent  did 
occasionally  appear,  affording  evidence  of  the  vitality  of  Erin's  body, 
and  the  immortality  of  her  soul,  —  proving,  in  the  language  of  her  darling 
poet,  Moore, 

" that  still  she  lives." 

Amongst  these,  O'Kane,  Carolan,  Jackson,  and  some  others,  stand 
proudly  prominent  —  the  first  as  a  harper,  the  second  and  third  as  com- 
posers. O'Kane  not  only  delighted  his  own  countrymen  in  Ireland,  but 
passed  over  to  Scotland,  about  1740,  where  he  won  such  renown,  that 
the  lairds  of  that  ancient  country  made  him  their  honored  guest.  He 
was  presented  by  the  Laird  M'Donald  with  a  harp  key,  that  had  been 
time  immemorial  in  the  family,  which  bore  marks  of  great  antiquity, 
being  ornamented  with  gold  and  silver,  and  precious  stones  of  great 
value.  Such  a  tribute  offered  by  the  primary  chieftain  of  Scotland  to 
Irish  musical  genius  is  not  to  be  undervalued. 

Of  Carolan  a  volume  might  be  agreeably  filled.  Walker  gives  many 
pages  of  his  valuable  book  to  his  life,  and  Bunting  and  Hardiman  also 
give  many  particulars.  "  The  cabin,"  says  the  former,  "  in  which  our 
bard  was  born,  1670,  in  the  village  of  Nobber,  county  Westmeath,  is  still 
pointed  out  to  the  inquisitive  traveller.  As  it  is  in  a  ruinous  state,  it  must 
soon  become  a  prey  to  all-devouring  time  ;  but  the  spot  on  which  it  stood 
will,  I  predict,  be  visited,  at  a  future  day,  with  as  much  true  devotion  by 
the  lovers  of  natural  music,  as  Stratford-upon-Avon  and  Binfield  are  by 
the  admirers  of  Shakspeare  and  Pope."  He  must  have  been  deprived  of 
sight  at  a  very  early  period  of  life  by  the  small-pox,  for  he  remembered 
no  impression  of  colors,  and  was  shut  up  in  darkness  before  he  had 
taken  even  a  cursory  view  of  creation.  From  this  he  felt  no  incon- 
venience. "  My  eyes,"  he  would  say,  "  are  transplanted  into  my  ears." 
Yet,  though  blind,  he  could  play  backgammon  very  well.  Hospitality 
consumed  his  little  farm.  He  ate,  drank,  and  was  merry,  leaving  the 
morrow  to  provide  for  itself.  It  is  not  known  at  what  period  of  his  life 
he  became  an  itinerant  musician,  or  whether  it  grew  from  necessity  or 
choice.  His  person  was  comely,  his  forehead  intellectual,  as  may  be 
seen  from  an  engraving  of  him  to  be  seen  in  the  Frontispiece.  Walker 
says,  "  Methinks  I  see  him  mounted  on  a  good  horse,  and  attended  by  a 
harper  in  the  character  of  a  domestic,  —  for  he  at  all  times  kept  a  good 
pair  of  horses,  and  a  servant  to  wait  on  him, — setting  forth  on  his 
journey,  and  directing  his  course  towards  Connaught.  Wherever  he 
28 


218  CAROLAN. 

goes,  the  gates  of  the  nobility  and  gentry  are  thrown  open  to  him. 
Like  the  Deniodocus  of  Homer,  he  is  received  with  respect,  and  a  dis- 
tinguished place  assigned  him  at  the  table.  Near  him  is  seated  his 
harper,  ready  to  accompany  his  voice  and  supply  his  want  of  skill  in 
practical  music."  "  Carolan,"  says  Mr.  Ritson,  "  seems,  from  the  descrip- 
tion we  have  of  him,  to  be  a  genuine  representative  of  the  ancient  bard." 
Carolan  had  his  love  troubles.  There  is  hardly  any  bard  free  from  them. 
Woman  worships  poetry  and  music,  and  he  who  has  been  blessed  or 
cursed  with  poetical  or  musical  addictions,  will  have  his  share  of  her 
smiles  and  frowns. 

It  was  during  his  peregrinations  that  he  composed  all  his  beautiful 
pieces.  "  Carolan,"  says  Magee,  in  his  Dublin  Packet  for  1784,  "  though 
a  modern  minstrel,  has  been  admired  as  a  first-rate  musical  genius  —  an 
untaught  phenomenon  in  the  cultivation  of  harmony.  His  music  is  in 
every  body's  hands,  and  is  in  the  highest  degree  popular."  I  have  se- 
lected some  of  Cardan's  musical  remains  for  these  pages,  which  I  hope 
will  not  be  neglected  for  airs  of  far  less  melody  or  merit. 

His  wit  was  prompt  and  pointed.  Residing,  at  one  time,  in  the  house 
of  a  parsimonious  lady,  who  was  sparing  in  her  supply  of  his  favorite 
beverage,  he  heard  the  butler,  O'Flinn,  unlocking  the  cellar  door,  and, 
following  him,  was  repulsed  rather  surlily ;  upon  which  he  instantly 
composed  a  bitter  epigram  in  Irish,  which  is  translated  as  follows :  — 

"  What  a  pity  hell's  gates  are  not  kept  by  O'Flinn ; 
So  surly  a  dog  wonld  let  nobody  in." 

Not  only  Geminiana,  but  Handel,  appreciated  and  praised  Cardan's 
powers  :  both  these  great  composers  were  in  Ireland.  Carolan  succeed- 
ed in  every  kind  of  composition.  Mr.  O'Conor,  the  historian,  makes 
honorable  mention  of  his  sacred  pieces.  "  On  Easter  day  I  heard  him 
play  at  mass.  He  called  the  piece  '  Gloria  in  Excelsis  Deo,'  and  he 
sung  that  hymn  in  Irish  verses  as  he  played.  At  the  Lord's  Prayer  he 
stopped  ;  and  after  the  priest  ended  it,  he  sang  again,  and  played  a  piece 
which  he  denominated  the  '  Resurrection.'  His  enthusiasm  of  devotion 
affected  the  whole  congregation."  I  have  compressed  Bunting's  notice 
of  him  into  the  following  brief  paragraph :  — 

The  bards,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  Greek  and  Roman 
writers  Slrabo,  Diodorus,  Marcellinus,  &c.,  existed  among  the  ruder 
branches  of  the  Celtic  tribes  before  the  time  of  Augustus,  emperor  of 
Rome,  in  the  second  century.  We  find  them  under  the  same  name  in 
Ireland,  from  the  earliest  period  of  our  history  down  to  the  year  1738, 


REVIVAL    OF    IRISH    MUSIC    AFTER    '82.  219 

when  Carolan  died,  who  seems  to  have  been  born  to  render  the  termi- 
nation of  his  order  memorable  and  brilliant.  If  we  reflect  upon  the 
disadvantages  under  which  he  labored, — born  blind,  with  slender  oppor- 
tunities of  acquiring  ideas,  the  inhabitant  of  a  country  recently  deso- 
lated by  a  civil  war,  the  flames  of  which  had  scarcely  subsided,  and 
add  to  this  his  own  propensity  to  idleness  and  dissipation,  —  we  cannot 
but  be  astonished  at  the  prodigious  powers  of  his  mind.  He  occasion- 
ally tried  almost  every  style  of  music,  —  the  elegiac,  the  festive,  the 
amorous,  and  sacred,  and  has  so  much  excelled  in  each,  that  we 
scarcely  know  to  which  of  them  his  genius  was  best  adapted.  His  first 
composition  was  plaintive  and  amorous,  addressed  to  "  Bridget  Cruise," 
a  lady  to  whom  he  was  attached,  without  the  hope  of  success. 
He  is  said  to  have  dedicated  fifteen  different  pieces  to  her,  all  of  which 
are  lost.  "O'Rourke's  Feast,"  the  music  of  which  he  composed 
for  Mugh  M'Gouran's  ode,  was  much  admired  by  Swift,  who  im- 
mortalized it  in  his  works.  "  Paudeen  O'Rafferty "  he  composed 
almost  impromptu,  on  hearing  that  a  little  boy  without  pants  had  opened 
a  gate  for  him,  on  his  way  to  Miss  Cruise's  residence.  These  melodies 
will  be  found  amongst  the  music  of  this  work.  His  last  piece  was 
inscribed  to  Dr.  Stafford,  his  physician.  He  composed,  early  in  life, 
the  Fairy  (^ueen,  Rose  Dillon,  and  others  of  his  serious  pieces ; 
but,  after  having  established  a  reputation,  and  addicted  himself  too 
much  to  festive  company  and  the  bottle,  he  spent  his  time  in  the 
composition  of  his  planxties ,  which  required  no  labor  or  assiduity.  We 
may  form  some  idea  of  the  fertility  of  his  genius,  from  this  circumstance, 
that  a  harper,  attending  the  Belfast  meeting,  (in  1792,)  who  had  never 
seen  him,  and  was  not  taught  directly  by  any  person  that  had  an 
opportunity  of  copying  from  him,  had  acquired  upwards  of  a  hundred 
of  his  tunes,  which,  he  said,  constituted  but  a  very  inconsiderable  part 
of  the  real  number.  We  need  not  wonder  if  nine  tenths  of  his  com- 
positions be  irreparably  lost,  as  Carolan  never  taught  any  itinerant  pupils, 
except  his  own  son,  (who  had  no  musical  genius,)  and  as  we  have 
never  heard  that  any  of  his  pieces  were  committed  to  writing  until 
several  years  after  his  death,  when  young  Carolan,  under  the 
patronage  of  Dr.  Delany,  edited  a  small  volume.  The  Italians  digni- 
fied him  with  the  name  of  Carolonius. 

On  the  establishment  of  the  parliamentary  independence  of  Ireland, 
in  1782,  and  the  consequent  growth  of  a  young  and  buoyant  public 
spirit,  such  as  happily  characterizes  her  sons  at  present,  (1844,)  her  music 
was  searched  for  among  the  ruins  of  her  plundered  shrines.    Belfast,  the 


220  ASSEMBLY   OF    IRISH    HARPERS. 

birthplace  of  that  glorious  spirit,  which  was,  unfortunately  for  Ireland, 
misdirected  in  1798,  and  which  was  calculated,  under  a  wiser  manage- 
ment, to  give  her  freedom,  called  into  existence  a  national  musical  de- 
sire, which  produced  a  general  convention  of  musicians  from  all  parts  of 
Ireland.  It  assembled  in  1792,  in  Belfast,  at  which  the  few  remaining 
harpers  of  Ireland  attended.  The  celebrated  Dr.  Bunting  was  author- 
ized by  the  Belfast  committee  to  attend  professionally,  to  take  down  the 
airs  according  to  modern  notation,  and  in  the  English  language,  for  the 
purpose  of  forming  a  standard  code  of  national  music.  The  following  is 
a  portion  of  his  report  of  that  celebrated  meeting  :  — 

"  The  compiler  of  this  volume  was  appointed  to  attend,  on  that 
occasion,  to  take  down  the  various  airs  played  by  the  different  harpers, 
and  was  particularly  cautioned  against  adding  a  single  note  to  the  old 
melodies,  which  were  found,  as  we  shall  see,  to  have  been  preserved 
pure,  and  handed  down  through  a  long  succession  of  ages.  Most  of 
the  performers  convened  at  the  meeting  were  men  advanced  in  life, 
and  all  concurred  in  one  opinion  respecting  the  reputed  antiquity  of 
those  airs  which  they  called  ancient.  They  smiled  on  being  interro- 
gated concerning  the  era  of  such  compositions,  saying  they  were  more 
ancient  than  any  to  which  our  popular  traditions  extended. 

"  It  would  appear  that  the  old  musicians,  in  transmitting  this  music  to 
us  through  so  m.any  centuries,  treated  it  with  the  utmost  reverence,  as 
they  seem  never  to  have  ventured  to  make  the  slightest  innovation  in 
it  during  its  descent.  This  inference  we  naturally  deduce  from  our 
finding  that  harpers,  collected  from  parts  far  distant  from  one  another, 
and  taught  by  different  masters,  always  played  the  same  tune  on  the 
same  key,  with  the  same  kind  of  expression,  and  without  a  single 
variation  in  any  essential  passage,  or  even  in  any  note.  The  beauty 
and  regularity  with  which  the  tunes  are  constructed  appear  surprising. 
This  circumstance  seemed  the  more  extraordinary,  when  it  was  dis- 
covered that  the  most  ancient  tunes  were,  in  this  respect,  the  most 
perfect,  admitting  of  the  addition  of  a  bass  with  more  facility  than  such 
as  were  less  ancient.  Hence  we  may  conclude  that  their  authors  must 
necessarily  have  been  excellent  performers,  versed  in  the  scientific  part 
of  their  profession,  and  that  they  had  originally  a  view  to  the  addition 
of  harmony  in  the  composition  of  their  pieces.  It  is  remarkable  that 
the  performers  all  tuned  their  instruments  on  the  same  principle,  totally 
ignorant  of  the  science  of  the  principle  itself,  and  without  being  able  to 
assign  any  reason,  either  for  their  mode  of  tuning  or  of  their  playing  bass. 
On  an  impartial  review  of  all  these  circumstances,  we  are  inclined  to 


MATHEMATICAL    EXAMINATION    OF    THE    IRISH    HARP.  221 

believe  that  those  specimens  which  have  survived  and  been  transmitted 
to  us  are  only  the  wreck  of  better  tunes,  the  history  of  which  is  either 
lost,  or  incorrectly  recognized  in  a  confused  series  of  traditions." 

But  Ireland,  even  in  the  ruins  of  her  music,  has  yet  much  more 
varied  and  touching  melody  than  any  other  nation  on  earth  can 
boast  of.  What  an  old  Scottish  author  applied  to  his  country  may, 
with  a  slight  alteration,  be  given  to  Erin. 

"From  the  pastoral  cot  and  shade 

Thy  favorite  airs,  my  Erin,  came, 
By  some  obscure    Beethoven  made, 

Or  Handel,  never  kno-\vn  to  fame! 
And  hence  tlieir  notes,  forever  warm, 
Like  nature's  self,  must  ever  chann." 

The  scientific  Beauford,  in  Walker's  Bards,  p.  344,  furnishes  a 
learned  paper  on  the  construction  and  capability  of  the  harp.  He 
enters  into  a  critical  and  mathematical  examination  of  its  structure, 
which  he  gives  in  several  pages  full  of  algebraical  calculations,  to 
which  I  refer  those  who  may  doubt  his  result,  which  appears  by  the 
following  passages  in  his  paper:  — 

"  As  the  science  of  music  advanced  among  the  European  nations, 
the  harp  changed  its  form.  Its  original  figure  was,  most  probably,  like 
the  harp  of  the  Phrygians,  a  right-angled  plain  triangle ;  but,  as  this 
form  was  not  capable  of  receiving,  with  convenience,  a  number  of 
strings,  it  was  found  more  proper  to  alter  the  right  angle  to  an  oblique 
one,  and  to  give  a  curvature  to  the  arm.  The  Irish  hards,  in  'particular, 
seem,  from  experience  derived  from  practice,  to  have  discovered  the 
true  musical  figure  of  the  harp  —  a  form  which  will,  on  examination,  be 
found  to  have  been  constructed  on  true  harmonic  principles,  and  to 
bear  the  strictest  mathematipal  and  philosophic  scrutiny,  as  I  shall 
endeavor  to  demonstrate  in  the  following  pages  ;  but,  not  having  an 
opportunity  of  examining  a  number  of  these  instruments,  I  have  taken 
that  in  Trinity  College,  called  Brien  Boroimhe's  harp,  as  the  model  of 
the  Irish  harp  in  general.  The  Greeks  constructed  their  triangular 
harps  of  three,  four,  or  five,  and  six,  strings.  But  the  old  Irish  bards 
seem  to  have  improved  upon  this  system,  for,  by  making  the  plane  of 
their  harp  an  obhque-angled  triangle,  they  fell  into  the  true  proportion 
of  their  strings ;  that  is,  as  the  diameter  of  a  circle  to  its  circumference, 
which  fully  agrees  also  with  the  learned  Dr.  Young's  laws  relating  to 
the  theory  of  sound.  #  *  * 


222  THE    HARP    OF    TAUA. 

"  From  what  has  been  said,  we  see  how  near  the  Irish  bards,  in  the 
construction  of  their  harp,  came  to  mathematical  correctness.  Finding 
the  straight  arm  inconvenient,  they  constructed  it  in  a  curve,  which, 
most  probably,  they  determined  by  the  length  of  the  strings,  and  the 
length  of  the  strings  by  their  ear,  which  led  them  naturally  to  the 
proportion  of  the  circumference  of  a  circle  to  its  diameter  and  semi- 
diameter  from  the  beginning  of  the  axis  of  the  arm,  or  tension.  This 
method  of  dividing  the  musical  scale  was  introduced  by  the  late  Mr. 
Harrison,  in  his  time-piece,  as  a  new  discovery.  Little  did  that  in- 
genious mechanic  think  that  it  was  discovered  by  men  inhabiting  woods 
and  bogs  several  centuries  previous.  I  might,  from  the  above  datas, 
consider  the  extent  and  perfection  of  the  old  Irish  music ;  but  this 
would  carry  me  too  far,  and,  indeed,  would  require  a  volume."  — 
April  10,  1786. 

As  allusion  has  been  so  pointedly  made,  by  the  above  distinguished 
writer,  to  the  harp  of  Brien,  also  called  the  '•  harp  of  Tara,"  I  think 
this  the  most  fitting  place  to  insert  the  following  authorized  history 
of  this  venerated  relic :  — 

THE    HARP    OF   SRIEN   BOROIMHE. 

"  The  hero  struck  this  harp  in  his  battles,  and,  at  the  last  glorious 
victory  of  Clontarf,  it  was  found  in  his  tent,  together  with  his  crown, 
by  his  nephew  Donagh,  who  succeeded  himself  and  all  his  sons  who 
fell  on  that  dreadful  day.  In  the  close  of  Donagh's  life  in  Munster,  he 
retired  from  the  political  theatre  of  his  great  uncle,  and  sought  repose 
in  a  monastery  in  Rome.  Thither  he  carried  with  him  the  celebrated 
harp  of  Brien,  together  with  his  golden  crown,  and  other  insignia  of 
royalty,  which  he  presented  to  Pope  Alexander  the  Second  as  presents. 
The  harp  remained  in  the  Vatican  until  Pope  Leo  the  Tenth  sent  it  and 
other  Irish  relics  as  presents  to  Henry  the  Eighth,  with  the  title  of 
king,  defender  of  the  faith.  Some  time  after,  Henry  presented  the 
harp  to  his  favorite,  the  first  Earl  of  Clanrickard,  in  whose  family  it 
remained  until  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  when  it  came,  in  the 
paraphernalia  of  Lady  Ehzabeth  Burgh,  into  the  possession  of  her 
husband.  Colonel  M'Mahon,  of  Clenagh,  in  the  county  of  Clare, 
after  whose  death  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  Commissioner  M'Na 
mara  of  Limerick.  In  1782,  this  wandering  harp  came  into  the  pos- 
session of  the  Right  Honorable  William  Coningham,  the  father  of  the 
marquis  of  that  name,  who  was  such  a  favorite  with  George  the  Fourth, 


THE    HARP    OF    TARA.  223 

king  of  England.  The  marquis,  to  his  credit,  with  a  view  of  fixing 
the  future  residence  of  the  immortal  harp  of  Brien,  placed  it  in  the 
museum  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin.  When  George  the  Fourth  visited 
that  city,  he  touched  the  single  remaining  wire-string  which  so  often, 
with  its  lost  companions,  sped  the  voice  of  melody  into  heroic  souls, 
under  the  masterly  hand  of  the  great  Brien.  This  far-famed  harp  is 
thirty-two  inches  high,  and  of  extraordinarily  good  workmanship.  The 
sounding-board  is  of  oak ;  the  arm  and  curved  pillar  of  red  sally  ;  the 
point  of  the  arm  is  capped  with  silver,  extremely  well  wrought  and 
chiseled  ;  it  contains  a  large  and  rich  crystal,  set  in  silver,  and  there 
was  another  stone,  now  lost ;  the  ornamental  knobs  at  the  side  are  of 
silver ;  on  the  arm  are  the  arms  of  the  O'Brien  family  chased  in  silver, 
the  bloody  hands  supported  by  lions.  On  the  sides  of  the  curved 
pillar  are  carved  two  Irish  wolf  dogs  ;  the  holes  of  the  sounding- 
board,  where  the  strings  entered,  are  ornamented  with  escutcheons  of 
brass,  carved  and  gilt.  This  harp  has  twenty-eight  keys,  and  as  many 
string-holes ;  consequently  there  were  twenty-eight  strings.  The  foot- 
piece,  or  rest,  is  broken  off,  and  the  parts  to  which  it  was  joined  are  very 
rotten.    The  whole  bears  evidence  of  an  accomplished  and  expert  artist. 

Brien,  the  great  hero,  was  passionately  fond  of  music,  and  used  this 
harp  in  his  convivial  hours,  as  w'ell  as  in  private,  to  solace  the  troubles 
of  his  great  soul.  Its  remembrance,  presented  in  the  above  sketch, 
may  quicken  some  spirit  amongst  us  into  activity  in  behalf  of  the  per- 
secuted land  of  Brien,  Sarsfield,  Emmett,  Tone,  Fitzgerald,  and 
O'Connell.  And  when  Ireland  shall  be  again  what  nature  intended 
her  to  be,  that  harp  shall  be  taken  into  her  senate,  restrung,  and  shall 
sound  again  the  accents  of  the  free. 

The  harp  presented  by  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  to  a  young  Scotch 
lady,  is  of  lighter  construction  than  Brien's,  and  has  thirty  strings,  but 
of  nearly  the  same  form. 

Mr.  Gunn,  in  his  Inquiry,  has  the  followmg  pretty  passage :  — 

"I  have  been  favored  with  a  copy  of  an  ancient  Gaelic  poem,  to- 
gether with  the  music  to  which  it  is  still  sung  in  the  Highlands,  in 
which  the  poet  personifies  and  addresses  a  very  old  harp,  by  asking 
what  had  become  of  its  former  lustre?  The  harp  replies,  that  it  be- 
longed to  a  king  of  Ireland,  and  had  been  present  at  many  a  royal 
banquet ;  that  it  had  afterwards  been  successively  in  the  possession  of 
Dargo,  of  Gaul,  of  Fillan,  of  Oscar,  of  O'Duine,  of  Diasmod,  of  a 
physician,  of  a  bard,  and,  lastly,  of  a  priest,  who,  in  a  secluded  corner, 
was  '  meditating  on  a  white  book.'  " 


224  MOORE    REVIVES    THE    MUSIC    OF    IRELAND. 

About  the  year  1750,  the  musical  glasses,  since  improved  into  the 
harmonica,  were  invented  by  Richard  Pockrich,  an  Irishman,  a  name 
which,  Campbell  says,  ought  not  to  be  lost  to  the  lovers  of  harmony. 
With  the  celestial  tones  of  this  instrument,  the  sweetest  within  the 
compass  of  melody,  Mr.  Pockrich  once  so  charmed  two  bailiffs  sent  to 
arrest  him,  that  they  became  incapable  of  executing  their  office.  He 
was  born  to  a  good  estate  in  the  county  of  Monohan,  in  Ireland,  but 
outlived  his  property,  and  died  poor. 

The  terrible  and  unfortunate  revolution  of  1798  again  saturated  the 
fields  of  Ireland  with  blood.  The  spirit  of  liberty,  of  poetry,  and  of  music, 
which  began  to  grow  up  in  Ireland,  was  almost  extinguished  in  the 
purest  blood  of  her  people.  A  few  years  of  death-like  gloom  succeeded 
that  bloody  era.  At  length,  Moore  began  to  write.  His  lyrical  scraps, 
fluno-  on  the  waves  of  public  sentiment,  burned  on  the  surface  like  the 
phosphoric  stars  that  follow  a  ship's  track  over  the  ocean.  His  senti- 
ment, breathed  through  the  most  beautiful  language,  penetrated  the 
hearts  of  the  people,  and  created  within  them  something  like  itself. 
He  found  his  songs  sung  to  the  old  popular  airs  of  the  country,  and 
this  induced  him  to  set  about  adapting  a  series  of  songs  to  a  portion,  at 
least,  of  the  national  melodies.  With  this  view,  he  obtained  the  coop- 
eration of  Sir  John  Stephenson,  the  eminent  musical  composer  of  that 
period.  Sir  John  and  himself  made  a  musical  tour  through  the  interior 
of  Ireland,  and  heard  the  old  songs  sung,  and  the  old  airs  played,  by  the 
country  people  and  the  wandering  musicians,  whether  harpers,  pipers, 
or  fiddlers.  A  gathering  was  thus  made  from  the  ruins  of  our  national 
music.  Several  of  those  airs  have  been  rendered  still  more  popular  by 
the  beauty  of  language  or  sentiment  with  which  Moore  reclothed  them. 
Sufficient  has  been  rescued  by  diose  two  patriotic  gentlemen  to  attract 
the  admiration  of  Europe. 

On  the  publication  of  Moore's  Melodies,  in  the  years  1809  to  1812, 
they  immediately  won  unbounded  popularity.  They  were  sung  in 
every  drawing-room,  and  charmed  every  circle.  They  passed  over  to 
Britain,  and  won  from  our  proud  invaders  the  tribute  which  they  so 
richly  merited.  The  lament  of  Erin,  through  her  poetry  and  her  music, 
extorted  a  tear  from  their  flinty  hearts,  as  beautifully  expressed  by  Moore 
himself. 

"The  stranger  shall  hear  thy  lament  on  his  plains, 
The  sigh  of  thy  harp  shall  he  sent  o'er  tlie  deep, 
Till  thy  masters  themselves,  as  they  rivet  thy  chains, 
Shall  pause  at  the  song  of  their  captive,  and  weep." 


GENERAL    REVIVAL    OF    IRISH    MUSIC.  225 

The  Melodies  of  Moore  worked  miracles  in  the  national  sentiment, 
which,  indeed,  they  may  be  said  to  have  created.  Their  melody  and 
their  passion  awoke  the  soul  of  Ireland  from  the  torpor  of  slavery. 

O'Connell  felt  the  sentiment  growing  up  around  him  which  Moore's 
poetry  created,  and  never  failed  to  point  his  speeches  against  tyranny 
with  the  stings  supplied,  in  endless  profusion,  by  the  accomplished  bard. 

The  music  of  Ireland,  from  this  date,  began  to  revive  rapidly :  it  was 
introduced  into  the  theatre  in  overtures  and  musical  interludes.  Even 
the  bands  of  the  British  regiments  studied  and  played  it.  The  88th, 
commonly  called  the  Connaught  Rangers,  marched  to  the  batde-ground 
of  Waterloo  to  the  airs  of  "  Garryowen  "  and  "  Patrick's  Day,"  and 
did  not  fall  there  from  shots  received  in  their  backs. 

These  Melodies  and  music  were  published  in  six  European  languages 
—  a  splendid  evidence  of  their  excellence.  When  the  gatherings  of 
Moore  and  Sir  John  Stephenson  made  so  great  an  impression  in  England 
and  throughout  the  continent,  some  of  the  Scotch  writers,  with  their  usual 
love  of  country,  claimed  many  of  the  airs  as  theirs,  upon  the  ground  of 
these  airs  having  been  familiar  in  the  Highlands  time  out  of  mind.  Lord 
Kaimes  is  positive  that  those  airs  called  the  old  Scots^  tunes,  were 
originally  Irish  compositions,  which  James  the  First,  who  was  himself  a 
good  musician,  had  adapted  to  the  church  service ;  and  Pope  had  previ- 
ously called  Ireland  the  motlier  of  sweet  singers.  It  is  hardly  necessary 
to  enter  into  a  controversy  about  the  authorship  of  modem  Scotch  music, 
seeing  that  their  best  and  principal  airs  were  directly  taken  from  Ireland, 
as  admitted  by  their  own  writers. 

Even  modern  Italy  worked  into  her  musical  code  some  of  those  beau- 
tiful creations  of  Ireland,  which  Moore  had  clothed  with  such  fascinating 
drapery.  The  most  eminent  of  their  talented  sons  and  daughters  ad- 
mitted this :  Geminiani  declared  that  the  music  of  Ireland  could  not  be 
equalled  on  the  western  side  of  the  Alps ;  and  Handel  said  that  he  would 
rather  be  the  author  of  iEllin  a  Roon  than  of  the  best  of  his  own  com- 
positions. The  celebrated  Madame  Malibran  once  entranced  a  select 
party  in  London  by  an  Irish  composition,  so  altered  by  Italian  variations 
of  her  own  creating,  and  by  a  change  in  the  language,  that  they  did  not 
detect  the  original  basis  upon  which  madame  had  raised  her  beautiful 
fabric  of  sounds.  It  was  rapturously  applauded.  One  of  the  party 
ventured  to  ask  the  name  of  the  delightful  song.  She  replied,  to  their 
infinite  surprise,  with  much  naivete,  it  was  the  Irish  air  of  the  Coulin. 

Within  the  last  few  years,  several    Irish   musical   composers   have 
followed  in  the  path  beaten  out  by  Moore  and  Sir  John  Stephenson. 
29 


226  LOVEK. BALFE. SUCCESSFUL    COMPOSERS. 

Lover  stands  prominent  as  a  good  poet,  story-teller,  and  musical 
composer  —  a  true  specimen  of  the  old  Irish  bard.  His  popular  song?, 
"  A  baby  was  sleeping,"  the  "  Fairy  Boy,"  and  others,  have  stamped 
his  name  with  the  characteristics  of  poet  and  musician ;  and  his 
"  Rory  O'More "  is  literally  in  every  one's  memory,  both  in  the  old 
world  and  the  new.     Some  of  these  will  be  found  in  the  musical  pages. 

Balfe,  too,  has  shed  his  sentimental  beauties  on  the  stream  of  his 
country's  melody.  His  chief  productions  have  been  brought  before  the 
Dublin  and  London  musical  audiences,  in  the  shape  of  operas,  which 
have  won  alike  the  approbation  of  the  refined  and  scientific.  His  ''Bo- 
hemian Girl "  has  been  performed  many  successive  nights  in  New  York, 
winning  the  utmost  applause.  Mr.  Brooke  has  produced  some  operatic 
music  that  keeps  its  place  on  the  stage.  ' 

The  songs  of  the  writers  in  the  Dublin  Nation,  and  of  many  other 
compatriot  poets,  have  astonished  Europe  by  their  number,  power,  and 
beauty.  Some  of  these  will  be  found  in  this  work,  set  to  such  Irish  airs 
as  I  deemed  fitted  their  spirit  and  metre. 

The  spirit  which  now  animates  Ireland  seems  to  be  composed  as  well 
of  poetic  or  musical,  as  of  patriotic  and  martial  elements.  It  is  a  glo- 
rious spirit,  call  it  what  we  may.  Never  before  was  the  ark  of  liberty 
floated  by  a  prouder,  safer,  stronger  current.  Bishops  and  priests,  as  of 
old,  sing  the  songs  of  freedom.  The  towering  Machale  has  struck  the 
dearsah  of  Ireland,  and  the  lowly  priest  of  Drogheda,  Father  Burke, 
has  made  several  dearsahs  (harps)  of  the  size  of  the  harp  of  Tara. 
These  he  so  far  improved  that  the  harpers  taught  by  him,  who  play 
upon  them,  delight  the  social  circles,  as  of  old.  That  reverend  and 
patriotic  gentleman  has  established  a  musical  college  in  Drogheda,  and 
holds  an  annual  musical  festival,  at  which  many  harpers  attend  at  the 
contests  of  melody,  as  in  the  olden  days. 

With  the  return  of  liberty  to  the  Emerald  Isle,  her  music,  which  is  the 
genuine  language  of  happy  hearts,  shall  resume  its  throne  in  the  public 
mind,  and  create,  and  sustain  with  its  voice,  the  food  on  which  it 
lives. 

I  hope  to  be  excused  for  giving  so  many  pages  to  the  subject  of  music. 
As  a  passionate  admirer  of  the  divine  art,  I  conjecture  (erroneously  per- 
haps) that  others  will  be  pleased  to  dwell  on  that  which  fascinated  me. 
I  am  sure  there  is  a  principle  in  our  nature  that  acts  in  sympathetic 
union  with  a  concord  of  sweet  sounds.  Music  excites  the  most  tender 
and  refined,  as  well  as  the  most  powerful,  emotions  of  which  humanity 
is  susceptible.    In  the  church,  it  lifts  up, the  heart  to  a  community  with 


GENERAL.  EFFECTS  OF  MUSIC.  227 

God.  In  the  festive  assembly,  it  is  the  very  soul  from  which  delight 
radiates  on  all  within  its  influence.  In  the  camp,  it  is  the  best  symbol 
of  order  and  discipline.  In  the  combat,  it  is  more  inspiring  than  the 
commander's  voice.  At  military  funerals,  it  spreads  melancholy  and 
sorrow  on  all  around !  And  in  the  serenade,  the  voice  of  sweet 
music,  floating  on  the  midnight  breeze,  arouses  beauty  from  delectable 
dreams  to  a  reality  still  more  delightful ! 

The  best  play  in  the  theatre  would  go  lamely  off  without  appropriate 
music.  Children  can  be  kept  in  good  temper  by  the  lullaby  of  the 
nurse.  It  will  silence  their  cries,  dry  up  their  tears,  and  bring  sunshine 
into  their  little  eyes.  It  will  tame  the  vicious  horse  in  the  plough  more 
effectually  than  the  lash.  "  The  ploughman's  whistle  is  better  than  his 
goad."  In  the  cottage,  it  stirs  the  limbs  of  the  over-labored,  and  sets 
the  weary  heart  dancing.  The  aged  live  over  again  under  its  influ- 
ence, and  the  young  brighten  into  ecstasy.  On  the  high  and  giddy  mast, 
it  is  the  solace  of  the  seaman.  The  voice  of  his  own  song  cheers  the 
helmsman,  in  the  midnight  watch.  The  traveller  plods  his  way  more 
merrily  when  he  sings,  and  the  laborer,  by  the  same  means,  gets  rid  of 
half  his  toil. 

Tell  us,  ye  philosophic  few,  by  what  secret  means  are  all  our  faculties, 
physical  and  mental,  worked  upon  by  this  charmer?  In  what  way 
does  it  reach  the  valves  of  the  heart,  that  our  tears  gush  forth  or  recede 
at  its  bidding  ?  How  does  it  so  mix  with  the  blood,  that  it  stirs  to  frenzy, 
and,  anon,  calms  to  repose  ?  How  does  it  fasten  on  the  gristly  sinews 
and  muscles,  stiffening  them  up  to  supernatural  power,  which,  at  its 
pleasure,  it  again  relaxes  into  softened  inactivity  ?  How  does  its  subtile 
influence  steal  along  our  thrilling  nerves,  through  every  recess  and 
region  of  our  frame,  changing  our  features,  at  its  will,  into  joyful,  heroic, 
pious,  melancholy,  or  merry  combinations  ? 

It  flies  through  the  frame  more  rapidly  than  the  most  powerful  poison, 
or  its  antidote.  Would  it  not  be  a  powerful  auxiliary  to  the  phy- 
sician in  restoring  the  convalescent,  or  even  assuaging  the  pains  of 
the  sick  ?  View  this  component  part  of  our  nature  whichsoever  way 
we  will,  it  appears  to  me  to  be  a  highly-important  gift  from  our  Creator, 
conferred  upon  us,  like  speech  itself,  for  our  happiness.  If  we  neglect 
its  cultivation,  or  reject  its  use,  we  deprive  ourselves  of  a  portion,  at 
least,  of  that  earthly  pleasure  which  God  conferred  upon  Adam  and 
Eve  before  their  fall,  and  which,  in  his  mercy,  he  permitted  to  remain 
with  man  to  sustain  him  through  the  labors  and  miseries  attendant  on 
our  fallen  nature. 


228  ATTEMPT    TO    DEFINE    MUSIC. 

"Harmony  from  heaven  descended, 
Soaring  first  when  chaos  ended, 
And  through  time  and  space  extended 
Heaven's  first  decree. 

The  very  soul  itself  refining, 
All  that's  great  and  good  combining, 
God,  and  man,  and  angels,  joining, 
Hail  thee.  Harmony  ! " 

Music  is,  in  reality,  simple.  Nature  gives  forth  its  own  melody, 
which  can  be  regulated  by  a  few  general  rules,  so  as  to  affect  the  hearts 
of  the  majority  of  those  who  hear  it.  1  have  ventured  to  define  its 
nature  in  my  section  on  the  bards,  which  I  shall  here  repeat.  Poetry 
is  the  regulated  effervescence  of  the  brain.  It  is  part  of  the  excitement 
which  takes  place  beyond  the  demands  for  natural  wants,  and  thus  dis- 
plays itself  in  flights  called  imagination.  Good  poetry  is  the  able  display 
oi feeling,  and  good  prose  the  able  display  of  fact,  correct  reasoning, 
and  acquired  knowledge. 

Music  is  the  more  sublimated  expression  of  human  feeling.  Its  effect 
depends  upon  the  power  and  variation  of  the  sounds  which  convey  it. 
It  is  an  agreeable  stream  of  well-contrasted  sounds,  formed  according  to 
the  standard  of  the  human  voice,  in  a  natural  key,  continually  varying 
from  that  key  to  a  lower  or  higher  pitch,  but  uttered  in  a  manner  agree- 
able to  the  oi'gans  of  hearing,  or  the  seat  of  sensations  in  the  brain. 
Music,  like  language,  delights  in  simple  sounds ;  yet  refinement,  as  it 
proceeds,  sanctions  a  skilful  deviation  from  simple  sound  as  the  acme 
of  science.  An  ear  accustomed  or  educated  to  these  deviations,  must 
be  continually  fed  by  like  sounds,  for  it  sickens  at  the  pure  voice  of 
nature.  In  the  same  way  does  the  appetite  of  one  who  has  been  fed 
from  childhood  on  compound  cookery  —  on  food  tortured  from  its  natu- 
ral flavor  by  every  imaginable  invention  —  sicken  against  plain  meats, 
presented  in  their  original  elements. 

Instrumental  music  requires  much  more  study,  and  many  more  rules, 
to  form  it,  than  vocal,  because  the  effort  is  an  artificial  imitation  of  nature, 
and  approaches  nearer  to  perfection,  as  it  imitates  nature  more  exactly. 
In  proportion  as  our  musical  taste  —  that  is,  the  sense  of  hearing  and 
discriminating  —  becomes  accustomed  to  deviations  from  the  pure  sounds 
of  nature,  the  pleasure  we  derive  from  pure  melody  is  diminished.  This 
refinement  may  be  said  to  remove  the  ear  so  far  from  the  heart,  that  the 
essence  of  music  (melody)  cannot  reach  it.  Most  of  the  scientific 
music  which  we  hear,  is  calculated  only  to  display  the  brilliant  execution 


STYLE    OF    THE    FASHIONABLE    PERFORMERS.  229 

of  the  performer,  and  to  occasion  a  gentle  titillation  in  the  organs  of 
hearing;  and  many  of  the  great  masters  who  perform  on  the  violin,  harp, 
bugle,  or  piano-forte,  to  hear  whom  we  pay  high  prices,  seem  to  disdain 
the  use  of  melody  altogether,  and  to  be  ashamed  to  be  supposed  capable, 
or  accustomed,  to  play  a  simple  tune  as  it  was  originally  composed. 
Their  performances  consist  of  flourishes  on  their  instrument,  displaying 
the  effect  of  great  practice,  but  shedding  out  none  of  that  soul  of  music, 
which  the  poet  conceived  and  expressed  in  the  following  familiar  and 
immortal  distich :  — 

"  Music  hath  charms  to  soothe  the  savage  breast, 
To    soften  rocks  and   bend  the  knotted  oak." 

But  the  music  we  are  accustomed  to  hear  at  some  of  the  fashionable 
concerts  is  certainly  not  of  that  nature.  The  performers,  for  the  most 
part,  come  before  the  audience  as  if  it  were  only  for  the  purpose  of 
tuning  their  instruments,  and  to  show  what  they  could  do,  if  they  had 
a  mind.  They  run  up  and  down  the  scale  in  capricious  phantasies,  and 
when  we  think  they  are  about  to  commence,  they  make  an  obeisance  and 
retire,  amid  thunders  of  applause.  —  "  O  !  there  be  players  that  I  have 
heard  play,  —  and  heard  others  praise,  and  that  highly, —  that,  having 
neither  the  tones  of  music,  nor  the  soul  of  music,  have  so  strutted  and 
puffed,  so  strained  their  instruments,  and  split  our  ears,  that  I  have 
thought  some  of  nature's  journeymen  had  made  them,  and  not  made 
them  well,  they  imitated  nature  so  abominably." 

Complication  in  music  advances  with  the  musical  education  of  the 
ear.  The  grave  and  sober  Correlli  and  Arne  gave  way  to  Haydn 
and  Mozart,  who,  in  turn,  gave  way  to  Beethoven  and  Rossini ;  but 
mehdy  belongs  to  the  imagination,  and  not  to  science ;  it  belongs  to 
nature,  and  not  to  art.  Some  are  well  skilled  in  the  complication  of 
music,  but  are  not  gifted  with  melody ;  or  rather  that  melody,  originally 
planted  in  their  hearts  by  nature,  has  been  extinguished  by  a  scientific 
violation  of  her  laws.  They  cannot  be  called  musicians,  but  are 
merely  dexterous  players.  Musicians  of  this  character  will  never, 
they  may  depend  on  it,  "bend  the  knotted  oak,"  or  "soothe  the 
savage  breast." 

Gardiner,  in  his  Music  of  Nature,  analyzes  the  components  of  sound, 
and  examines  the  organs  of  hearing.  I  will  endeavor  to  make  plainer, 
while  I  extract,  a  few  of  his  subtile  but  valuable  ideas.  Sound  and 
light,  or  tones  and  colors,  are  produced  by  two  different  affections  of  the 
very  same  medium ;  every  sound  is  a  mixture  of  three  tones,  just  as  a 
ray  of  light  is  of  three  colors ;  the  union  of  the  key  note  with  the  fifth 


230  NATURE    OF    SOUND. 

and  octave  is  the  common  chord.  The  diatonic  scale  is  the  prism  of 
sound.  White  light  may  be  decomposed  into  three  colors ;  and  every 
sound  is  a  compound  of  three  tones.  Atoms  of  oxygen  and  nitrogen  in 
conjunction  may  produce  one  tone  or  color,  oxygen  another  lone  or  color, 
and  nitrogen  a  third  tone  or  color.  One  is  the  excitement  or  propulsion 
of  atoms  called  light,  and  the  other  the  propulsion  of  a  gross  volume 
called  sound.  The  atmosphere  will  affect  both.  It  will  affect  espe- 
cially the  human  voice,  which  oftentimes  has  to  contend,  in  thronged 
rooms,  against  a  dense  volume  of  vapor,  in  which  the  vital  gases  have 
been  consumed  by  the  frequent  respiration  of  the  same  volume  of  air. 
And  if  the  singer  has  been  unused,  for  some  time  previously,  to  the 
enjoyment  of  fresh  air,  in  which  oxygen  and  nitrogen  shall  be  fully 
represented,  the  voice  will  lack  that  elasticity  which  is  necessary  to 
strike  vigorously  on  the  atmosphere,  and  produce  a  pure,  clear  sound. 

Every  vibration  and  propulsion  of  atoms,  in  the  aerial  elements,  in- 
cludes, on  examination,  the  prismatic  and  diatonic  scales.  Both  scales 
are  chemical,  and  are  produced  by  the  very  atoms  which  produce  all 
our  chemical  and  electrical  phenomena :  the  scales  are  similar,  because 
they  are  the  measures  of  the  effects  upon  the  same  sensorium.  The 
figures  agree,  since  a  volume  of  five  parts  of  atmospheric  air  is  four 
measures  of  nitrogen  and  one  oxygen,  and  every  sound  is  composed  of 
the  fundamental  note,  its  fifth,  and  octave,  whose  square  is  twenty-five 
and  one  hundred,  or  one  to  four. 

Sound  arises  from  vibrations  of  the  air,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  vibra- 
tions in  the  water  of  a  musical  glass,  and  by  the  affections  of  light  bodies 
laid  on  strings  in  concord,  and  they  may  be  felt  by  the  vibrations  of  all 
instruments.  Sound  affects  particles  of  dust,  or  the  animalcule  seen  in 
a  sunbeam.  The  delicacy  and  intensity  with  which  the  vibrations  of 
sound  reach  the  ear,  prove  the  fulness  of  space  in  aerial  atoms.  We 
distinguish  tones,  says  Phillips,  when  the  vibrations  are  seven  thousand 
in  a  second.  The  lowest  tone  which  the  ear  can  discriminate  is,  ac- 
cording to  some,  twelve  and  a  half  undulations  in  a  second,  to  others 
thirty,  and  the  most  acute,  above  seven  thousand.  Every  ear  differs 
from  another  in  its  powers  of  sensibility  or  accuracy.  The  harmonies 
of  one  sound  are  the  separate  effects  of  different  parts  of  the  string. 
Water  is  a  better  conductor  of  sound  than  air ;  wood  also  is  a  powerful 
conductor  of  sound,  and  so  is  flannel  or  ribbon.  Deaf  persons  may 
converse  through  deal  rods  held  between  the  teeth,  or  held  to  their 
throat  or  breast.  The  best  form  for  a  concert  room,  or  speaking  hall,  is 
an  oblong,  or  double  cube ;  the  fewer  elliptical  surfaces  the  better ;  and 


ORGANS    OF    HEARING. MECHANISM    OF    THE    THROAT,    &;C.     231 

the  roof  or  ceiling  should  be  finished  quite  plainly,  and  perfectly  semi- 
circular. An  echo  returns  a  monosyllable  at  seventy  feet  distance,  and 
another  syllable  at  every  forty  feet  distance.  All  sound  appears  to  be 
echo  or  reflection ;  and  if  not  a  distinct  echo,  it  is  only  for  want  of  dis- 
tance. The  speaker,  or  performer,  should  stand  at  the  end,  and  not 
at  the  side,  of  a  room.  If  the  room  be  square,  as  many  are,  he 
should  get  towards  a  comer,  and  send  his  tones  towards  the  corner  oppo- 
site to  that  in  which  he  stands.  Public  speakers  derive  great  advantage 
from  the  practice  of  singing.  Effective  speakers  modulate  the  tones  of 
their  voice,  agreeably  to  the  true  principles  of  music,  though  frequently 
knowing  little  of  the  science  which  governs  those  principles.  The 
words  should  be  chosen,  like  notes  in  music,  of  all  lengths  :  the  adagios 
of  Haydn  and  Beethoven  are,  like  passages  of  Milton  and  Shak- 
speare,  made  of  words  slow  and  rapid. 

The  sense  of  hearing  arises  from,  or  is  regulated  by,  an  expansion  of 
nerves  into  the  inner  chamber  of  the  ear,  and  these  receive  the  vibra- 
tions of  the  tympanum — a  strained  membrane.  This  elastic  membrane 
is  damped  by  a  small  bone  called  the  mallet;  but,  like  a  drum,  it  will  not 
transmit  to  the  brain  two  loud  sounds  in  immediate  succession.  These 
delicate  organs  are  pleased  with  a  succession  of  pure  sounds,  varied  in 
their  length,  loudness,  and  tone.  The  pleasure  can  be  increased  by 
tormenting  them  for  a  moment  with  discords,  or  harsh  or  flat  tones, 
returning  again  to  the  same  sweet  notes  in  which  they  delighted,  or  to 
others  in  a  higher  or  lower  strain,  agreeably  to  the  key  on  which  the 
air  is  constructed.  The  key  is  the  bass  or  centre  of  any  system  of 
notes,  and  gives  character  to  the  composition.  Old  songs  were  com- 
posed in  G  minor.  When  F  is  made  the  key  or  bass  of  any  melody, 
the  effect  is  rich  and  grave ;  but  its  relative,  D  minor,  is  more  sombre. 
C  is  bold  and  energetic,  and  its  relative,  A  minor,  is  similar,  but  plaintive. 
G  is  gay  and  lively,  but  its  relative,  E  minor,  soft  and  tender.  D  is 
grand- and  lofty,  but  its  relative,  B  minor,  complaining.  A  is  glowing, 
but  F  sharp  minor  mournful.  The  sharps  of  E  are  brilliant  and  spar- 
kling. The  sharps  of  B  are  piercing.  B  flat  is  dull,  and  G  minor 
melancholy.  E  flat  is  mellow  and  soft,  and  C  minor  complaining; 
A  flat,  delicate  and  tender,  but  its  relative,  F  minor,  gloomy.  D  flat 
major  is  solemn  and  awful. 

The  point  of  action  in  the  voice  is  in  the  throat,  and  level  with  the 
hair  in  the  back  of  the  neck.  As  singers  raise  or  lower  this  point,  the 
tone  is  harsh,  hard,  thick,  throaty,  and  guttural.  High  notes  are  produced 
by  lessening  the  aperture  and   increasing  the  velocity  of  the  breath. 


232  WIND    INSTRUMENTS. 

If  the  lowest  notes  would  permit  the  passage  of  a  billiard  ball,  the 
highest  should  permit  but  a  pea.  The  notes  of  the  musical  scale  are 
formed  by  the  contraction  or  enlargement  of  the  rima  glottidis,  an 
aperture  in  the  larynx,  over  the  windpipe.  In  the  passage  leading  from 
the  mouth  to  the  lungs,  just  within  the  part  of  the  neck  where  "  Eve's 
apple  "  protrudes,  are  situated  two  sets  or  pairs  of  muscles,  one  of  them 
about  an  inch  above  the  other,  of  a  half-moon  shape,  thick  and  attached 
at  their  circumference,  but  thin  and  pendulous  in  the  centre  of  the  pas- 
sage. These  muscles  are  situated  so  nearly  at  opposite  sides,  that,  when 
the  air,  in  passing  out  from  the  lungs,  causes  them  to  vibrate,  they  nearly 
close  the  opening.  The  vibrations  of  these  muscles  produce  sounds  just 
as  the  strings  of  the  viol  produce  them  when  vibrating  under  the  bow.  It 
is  like  the  reed  in  wind  instruments,  but  susceptible  of  the  most  delicate 
variations.  So  astonishingly  great  is  the  number  of  these  vibrations,  that 
it  is  now  believed  the  human  voice  is  capable  of  one  thousand  changes, 
perceptible  to  a  musical  ear.  These  changes  are  all  produced  by  the  ac- 
tion of  these  muscles,  in  obedience  to  volition,  or  at  will ;  they  are  greatly 
strengthened,  and  capable  of  surprising  modification  by  exercise ;  it  is 
said  that  some  voices  are  able  to  give  two  to  three  hundred  changes  in 
one  breath.  Braham,  Farinelli,  and  Mrs.  Wood,  could  give  three  hon' 
dred  without  drawing  breath ;  but  these  are  prodigies.  Ordinary  good 
voices  are  exhausted  by  fifty. 

The  human  voice  is  governed  by  the  laws  which  apply  to  wind  in- 
struments. The  throat  is  the  tube,  and  the  chest  and  lungs  the  wind- 
bag. By  pressing  the  wind  through  the  aperture  in  the  throat,  (already 
described,)  subject  to  a  variety  of  compressions,  in  its  passage,  the  music, 
with  all  its  variations,  is  obtained.  Ferlandi  played  on  an  oboe  with 
one  leather  joint,  by  twisting  which  he  imitated  the  tones  of  the  human 
windpipe.  But  the  human  pipe  exceeds,  for  variety  and  delicacy,  all 
the  pipes  ever  invented.  The  reason  why  we  always  have  the  same 
sound  from  organ-pipes  is,  because  they  are  always  blown  by  a  bellows, 
with  a  certain  weight  thereon,  and  therefore  the  sound  is  the  same. 

It  appears  that,  by  lengthening  the  trombone,  in  the  middle  of  a  note, 
the  force  of  the  breath  being  kept  the  same,  a  new  note  is  produced. 
Again,  the  trombone  can  be  drawn  out  and  made  to  produce  the  same 
note  by  blowing  differently  ;  that  is,  by  making  a  larger  a}>erture  in  the 
mouth,  and  blowing  with  less  force.  Those  who  sing  will  always 
derive  advantage  from  considering  these  general  principles  —  principles 
which,  if  applied  to  the  exercise  of  the  voice,  cannot  fail  to  produce 
full,  melodious,  and  correct  tones.     These  rules  apply  generally  to  the 


Moore's  suggestions  for  singing  his  melodies.  233 

flute,  clarionet,  and  all  wind  instruments,  and  I  introduce  these  remarks 
to  give  a  clearer  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  human  instrument,  which 
every  one  is  blessed  with,  and  which  is  superior  to  all  others. 

The  Italians  call  the  lower  notes  the  voce  di  petto,  the  voice  of  the 
breast ;  and  the  higher  notes  the  voce  di  testa,  or  voice  of  the  head. 
The  former  is  called  the  language  of  the  heart ;  the  latter,  or  upper 
notes  in  men,  is  called  falsetto.  The  nose  and  roof  of  the  mouth  are 
the  sounding-board  of  the  voice.  The  teeth,  the  bridge  of  the  lips,  and 
tongue,  on  whose  activity,  form,  and  skilful  use,  depend  the  modulations 
of  tone,  —  the  speaking,  singing  voice,  —  is  a  machine  whose  use  children 
should  be  taught.  It  is  curious,  but  perfectly  true,  that  children  who 
are  nursed  by  a  woman  who  sings  in  their  infant  ears,  have  generally  a 
taste  for  music,  and  those  nursed  by  one  who  does  not  sing,  are  rarely 
ever  good  musicians.  So  delicate  is  the  nature  of  our  infant  sensibilities, 
that  we  partake  of  the  character  of  that  mental  or  spiritual  atmosphere 
into  which  we  first  respire. 

Persons  who  sing  before  assemblies  should  eat  very  little,  or  indeed 
nothing,  for  three  or  four  hours  ere  they  begin  :  keeping  the  stomach 
empty  enables  one  to  take  in  more  breath  at  a  draught.  Any  candies, 
preparations,  or  drinks,  that  stimulate  the  palate,  tongue,  &-c.,  are  bad. 
They  generally  beget  thirst,  which  creates  a  rough  surface  in  the  throat, 
tongue,  lips,  &,c.,  which  alters  the  tones  materially.  Cobbett  remarks  that, 
in  defending  himself  on  a  charge  of  libel,  he  spoke  six  hours  without 
ceasing,  —  refreshing  his  lips  and  throat  by  now  and  again  eating  a 
mouthful  of  common  suet. 

I  will  here  introduce  a  few  observations  from  Moore  and  some  others, 
on  the  style  in  which  the  sentimental  music  of  Ireland  should  be  sung 
and  played.  Rapidity  and  ornament  in  the  execution  kill  it.  I  have 
heard  too  many  murder  those  melodies  in  this  way. 

Let  us  hear  Moore  himself,  on  this:  "It  has  always  been  a  subject 
of  some  mortification  to  me,  that  my  songs,  as  they  are  set,  give  such  a 
very  imperfect  notion  of  the  manner  in  which  I  wish  them  to  be  per- 
formed, and  that  most  of  that  peculiarity  of  character  which  I  believe 
they  possess  as  I  sing  them  myself,  is  lost  in  the  process  they  must 
undergo  for  publication ;  but  the  truth  is,  that,  not  being  sufficiently 
practised  in  the  rules  of  composition  to  rely  upon  the  accuracy  of  my 
own  harmonic  arrangements,  I  am  obliged  to  submit  my  rude  sketches  to 
the  eyes  of  a  professor  before  they  can  encounter  the  criticism  of  the 
musical  world,  and,  as  it  too  frequently  happens  that  they  are  indebted 
for  their  originality  to  the  violation  of  some  established  law,  the   hand 

that  corrects  their  errors  is  almost  sure  to  destroy  their  character,  and 
30 


234  Willis's  description  of  moore's  singing. 

the  few  little  flowers  they  boast  are  pulled  away  with  the  weeds.  In 
singing  them  myself,  however,  I  pay  no  such  deference  to  criticism,  but 
usually  give  both  air  and  harmony  according  to  my  own  first  conception 
of  them,  with  all  their  original  faults,  but,  at  the  same  time,  all  their 
original  freshness.  I  know  I  shall  be  told,  by  the  learned  musician, 
that  whatever  infringes  the  rules  of  composition  must  be  disagreeable  to 
the  ear,  and  that,  according  to  the  pure  ethics  of  the  art,  nothing  can 
possibly  be  pleasant  that  is  wrong;  but  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  am 
lawless  enough  to  disagree  with  him,  and  have  sometimes  been  even  so 
lost  to  all  sense  of  musical  rectitude,  as  to  take  pleasure  in  a  profane 
succession  of  fifths."  *  *  *  "  Wherever  I  have  been  content  tore- 
main  simply  in  the  key  in  which  I  began,  without  wandering  from  home 
in  search  of  discords  and  chromatics,  I  have  not  only  been  independent 
of  critical  aid,  but  the  strains  I  have  produced  were  much  more 
touching  and  effective. 

"  There  is  but  one  instruction  T  should  venture  to  give  to  any  person 
desirous  of  doing  justice  to  the  character  of  these  ballads,  and  that  is,  to 
attend  as  little  as  possible  to  the  rhythm,  or  time  in  singing  them.  The 
time,  indeed,  should  always  be  made  to  wait  upon  the  feehng,  but  par- 
ticularly in  this  style  of  musical  recitation,  where  the  words  ought  to 
be  as  nearly  spoken  as  is  consistent  with  the  swell  and  sweetness 
of  intonation,  and  where  a  strict  and  mechanical  observance  of  time 
completely  destroys  all  those  pauses,  lingerings,  and  abruptnesses,  which 
the  expression  of  passion  and  tenderness  requires.  The  truth  of  this 
remark  needs  but  little  enforcement  to  those  who  have  ever  heard  a  song 
of  feeling  and  delicacy  passed  along  in  the  unrelenting  trammels  of  an 
orchestra." 

Willis,  in  his  Pencilings,  describes  an  interview  he  had  with  Moore, 
while  in  London,  at  Lady  Blessington's.  It  portrays  the  effect  of 
Moore's  singing  in  few  words,  and  in  a  practical  way. 

"We  went  up  to  coffee,  and  Moore  brightened  again  over  his  chasse 
cafe,  and  went  glittering  on  with  criticisms  on  Grisi,  Pasta,  and  others 
of  the  choral  goddesses  now  ravishing  the  worid.  This  introduced 
music  very  naturally,  and,  with  a  good  deal  of  difficulty,  he  was  taken  to 
the  piano.  Its  effect  is  only  equalled  by  the  beauty  of  his  own  words  ; 
and  for  one,  I  could  have  taken  him  into  my  heart,  with  my  delight. 
He  makes  no  attempt  at  music.  It  is  a  kind  of  admirable  recitative,  in 
which  every  shade  of  thought  is  syllabled  and  dwelt  upon,  and  the  sen- 
timent of  the  song  goes  through  your  blood,  warming  you  to  the  very 
eyelids,  and  starting  your  tears,  if  you  have  soul  or  sense  in  you.  I 
have  heard  of  women's  fainting  at  a  song  of  Moore's,  and  if  the  burden 


EFFECT    OF    AN    IRISH    TUNE    ON    A    BOSTON    AUDIENCE.  235 

of  it  answered  by  chance  to  a  secret  In  the  bosom  of  the  listener,  I 
should  think,  fronn  its  comparative  effect  upon  so  old  a  stager  as  myself, 
that  the  heart  would  break  with  it. 

"  We  all  sat  round  the  piano,  and,  after  two  or  three  songs  of  Lady 
Blessington's  choice,  he  rambled  over  the  keys  awhile,  and  sang  '  When 
first  I  met  thee  warm  and  young '  with  a  pathos  that  beggars  descrip- 
tion. When  the  last  word  had  faltered  out,  he  rose  and  took  Lady  B.'s 
hand,  said  '  Good  night,'  and  was  gone  before  a  word  was  uttered.  For 
a  full  minute  alter  he  had  closed  the  door,  no  one  spoke.  I  could  have 
wished,  for  myself,  to  drop  silently  asleep  where  I  sat,  with  the  tears  in 
my  eyes,  and  the  softness  upon  my  heart." 

I  remember  well  the  effect  of  those  melodies  on  a  theatre  full  of  all 
sorts  of  people,  in  Dublin.  I  was  in  the  theatre  on  the  night  of 
Moore's  visit,  in  the  spring  of  1838.  He  sat  in  one  of  the  dress  boxes. 
There  were  with  him  Lady  Morgan,  Counsellor  Finlay.  Mr.  and  Miss 
Kelly,  and  other  friends  of  his  youth.  The  airs  which  he  had  gathered 
and  immortalized  were  played  successively  before  him  by  the  orchestra, 
in  a  beautiful  medley.  At  each  change  from  one  well-known  air  to 
another,  the  audience  poured  forth  a  peal  of  unbridled  applause.  It 
affected  him  thoroughly.  It  was  a  delightful,  and  at  the  same  time  a 
melancholy  moment.  The  remembrance  came  upon  us  of  some  who 
loved  those  tunes,  now  in  the  cold  grave ;  of  the  hopes  of  freedom 
breathed  by  the  bard  yet  unrealized  ;  of  the  chains  of  slavery  yet  hang- 
ing round  us.  He  spoke,  —  for  the  audience  would  have  him  speak,  — 
but  he  could  say  little ;  his  gestures  were  more  eloquent  than  the  tongue 
of  any  man ;  he  alluded  to  his  origin  —  Irish  ;  his  heart  —  Irish ;  his 
songs  —  Irish,  which  had  passed  into  the  languages  of  six  nations ; 
which  were  sung  on  the  banks  of  the  Vistula,  the  Rhine,  the  Ganges, 
the  St.  Lawrence,  as  well  as  the  Shannon.  Peal  upon  peal  of  applause 
followed.  The  curtain  drew  up  for  the  afterpiece.  I  shall  never  forget 
that  night,  or  the  effect  of  that  proud  swell  of  my  country's  music. 

At  one  of  the  most  fashionable  concerts  that  ever  took  place  in 
Boston,  which  was  given  by  the  celebrated  violinist  Ole  Bull.,  at  the 
Melodeon,  on  the  27th  May,  1844,  he  played  the  Irish  melody,  "  The 
last  rose  of  summer."  It  was  encored.  The  same  air  was  then 
played,  by  that  musical  prodigy  Master  Hughes,  on  the  harp,  and  it  was 
again  encored.  Perhaps,  in  the  history  of  music,  such  an  excitement 
never  was  produced  on  an  audience  as  that  produced  by  the  masterly 
execution  of  this  simple  Irish  melody  by  these  two  genuine  mastei"s 
of  the  human  heart.  There  were  nearly  two  thousand  of  the  most 
respectable  citizens  of  Boston,  who  witnessed  that  fact. 


236  horncastle's  collection. 

I  append  one  more  attestation  to  the  same  general  purpose  from  an 
English  musician,  the  leader  of  her  majesty's  sacred  choir.  I  extract  it 
from  the  London  Sun  of  October  18,  1844.  "Mr.  Homcastle,  of  the 
Queen's  Chapel  Royal,  has  published  a  volume  entitled  the  '  Music  of 
Ireland'  —  a  collection  of  beautiful,  perhaps  matchless  melodies.  The 
service  which  the  composer  has  rendered  to  music,  and  even  to  ethnol- 
c^,  by  the  preservation  and  publication  of  those  exquisite  relics  of 
cmdent  science  and  refinement,  is  enhanced  by  his  judicious  as  well  as 
reverential  abstinence  from  attempts  at  improving  perfection.  In  this 
respect,  he  stands  very  much  above  his  predecessor  in  the  same  field, 
Sir  John  Stevenson ;  for  he  at  once  admits  that  the  old  music  of  Ire- 
land, as  it  is  found,  is  not  the  wild  effusion  of  a  rude  and  simple  people, 
but  is  the  production  of  a  school  in  a  high  degree  methodized,  skilful, 
and  cultivated.  The  Irish  keine,  according  to  Mr.  Homcastle,  is  a 
noble  and  most  expressive  piece  of  music.  These  keines  serve  as 
examples  of  the  most  beautiful  harmonic  composition,  and  prove,  be- 
yond a  doubt,  that  music  in  those  early  ages  was  in  the  highest  state 
of  cultivation.  Yet  to  this  day,  the  humblest  of  the  people  are  the 
only  depositaries  of  these  great  works.  There  is  a  close  affinity  existing 
between  the  poetry  of  the  Latins  and  that  of  the  Irish.  The  first  ode 
of  Horace  is  perfectly  adapted  as  written  for  the  Irish  melody  of  '  I 
am  asleep,  and  don't  waken  me.'  It  may  be  worth  asking.  Did  Horace 
know  and  use  the  Irish  tune  ? " 

The  foregoing  confirms,  in  a  striking  manner,  the  opinion  to  a  like 
effect  recorded  by  Dr.  Burney,  as  follows:  "It  is  certain  that  the 
further  we  explore,  while  yet  any  light  remains,  the  more  highly  is 
Irish  border  minstrelsy  extolled.  The  oldest  Irish  tunes  are  said  to 
be  the  most  perfect."  —  Burnefs  Music;  Historical  and  Critical 
Dissertation  on  the  Harp. 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


237 


STRIKE    THE    HARP    TO    ERIN'S    GLORY! 

MUSIC     AND     WORDS     BY    T.    MOONEY. 


RESPECTFULLY    DEDICATED    TO    MISS    D- 


MONTREAL,   ON   HEARING   HER   PLAT 


(which    SHE    DID    DIVINELY)   AN    IRISH    MELODY    ON    THE    IRISH    HARP. 


^ 


:^=:^4 


1  I" 


-#.    #    i     #  _     _        _ 

1.     Strike  the  Harp   to     E  -  rin's  glory  !     Strike  the  Harp  to 


^m 


Ji 


r — »- 


r 


E  -  rin's  sto  -  ry  !  Strike  the  Harp    to  those    who  died  For 


-0-  -# 


fcbV 


-¥-!= 


r=i 


ij?; 


-f- 


'JJZl 


* 


E  -  rin's  hon  -  or,         E  -  rin's  pride  !    Strike  the  Harp  to 

0   -h- 


f 


is 


by 

^ 


gone 


15: 


:^3 


a    -    ges !        Strike     the     Harp     of 


i 


5t 


238 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


zins: 


t-^ 


^4?: 

-^-T 


T' 


1=^ 


:S~* 


ter  -  ni  -  ty,     They  call    on     E  -  rin      to     be  free ! 


«      ^ ^ ^  "2     It 

^-Fp^-£=p^=te-£=F-fff 


2. 

Now  our  swords  are  brightly  gleaming ! 

Now  our  banners  proudly  streaming ! 

Now  the  victory  is  won, 

And  Freedom  shouts,  "  They  run  !    they  run  ! " 

Now  our  hearts  are  proudly  swelling! 

Now  the  tyrant's  death  is  knelling ! 

Hark !    that  shout,  across  the  sea, 

Tells  us  Erin  now  is  free ! 

Hark !   that  shout,  across  the  sea, 

Tells  us,  Erin  now  is  free ! 


KATE    KEARNEY. 


1.     O,    did     you  not    hear     of  Kate  Kearney? 


She 


^±^ 

-—8^ 


:& 


:izz£ 


-^ 


-9~» 


t£E=nE3i: 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


239 


-#- 


im— 


pi-i^Ew^^^jiE 


lives     on      the     banks  of      Kil  -  lar  -  ney ;  From  the 


ZCZZL 


3EE£: 


itpiifizpzi' 


— a^^ 


~#- 


— ^ 


:g=t=:f: 

tp L^ ri 


:^ 


pi 1^ 


iizizzlzzz^zzzr: 


glance  of  her     eye,       Shun     dan  -  ger  and     fly ;       For 


:zr 


F^=^ 


^^ 


i 


fa   -   tal's    the   glance     of      Kate     Kear     -     ney. 


9 


'^- 


2. 

For  that  eye  is  so  modestly  beaming, 
You'd  ne'er  think  of  mischief  she's  dreaming; 
Yet,  O,  I  can  tell  how  fatal's  the  spell 
That  lurks  in  the  eye  of  Kate  Kearney. 

3. 

O,  should  you  e'er  meet  this  Kate  Kearney, 
Who  lives  on  the  banks  of  Killarney, 
Beware  of  her  smile,  for  many  a  wile 
Lies  hid  in  the  smile  of  Kate  Kearney. 

4. 
Though  she  looks  so  bewitchingly  simple, 
Yet  there's  mischief  in  every  dimple ; 
And  who  dares  inhale  her  sigh's  spicy  gale, 
Must  die  by  the  breath  of  Kate  Kearney. 


240 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


'TIS    THE    LAST    ROSE    OF    SUMMER. 


BY    MOORE. 


Tenderlt. 


-t 


£ 


iS 


1 .     'Tis    the        last       rose         of        sum  -  mer       Left 


fe:#: 


—^-4 


n— TD 


3=^=S=3 


*T^ 


^^^ 


-p — p*- 
— #v-^- 


^nz: 


"CZZZr^u 


bloom  -  ing       a  -  lone ;  All  her    love  -  ly       com  - 


is>- 


g^EE^: 


J=n: 


-^^ 


pan  -  ions 


are 


fa  -   ded      and       gone. 


-iS?- 


:'^:: 


£: 


~^- 


No 


-J5 


P3^fii=F; 


-i 


-    _     — ^ —     — "I r~j      f^T"  I 


■P: 


flower     of        her      kin  -  dred,      No       rose  -  bud       is 


8 


RTUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


241 


«       '^  rn  1 

1       ^ 

li_^&^s 

^       7^ 

•  ^- 

M  rvS 

nigh,             To   re- 

fleet   back     her 

blushes, 

— ^S" 

Or 

u 

^■=f  — L=- 

--v T- 

1         1  ■ 

1 

©: 


give    sigh       for       sigh ! 


s; 


-^ 


— ^- 


I'll  not  leave  thee,  thou  lone  one, 

To  pine  on  the  stem  ! 
Since  the  lovely  are  sleeping. 

Go,  sleep  thou  with  them  ; 
Thus  kindly  I  scatter 

Thy  leaves  o'er  the  bed, 
Where  thy  mates  of  the  garden 

Lie  scentless  and  dead ! 


3. 

So  soon  may  I  follow, 

When  friendships  decay. 
And  from  love's  shining  circle 

,  The  gems  drop  away ! 
When  true  hearts  lie  withered, 

And  fond  ones  are  flown, 
O !    who  would  inhabit 
This  bleak  world  alone  ! 
31 


242 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


THE    ANGEL'S    WHISPER. 


BY    LOVER. 


A  superstition  of  great  beauty  prevails  in  Ireland,  that  token  a  child  smiles  in  its 
sleep,  it  is  talking  to  angels. 

,       Andante. 

IZBZZ 


^1^-^ 


1^- 


-^— -^- 


^-^=^ 
^l^=i= 


-I         ^  _  ^- 

1.     A        ba  -  by  was  sleeping ;      Its 


moth  -  er    was 


-0- 


t 


T' 


-Gi- 


~r~ 


f^=3El: 


.<^. 


9 


'^^^^ 


r     I         r^ 


weeping,      For  her     bus -band     was      far  on      the 


-Gi- 


'-'={ 


^- 


:>: 


i 


T" 


t 


wild        ra  -  ging    sea;      And    the       tem  -  pest      was 


^-|7 h 

-5 ^ 


tz=s: 


swelling     Round  the  fish  -  er  -  man's  dwell  -  ing,    And  she 


&s^ 


^5=* 


^ 


4 — :r-^3 


5 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


243 


)- — n— Q ^ 


^;3=p--p: 


£^ 


;stz: 


cried,  "  Dermot,    dar  -  ling,     O,       come  back   to      me." 


~¥—^r 


TZ 


-«^ 


3 


^ 


5 


:^ 


^. 


Her  beads  while  she  numbered, 

The  baby  still  slumbered, 
And  smiled  in  her  face  as  she  bended  her  knee ; 

"  O,  blessed  be  that  warning, 

My  child,  thy  sleep  adorning, — 
For  I  know  that  the  angels  are  whispering  to  thee. 


3. 

"  And  while  they  are  keeping 

Bright  watch  o'er  thy  sleeping, 
O,  pray  to  them  softly,  ray  baby,  with  me; 

And  say  thou  wouldst  rather 

They'd  watch  o'er  thy  father,  — 
For  I  know  that  the  angels  are  whispering  with  thee." 

4. 

The  dawn  of  the  morning 

Saw  Dermot  returning; 
And  the  wife  wept  with  joy  her  babe's  father  to  see, 

And  closely  caressing 

Her  child,  with  a  blessing. 
Said,  "I  knew  that  the  angels  were  whispering  with  thee." 


244 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


THE    MEETING    OF    THE    WATERS. 


BY    MOORE. 


LL    it    With  ExpREssiofr, 


1 .     There   is 


i; 


not        in      the     wide    world 
9 


3: 


val  -  ley      so     sweet      As     that      vale      in      whose 


W. 


-P 


~w 


^p= 


--%--=!- 


:P: 


^ — L. 


bo  -  som     the     bright  wa  -  ters     meet ;       O ! 


the 


'^ 


last 

9 


rays 


^#-5-i 


of 


p—-^ 


feel 


1 


ing     and      life     must     de 


11 


'ML 


3 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


245 


-     part, 


^i — w 


Ere  the 


of  that     val  -  ley      shall 


i 


i 


fade   from     my     heart;      Ere  the      bloom     of      that 


% 


"f ^- 


-=?= 


val  -  ley      shall       fade      from      my      heart ! 


:i: 


i 


'H" 


'^ 


2. 

Yet  it  was  not  that  Nature  had  shed  o'er  the  scene 
Her  purest  of  crystal,  and  brightest  of  green  ; 
'Twas  not  the  soft  magic  of  streamlet  or  hill ;  — 
O,  no !    it  was  something  more  exquisite  still  1 

3. 
'Twas  that  friends,  the  beloved  of  my  bosom,  were  near, 
Who  made  each  dear  scene  of  enchantment  more  dear; 
And  who  felt  how  the  best  charms  of  Nature  improve. 
When  we  see  them  reflected  from  looks  that  we  love. 

4. 
Sweet  Vale  of  Ovoca  !    how  calm  could  I  rest, 
In  thy  bosom  of  shade,  with  the  friends  I  love  best! 
Where  the  storms  which  we  feel  in  this  cold  world  should  cease, 
And  our  hearts,  like  thy  waters,  be  mingled  in  peace! 


246 


MUSIC. 


O'ROURKE'S    FEAST. 

(PLEIG     ZACANA     NA     RUARCAC.) 
BY      C AROLAN. 


:g_ggg — i-p^. 


:i    r 


M* 

ririr:  ii — r  f^r-r  ^ 


:i    I    r- 


— p-p-i — I 1 ^-\ — I — f— r^- 


"I     I — r 


"! — r' 


:t 


=^^*^ 


» — »- 


?r^ 1 1    ^    r tz r 


B    »       0 


'I      I  f 


'^^^- 


I     r 


^#-1 


i».^j»1t- 


I    I    r 


^ 


I    I     r  r  r 


'n~ 


P=^S 


r#' 


a^^' 


VTTT 


WZIMZ 


r#- 


-In- 


^J 


'W~9~' 


S 


i^Szi 


^#- 


r^- 


i^E^ 


"» — 1" 


I     ! — [—^  r  (— 


1 


MUSIC. 


247 


CAROLAN'S    CONCERTO. 


^^ 


W^^- 


inifcli: 


fr-^»: 


^5^ 


"^n — rrrf~r#Trp^rrrrn:_r"n^i — r«ri — rrr#^i — 


-# 


— P5^r^ — rp'ff~rrTr~i    rrTT' 
"-I   I  I   I — rp-pr- 


-^-^ 


'ndidirrrf' 


r'Pi        ^ 


rtT: 


2 


^ 


-^    _-^ 


I r 


,#!*' 


-f5pp — n*^     u_-  ■  ■ 


-i^- 


n53_  _H"n. 


■n^nn — inn^r  in  n^, — ^n^n — u2z — \t'^ 


5=i 


■n"! — ^n; 


-^-TJ^ 


'^^Mi 


:^ 


^ 


LECTUEE    VII. 


FROM   880    B.   C.  TO    THE   CHRISTIAN    ERA. 
SECTION    I. 

Resumption  of  the  historic  Chain  at  the  Death  of  OUamh  Fodhla.  —  Twenty  Kings 
and  a  Queen,  who  succeeded  him  in  a  Space  of  three  hundred  Years. — War 
Chariots  invented. — MiUtary  Fortifications.  —  Mihtary  Code.  —  Carthaginian  and 
Irish  Weapons  identical.  —  Ancient  Mines  of  Ireland.  —  Plenteousness  of  Gold  and 
Silver. — Mints. —  Coins.  —  Napoleon's  Imperial  Crown  made  of  Irish  Gold. — 
Palace  of  Emania.  —  Queen  Mecha  seizes  on  the  Sceptre.  —  Irish  Archers.  —  Robin 
Hood  beaten  by  an  Irishman  in  Feats  of  Archery.  —  The  Monarch  Righ  Dhearg 
invades  the  Picts.  —  Jughaine  the  Great  passes  into  Gaul.  —  Leads  an  Army  against 
Greece.  —  Division  of  Ireland  into  Counties.  —  Murder  of  Jughaine.  —  Exile  of 
his  Son  Maon.  —  Revolution  effected  by  Music.  —  Maon  established  on  the 
Throne.  —  Reign  of  Aongus  the  Second.  —  Aids  the  Carthaginians  in  their  Wars 
with  Greece,  and  with  Rome.—  Birth  o^  Fear- Mara,  the  Sea-Child.  —  The  Parent 
of  the  Royal  Line  of  Scotland.  —  Division  of  Ireland  into  four  Provinces,  and  a 
Monarchy.  —  Palace  of  Cruighain,  in  Connaught,  built.  —  Queen  Meibhe.  —  Insur- 
rection of  the  Bards.  —  Laws  for  regulating  the  Burial  of  the  Dead.  —  The  Knights' 
Mode  of  Burial.  —  Ancient  Surgery.  —  Chivalry.  —  Traditions  of  Chivalry.  —  In- 
stitutions of  Knighthood  in  Ireland.  —  Various  Orders.  —  Academies  for  their 
Education'.  —  Their  Mode  of  Training.  —  Their  Oaths.  —  Their  Magnanimity.— 
Their  Tilts  and  Tournaments.  —  Military  Renown  of  Ireland  acknowledged.  —  The 
vahant  Cuchullen.  —  Battle  of  Mullacrew  described. 

880  B.  C.  I  NOW  resume  the  historic  narrative,  requesting  the  reader 
to  call  back  to  his  recollection,  that  we  dropped  it  [page  57]  at  the 
establishment  of  the  parliament  of  Tara,  by  OUamh  Fodhla,  920  years 
before  the  birth  of  Christ.  Having  dwelt  at  some  length  upon  the 
character  of  that  eminently  wise  prince,  who  was  the  twentieth  of  the 
Milesian  kings  since  the  foundation  of  the  kingdom,  we  take  up  the 
succession  of  events  from  his  death,  which  took  place  A.  M.  3122,  or 
880  years  before  the  Christian  era. 

The  monarchs  who  succeeded  Ollamh,  for  a  period  of  three  hundred 
years,  numbered  twenty,  which  gave  an  average  reign  of  fifteen  years 
to  each. 

The  recital  of  the  events  of  their  separate  reigns  would  be  tedious, 


WAR    CHARIOTS    INVENTED.  249 

and  occupy  space  which  can  be  filled  with  matter  more  interesting  to 
the  present  generation.  I  shall  merely  glance  at  the  development  of 
inventions,  customs,  and  occasional  acts  specially  deserving  to  be 
remembered,  which  grew  up  during  the  three  hundred  years  they 
reigned. 

In  the  reign  of  Rothceathca,  the  Irish  manufactured  war  chariots,  to 
the  sides  and  wheels  of  which  they  attached  scythes,  or  long,  sharp 
knives,  and  drove  them,  by  fui'ious  horses,  through  the  ranks  of  their 
enemies.  The  Gauls,  seven  hundred  years  after  that  peiiod,  according 
to  Caesar,  used  these  destructive  engines  in  their  wars  with  the  Romans. 
O'Halloran  says  they  were  manufactured  for  them  by  the  Irish;  and 
Julius  Cssar  informs  us  that  he  used  this  very  contrivance  in  his  con- 
quest of  Britain. 

In  the  reign  of  EU?n  we  read,  for  the  first  time,  of  military  fortifica- 
tions, which  were  invented  by  him.  He  cut  deep  trenches,  and  raised 
high  breastworks  of  earth,  lined  with  stone,  around  the  different  stations, 
in  which  he  garrisoned  his  troops.  He  completed  seven  of  those  stations ; 
but,  in  after  periods,  in  the  Danish  wars,  these  duns,  or  fortifications,  were 
amazingly  increased,  and  there  are  many  of  them  yet  remaining  through- 
out Ireland. 

The  Psalter  of  Cashell  tells  us  that  Elim,  for  these  inventions,  got  the 
name  of  Imboch,  or  Stagnant  Water. 

Seadhna  the  Second  wrote  a  code  of  laws  and  discipline  for  the  milita- 
ry, which  proved  to  be  a  guide  and  standard  for  many  ages  afterwards, 
and  he  fixed  the  pay  of  soldiers  to  consist  of  part  food,  part  clothes,  and 
part  money,  which  continues  the  practice  of  England  to  this  day.  His 
is  the  earhest  treatise  on  military  tactics  that  we  find  on  record.  In  suc- 
ceeding ages,  Mago,  the  Carthaginian,  and  Arrian,  the  Greek,  wrote 
on  the  same  subject. 

In  those  days,  a  close  intercourse  was  kept  up  between  the  Cartha- 
ginians and  the  Irish.  Sometimes,  indeed,  the  Carthaginians  approached 
the  Irish  coasts  as  pirates  or  invaders,  but  were  universally  resisted  with 
great  slaughter.  Antiquaries  have  proved  that  the  Carthaginian  swords 
found  near  the  plains  of  Cannae,  in  Italy,  which  are  now  in  the  British 
Museum,  and  the  old  Irish  swords  so  frequently  found  in  bogs  and 
morasses,  are,  as  to  make,  form,  and  mixture  of  metals,  so  exactly 
similar,  as  to  appear  to  have  come  out  of  the  same  mint. 

Governor  Pownal  compared  some  Irish  swords  in  the  possession  of 
Lord  Milton,  found  very  deep  in  the  bog  of  CuUen,  in  the  county  Tip- 
perary,  with  those  in  the  British  Museum,  and  requested  the  assay- 
32 


250  CABTHAGINIAN   AND    IRISH    WEAPONS    IDENTICAL. 

master  of  the  mint  to  analyze  both.  This  he  accordingly  did,  and  found 
the  proportion  of  metals  composing  thein  so  exactly  corresponding,  that 
he  declared  they  must  have  been  cast  in  the  same  furnace.  They  are 
both,  says  the  mint  master,  a  mixture  of  copper,  of  iron,  and  perhaps  r)f 
some  zinc ;  they  take  an  exquisite  polish,  and  carry  a  very  sharp  edge, 
and  are  firm  and  elastic.  They  are  so  peculiarly  formed  as  to  resist  any 
kind  of  rust,  as  appears  when  taken  out  of  bogs  after  lying  there  for  ages. 
Our  annals  remark  on  the  great  plenteousness  of  our  mines,  and  the 
knowledge  and  art  displayed  by  our  ancestors  in  all  that  related  to  their 
domestic  fabrications.  It  is  quite  natural  to  conclude  that  those  remark- 
able swords  were  of  their  own  manufacture.  On  this  head,  O'Halloran 
has  the  following :  — 

"  But  as  our  annals  particularly  remark  on  the  abundance  of  mines 
and  minerals  in  our  country,  and  the  ingenuity  of  our  artists,  the  candid 
reader  will  agree  with  me,  I  think,  that  the  Carthaginians  imported  their 
swords  from  us  in  the  course  of  traffic,  as  Ireland  was  in  that  age  un 
equalled  for  the  elegance  of  her  arms." 

Camden  says,  the  massy  gold  and  silver  chalices,  candlesticks,  plate, 
utensils,  ornaments,  and  images  of  saints,  seized  by  Queen  Elizabeth  in 
the  Irish  abbeys,  brought  more  than  a  million  sterling. 

Sir  James  Ware  alleges  that,  in  1639,  an  urn  full  of  the  coins  of  the 
monarch  Eadhna  Dcarg,  who  reigned  700  years  before  the  birth  of 
Christ,  was  found  in  a  Druidical  cave  in  the  county  Clare.  These 
coins  were  of  silver,  and  as  large  as  an  English  shilling;  on  one  side 
was  the  impression  of  the  monarch's  head,  and  on  the  reverse,  Hibernia 
bearing  in  her  hand  the  wand  entwined  with  a  serpent.  Two  of  these 
coins  are  to  be  seen  in  the  museum  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin. 

Warner,  the  English  historian,  has  the  following  in  reference  to  the 
mineral  properties  of  Ireland  :  — 

"  The  mountains  of  Ireland  are  full  of  mines  and  minerals.  Gold 
and  silver  must  have  been  very  plenty  in  this  country  in  ancient  times, 
as  all  the  knights  wore  golden  helmets  and  chains,  and  a  shield  of  the 
same  precious  metal.  The  Earl  of  Strafford  sent  over  to  Charles  the 
First  a  bit  of  a  bridle,  of  solid  gold,  of  ten  ounces'  weight,  found  by 
workmen  who  were  digging  in  lands  in  the  county  Tipperary.  The 
same  nobleman  sent  also  an  ingot  of  silver  to  the  royal  mint  from  the 
mines  of  the  county  Tipperary,  which  weighed  three  hundred  ounces ; 
and  in  his  letter  to  the  secretary  of  state,  he  says  that  the  lead  mines  of 
Munster  were  so  rich,  that  every  load  of  lead  had  in  it  forty  pounds  of 
pure  silver.* 

*  See  Mines  of  Ireland^  towards  the  conclusion. 


ANCIENT    MINES. MINTS    AND    COINS.  251 

There  are  many  considerable  collieries  in  various  parts  of  the  kingdom, 
probably  enough  to  supply  all  Europe  with  coal ;  but  for  want  of  gov- 
ernment encouragement,  they  are  neglected.  Besides  these,  there  are 
numerous  iron  mines  and  lead  mines  in  the  island.  There  is  one  lead 
mine,  in  the  county  of  Antrim,  so  rich  that  from  every  thirty  pounds  of 
lead  one  pound  of  silver  is  yielded.  By  the  report  of  the  railway  com- 
missioners, published  by  authority  of  jhe  British  parliament,  in  1839,  it 
is  shown  that  eleven  of  the  thirty-two  counties  of  Ireland  are  studded 
with  every  species  of  mineral  wealth. 

In  fine,  nature  designed  Ireland  for  the  operations  of  art  and  agricul- 
ture ;  and,  though  she  is  unfortunately  poor,  she  has  exhaustless  wealth 
in  her  own  bosom,  but  under  the  hermetic  seal  of  British  policy. 

In  the  reign  of  Eadhna  the  Second,  mints  were  worked,  and  gold 
and  silver  coined  into  money.  The  mint  was  erected  at  Ross,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Suir,  in  the  county  Waterford. 

In  the  year  1639  of  the  Christian  era,  several  pieces  of  these  ancient 
coins  were  discovered  by  countrymen  at  Gleandeloch,  in  the  county 
Wicklow,  a  parcel  of  which  fell  into  the  hands  of  Sir  James  Ware.  The 
antiquarians  confess  them  to  be  of  great  antiquity,  and  drawings  of 
them  had  been  made  to  prove  it.  All  writers  agree  as  to  the  very  early 
use  of  money  in  L'eland.  The  Irish  coins  engraved  from  by  Ware  have 
on  the  face  a  human  head,  encircled  with  a  cap  or  helmet ;  on  the  re- 
verse, a  horse.  The  ancient  Carthaginian  coins  had  the  same  effigies. 
We  find,  long  before  the  Christian  era,  that  they  had  bons,  or  pieces  of 
four  pence;  the  scrubal,  ov  three  pence;  and  the  pinghin,  or  penny; 
but  larger  pieces  of  money,  though  stamped  by  the  king,  were  esti- 
mated, as  at  this  day  in  China,  by  weight  only. 

"  Long  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  the  Irish  had  stamped  money ;  and 
their  artists  seem  to  have  been  as  unrivalled  in  the  fabrication  of  metals, 
as  they  confessedly  were  in  lignarian  architecture  and  martial  music." — 
Bishop  Nicholson. 

"  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  early  use  of  trade  and  money  in  Ire- 
land, into  which,  it  is  probable,  it  was  introduced  as  soon  as  it  was  fre- 
quented by  the  Phoenicians.  Before  the  reign  of  Echaidh  the  Fourth, 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  Christ,  the  Irish  made  their  pay- 
ments of  gold  and  silver  in  bars  and  ingots,  with  which  their  rich  mines 
supplied  them."  —  Antiquities  of  PVales. 

Many  discoveries  of  ancient  Irish  coins  have  been  made  by  the  coun- 
try people  ;  but  the  laws  compelling  them  to  render  all  treasures  discov- 
ered in  the  earth  to  the  lords  of  the  soil,  they  were  frequently  melted 


252     PALACE  OF  EMANIA. QUEEN  MACHA  SEIZES  THE  MONARCHY. 

down  in  secret  by  the  finders,  and  sold  in  bars  to  the  gold  and  silver 
smiths.  The  imperial  crown  of  Napoleon  was  made,  in  part,  of  a  crown 
belonging  to  the  Irish  monarch  Brien  Boroimhe,  which  was  taken  from 
the  Vatican,  where  it  had  lain  as  a  valued  relic  since  the  time  of  Pope 
Adrian,  to  whom  it  was  presented  by  Donagh,  the  nephew  of  the  hero 
of  Clontarf 

About  460  B.  C,  Ciomhhaoth  was  peaceably  proclaimed  monarch 
of  Ireland,  and  has  been  gready  celebrated  for  his  prudence,  his  for- 
titude, and  his  moderation.  This  ptince  revived  all  the  wise  insti- 
tutions of  his  great  predecessor,  Ollamh  Fodhla.  His  queen,  Macha, 
founded  the  splendid  and  celebrated  palace  of  Emania,  or  Eamuirania, 
in  the  north,  —  next  to  Tara,  the  most  magnificent  public  structure  of 
ancient  Ireland.  The  remains  of  this  superb  palace  could  be  traced, 
near  Armagh,  in  the  days  of  O'Halloran,  1785.  It  was  the  scene  of 
many  a  brilliant  fete  in  after  ages,  and  the  subject  of  many  a  bardic 
epic.  This  splendid  palace  got  its  name  from  Macha,  his  queen.  She 
traced  its  area  on  a  proper  scale  with  the  gold  pin  of  her  handkerchief. 
From  this  it  took  its  name  ;  for  ea  is  Irish  for  pin,  and  niuir  for  necJc. 

We  are  informed  that  this  celebrated  palace  was  finished  in  the 
grandest  style  of  architecture.  The  arched  roofs  were  lined  with  pol- 
ished marble  brought  from  Italy,  and  the  interior  pillars,  we  are  told, 
were  made  of  the  same  costly  material,  highly  and  beautifully  carved ; 
and  the  marble  quarries  of  Kilkenny,  the  west  of  Ireland,  and  also  the 
north,  furnished  material  enough  to  complete  a  rich  and  lasting  architec- 
tural structure. 

When  her  husband  died,  leaving  no  male  issue,  Queen  Macha  was 
called, upon  to  evacuate  the  royal  palace  of  Tara,  for  the  purpose  of 
inaugurating  the  rightful  heir.  By  the  laws  of  Ireland,  no  female  was 
allowed  to  sway  the  monarch's  sceptre ;  yet  this  courageous  woman 
entered  the  hall  of  the  national  convention,  and  boldly  claimed  the 
diadem,  as  the  widow  and  inheritrix  of  her  husband.  She  addressed 
the  assembly  with  great  energy,  confounding  the  Druids,  Brehons,  and 
Senators,  by  her  extraordinary  daring  ;  for  the  attempt  was  unprecedented 
in  the  history  of  the  country. 

As  soon  as  they  informed  her  that  she  must  surrender  the  throne  to 
the  rightful  claimant,  she  laconically  replied,  "  He  must  then  fight  up  to 
his  knees  in  blood  before  he  can  pluck  the  diadem  of  my  fathers  from 
my  brow."  And,  after  uttering  this  threat,  she  hastened  to  the  camp, 
where  a  numerous  and  devoted  army  awaited  her  orders.  She  addressed 
her  brave  soldiers  in  the  language  of    passion,    saying,  —  "You  will 


IRISH    ARCHERY. ROBIN    HOOD    BEATEN    BY    AN    IRISHMAN.        253 

combat  to-day  under  the  command  of  a  woman  ;  yet  I  shall  prove  to  you 
that  I  am  worthy  of  leading  Irish  heroes,  and  that,  in  the  woman  heart 
of  your  queen  there  is  glowing  the  chivalric  spirit  of  my  Milesian 
fathers." 

She  led  forth  her  legions  to  battle.  No  forces  which  her  enemies 
could  bring  into  the  field  availed  them.  All  power  melted  before  her 
daring  and  irresistible  course,  and  complete  victory  declared  her  in 
possession  of  the  sceptre.  As  in  the  days  of  Joan  of  Arc,  of  France, 
whose  followers  mistook  her  courage  for  supernatural  inspiration,  and 
conquered  under  the  influence  of  its  animating  impulse,  so  this  extra- 
ordinary woman  carried  dismay  into  the  ranks  of  her  enemies  wherever 
she  appeared. 

In  this  battle  the  first  notice  occurs  of  archers;  and  we  find,  through 
all  subsequent  stages  of  our  history,  that  the  Irish  soldiers  obtained  great 
renown  for  their  expertness  and  skill  in  archery.  No  youth,  however 
noble,  could  be  admitted  into  the  Irish  militia  who  could  not  pierce  a 
given  object  with  an  arrow  at  the  distance  of  two  hundred  yards.  The 
science  of  archery  can  boast  as  high  an  antiquity  in  Ireland  as  among  any 
nation  of  earth.  In  several  renowned  battles  in  England  and  Scotland, 
the  Irish  bowmen  obtained  the  victory.  When  our  Fingal,  O'Neil,  and 
Dathy,  delivered  Caledonia  from  the  yoke  of  Rome,  their  accomplished 
archers  were  the  terror  of  the  Roman  legions ;  and,  in  subsequent 
years,  when  the  celebrated  Robert  Bruce  made,  in  1314,  the  un- 
paralleled stand  for  his  country  against  the  arms  of  England,  which 
history  celebrates  and  succeeding  ages  admire,  O'Neil,  his  brother-in- 
law,  sent  over  a  legion  of  Irish  archers,  which  helped  him  to  win. 
Referring  to  this  brilliant  battle,  Chaucer,  the  English  poet,  says,  — 

« To  Albion  Scotts  we  ne'er  would  yield ; 
The  Irish  boAvmen  won  the  field." 

Spenser,  another,  who  wrote  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  1597,  (no  friend 
to  Ireland,)  extols  the  Irish  archers  for  their  discipline  :  "  They  certainly 
do  great  execution  with  their  short  bows  and  little  quivers,  and  their 
short,  bearded  arrows  are  fearfully  Scythian."  Hollinshead,  (English,) 
in  his  Chronicles,  says  that  the  famous  Robin  Hood,  the  outlaw,  fled  to 
Ireland  in  the  reign  of  Richard  the  First,  and  that  an  Irishman  named 
Pat  Lawler  excelled  him  in  feats  of  archery.  "  This  trial  of  skill  took 
place,"  says  Dr.  Hanmer,  "in  Dublin,  1195.  Robin  shot  an  arrow 
eleven  score  and  seven  yards,  the  distance  from  Old  Bridge  to  St.  Mi- 
chael's church  ;  but  Pat  Lawler  sent  his  arrow  three  yards  farther." 


254    RIGH  DHEARG  INVADES  CALEDONIA. JUGHAINE  INVADES  GREECE. 

B.  C.  330.  Righ  Dhearg,  or  Reachta,  succeeded  the  victorious 
Queen  Macha,  and  in  his  reign  the  Scottish  Picts  became  troublesome 
He  transported  a  mighty  army  into  Albany  under  the  command  of  Terc 
and  Iboth,  with  which  he  effectually  reduced  them. 

B.  C.  310.  Jughaine,  called  More,  or  the  Great,  having  won  the 
crown  in  the  field,  was  now  enthroned  monarch.  He,  too,  passed  over 
to  Albion,  and  reduced  some  rebellious  spirits  there.  His  deeds  in  the 
field  had  reached  the  ears  of  Europe,  and  he  passed  over  to  the  Gaulic 
king's  court,  with  a  splendid  retinue  of  knights  and  minstrels,  and  married 
the  fair  Casaria,  called  the  Lovely.  When  he  returned  to  his  kingdom 
with  his  beautiful  queen,  he  summoned  the  estates  to  a  solemn  convo- 
cation at  Tara.  This  was  the  grandest  and  most  solemn  assembly  held 
at  Tara  for  two  hundred  years  previously.  It  was  surrounded  by  all 
the  pomp  and  circumstance  which  the  king  could  devise  ;  and,  the  object 
of  his  ambition  being  distant  conquest,  he  raised  the  hopes  and  inflamed 
the  imaginations  of  his  followers,  and  swore  them  to  his  interest  by  the 
sun,  moon,  and  stars,  and  by  their  favorite  god  Neptune.  Thus  ani- 
mated, he  led  his  legions  towards  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  having  first 
appointed  his  wife  queen  regent  of  Ireland  and  Albany.  His  first  land- 
ing was  on  the  Island  of  Sicily,  which  he  conquered  without  resistance, 
and  subsequently  passed  over  to  Africa,  to  the  aid  of  the  Carthaginians, 
who  were  then  at  war  with  Greece.  It  is  said  by  Plutarch,  that,  on 
this  occasion,  one  of  the  Corinthian  Greeks  addressed  the  opposing 
Carthaginians  in  terms  of  reproach  for  having  applied  for  auxiliaries  to 
the  Atlantic  isle,  beyond  Hercules'  Pillars ;  that  is,  beyond  the  Straits 
of  Gibraltar ;  for  history  admits  that  the  Carthaginians  procured  legions 
from  Ireland  to  aid  them  in  their  wars  against  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 
The  sacra  cohors,  or  sacred  cohorts,  mentioned  by  Diodorus  the  Sicilian, 
Cwtius,  and  others,  were  the  Irish  legions,  Ireland  having  been  then 
as  I  have  shown, named  "sacred  isle,"  and  her  armies  " sacred  cohorts." 

Prince  Jughaine  was  saluted  "  monarch  of  Ireland  and  Albany,  and 
of  all  the  Western  Isles  of  Europe,"  by  his  admiring  allies  in  Gaul  and 
the  countries  within  the  waters  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  If  it  were 
not  that  the  Romans,  who  imitated  the  Greeks  in  this  custom,  invariably 
destroyed  the  records  of  the  nations  they  conquered,  obliterating  their 
languages  and  letters,  and  compelling  them  to  speak  and  write  in  their 
own.  It  is  certain  the  Carthaginian  records  would  have  supplied  us  with 
many  testamentary  facts  connected  with  the  military  prowess  of  our 
ancestors,  who,  being  the  descendants,  were  ever  after,  until  Carthage 
was  destroyed,  the  firm  allies  of  the  Carthaginians. 


JUGHAINE    DIVIDES    IRELAND    INTO    COUNTIES. MAON.  255 

That  the  Carthaginians  were  a  learned  and  most  powerful  people, 
will  not  be  disputed,  and  that  the  ancient  Irish  spoke  the  same  language, 
used  the  same  weapons,  and  observed  the  same  religious  and  social 
customs  and  laws,  and  practised  the  same  military  discipline,  prove  that 
an  intimate  connection  subsisted  between  these  two  nations.  It  is  con- 
fidently affirmed  that  an  Irish  legion  formed  part  of  Hannibal's  invad,ing 
army,  which  crossed  over  the  Alps  into  the  plains  of  Italy,  and  ap- 
proached towards  the  very  gates  of  Rome,  and  would  have  then  con- 
quered the  eternal  city,  had  not  the  Carthaginian  politicians  betrayed 
Hannibal,  and  abandoned  him  to  his  enemies,  even  in  the  midst  of  his 
victorious  career.  In  after  ages,  Irish  swords  were  found  in  Italy,  in 
the  very  track  of  Hannibal's  army  ! 

The  monarch  Jughaine  had  twenty-five  children,  of  whom  twenty-two 
were  sons.  He  divided  the  kingdom  into  twenty-two  parts,  and  set  a 
son  to  govern  each  district,  from  which  taxes  for  the  national  exigencies 
were  derived.  This  system  of  taxation  continued  for  three  hundred 
years.  He  reigned  thirty  years,  but  was  inhumanly  murdered  by  his 
brother,  who,  however,  was  permitted  to  reign  only  a  day  and  a  half; 
for  the  second  son  of  the  murdered  prince  rose  up  with  a  great  force 
against  the  usurper,  ere  he  had  time  to  sink  the  iniquitous  roots  of  his 
power  in  the  earth.  He  was  destroyed,  and  from  one  foul  act  many 
more  have  flowed ;  for  the  young  and  victorious  Loaghaire  the  Second 
excited  enmity,  which  produced  his  own  fall.  He  and  his  eldest  son 
were  both  murdered  by  aspirants  for  the  diadem.  A  younger  child  of 
this  prince  escaped  the  slaughter,  and  was  sent  by  his  friends  to  the 
residence  of  the  king  of  Munster. 

Maon,  the  child  thus  sent  to  the  hospitable  palace  of  the  king  of 
Munster,  afterwards  passed,  for  greater  safety,  over  to  the  Gauls,  amongst 
whom  he  rose  to  the  dignity  and  command  of  a  general,  signalizing 
himself  in  all  their  wars.  Whilst  a  youth  in  the  palace  of  the  king  of 
Munster,  he  prepossessed  the  daughter  of  that  prince  in  his  favor;  and 
she,  faithful  to  his  interest,  when  an  opportunity  arrived  for  the  re- 
sumption of  his  father's  throne,  sent  a  favorite  bard  to  the  court  of  the 
French  king,  who  sought  the  exiled  prince,  and  sung  to  him  a  poem, 
beautiful  in  conception  and  composition,  urging  his  immediate  return. 
Maon  was  fired  by  the  passion  of  love  and  glory ;  he  prevailed  on  the 
French  king  to  give  him  legions ;  he  returned,  landed  an  army  in 
Wicklow,  marched  directly  to  the  court  of  the  usurper,  and  put  him 
and  the  chief  men  of  his  court  to  death.  The  circumstance  is  de- 
scribed at  length  in  my  lecture  on  music,  page   1 87,  where,  also,  will 


256  AONGUS    THE    SECOND    AIDS    THE    CARTHAGINIANS. 

be  found  the.  ode  composed  by  Moriat.     This    revolution   is   attested 
by  O'Halloran,  Warner,  M'Dermott,  Lynch,  and  others. 

About  three  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era,  Aongus  the 
Second  reigned  as  monarch  of  Ireland  for  eighteen  years;  during 
which,  says  the  "  Book  of  Reigns,"  "  he  led  his  victori&us  armies 
against  the  Greeks,  and  was  saluted  as  conqueror  of  Greece." 

"  When  we  compare  this  relation,"  says  O'Halloran,  "  with  the 
accounts  given  us  by  Greek  and  Roman  writers  of  the  irruption  of  the 
Gauls  into  Greece,  and  note  how  exactly  the  reign  of  Aongus  accords 
with  the  time  of  this  remarkable  invasion,  we  must,  I  apprehend,  be 
convinced  that  our  annals  deserve  the  highest  credit." 

The  great  fact  stands  out,  in  all  these  events,  that  the  Irish  were 
not  idle  spectators  of  the  wars  that  were  kept  up  between  the  rival 
nations  of  Carthage  (Phoenicia)  and  Greece,  or  her  eldest-born,  Rome. 
The  Carthaginians  obtained  constant  aid  from  the  Irish  monarch; 
this  is  attested  by  Greek,  Roman,  and  Irish  historians,  in  numberless 
instances.  Seven  princes  reigned  in  succession  after  Aongus,  over  a 
space  of  ninety  years,  during  which  period,  nothing  beyond  the  average 
events  occurred.  At  length  we  light  on  the  reign  of  Aongus  the 
Third,  who,  like  his  predecessors,  distinguished  himself  in  those  foreign 
wars.  We  are  told  that,  on  his  return  covered  with  glory,  he  revelled 
in  excess,  and  violated  the  chastity  of  his  daughter,  by  whom  he  had 
a  son  :  for  this  he  obtained  the  name  of  Tuirmhedch,  or  the  Shame- 
ful, which  proves  that,  even  before  the  introduction  of  Christianity, 
the  ancient  Irish  were  distinguished  for  their  moral  sensibilities  —  as 
hio-h  an  argument  as  can  be  adduced  in  support  of  their  refined 
civilization. 

To  conceal  this  crime,  the  infant  was  put  into  an  open  boat,  and 
sent  down  the  current  of  a  river,  to  sink  or  swim,  as  it  pleased  the  fates  ; 
but  the  child  was  found  by  fishermen,  and,  having  been  clothed  in 
purple,  which  denoted  its  royal  origin,  he  was  put  to  nurse,  and 
denominated  Fear-mara,  or  the  Sea-Man.  And  as,  from  this  provi- 
dentially-saved child,  by  the  female  side,  a  long  line  of  monarchs  have 
descended,  it  may  be  proper  to  dwell  a  little  upon  his  history. 

When"  preserved  tlius  by  the  interposition  of  the  fates,  and  brought 
back  a  man  to  the  palace,  his  father,  the  king,  granted  him  large  pos- 
sessions in  Ulster ;  and,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  many  of  his  de- 
scendants became  kings  of  Munster,  and  some  of  them  monarchs  of 
Ireland.  These  descendants  became,  in  the  progress  of  ages,  kings 
also  of  Scotland. 


ORIGIN    OF    THE    SCOTTISH    KINGS.  Q,UEEN    MEIBHE.  257 

"  Froni  the  posterity  of  this  prince,  whose  name,  Fiacha  Fearmara," 
says  die  English  /'Fanier,  "  thus  exposed  to  almost  certain  destruction, 
either  by  famine  or  the  waters,  came  the  royal  line  of  Scotland  —  the 
progenitors,  on  the  British  side,  of  our  present  monarch."  The  families 
of  the  O'Connors,  O'Connells,  M'Dermotts,  O'Tooles,  M'Loughlins, 
O'Farrels,  O'Dwyers,  O'Ryans,  and  Murphies,  are  all  descended  from 
tliis  prince,  and  are  the  proudest  names  that  illuminate  the  annals  of 
Ireland.  From  the  same  line  was  descended  the  O'Connors  of  Kerry 
and  Sligo.  Roderick  O'Connor  was  directly  descended  from  Feargus 
M'Roy,  king  of  Ulster,  by  the  famous  Queen  Meibhe. 

Aongus  was  succeeded  by  Connall  CGllam,  and  he  again  by 
Seamhuin,  and  he  by  several  other  princes,  whose  warlike  achieve- 
ments are  dwelt  upon  by  the  old  writei^  with  an  enthusiasm  which 
shows  that  the  men  of  the  olden  days  delighted  much  in  feats  of  arms. 
I  pass  over  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  years,  during  which  no 
organic  change  took  place,  though  several  princes  reigned. 

Ireland  was  divided  into  five  provinces  by  Eochaidth  the  Ninth, 
about  one  hundred  years  before  the  nativity  of  our  Redeemer,  viz., 
Munster,  Leinster,  Connaught,  Ulster,  and  Meath.  Meath  was  fixed 
on  to  be  the  domain  of  the  reigning  monarch,  —  as  the  District  of 
Columbia  is  the  residence  of  the  president  of  the  United  States.  Meath 
then  comprehended  an  area  of  seventy  square  miles.  It  was  divided, 
in  Henry  the  Eighth's  time,  into  Meath  and  West  Meath.  Previous 
to  the  reign  of  Eochaidth,  the  province  of  Connaught  had  con- 
tinued to  be  governed  by  one  of  the  princes  of  the  Danaans,  who 
were  the  earliest  settlers  on  the  island.  This  prince,  by  considerable 
address,  and  by  proposing  to  remove  the  seat  of  legislation  from  Tara 
to  a  more  central  spot  in  the  island,  or  to  the  plains  of  Connaught, 
obtained  great  popularity  in  that  province.  He  built  a  splendid  palace 
in  Cruighain,  a  part  of  Connaught  celebrated  for  its  great  cave  and 
Druidical  mysteries,  and  he  called  it  Rath  Eochaidth,  or  Eochaidth's 
palace.  He  gave  his  daughter,  Meibhe,  to  the  Connaught  prince  in 
marriage,  and,  he  dying,  this  princess  reigned  alone,  under  the  protection, 
for  a  time,  of  her  father  ;  and  finally  her  administration  secured  her 
the  allegiance  of  the  province,  though  her  reign  was  contrary  to  the 
national  laws,  which  forbade  a  woman  to  sway  the  sceptre. 

It   appears    this    princess    indulged  in  the    enjoyment    of   an    illicit 
passion  with  Connor,  the  young  prince  of  Ulster,  by  whom  she  had 
three  sons.      Charles  O'Connor  thus  notices  their   pedigree:    "Rod- 
erick O'Connor  was  directly  descended  from  Feargus  M'Roy,  [son  of 
33 


258  INSURRECTION    OF    THE    BARDS.  MODE    OF    BURIAL. 

the  king,]  king  of  Ulster,  by  the  famous  Meiblie,  queen  of  Connaught. 
From  this  source  also  sprang  the  O'Connors  of  Corcomrve,  as  well  as 
those  of  Roscommon." 

Her  palace  was  one  of  great  splendor,  and  was  celebrated  in  the 
days  .of  St.  Patrick  as  one  of  the  royal  houses  of  Loaghaire.  She 
interfered  in  the  discussion  of  the  estates  on  the  affairs  of  the  nation, 
and,  in  a  speech  remarkable  for  force  and  beauty,  urged  her  followers 
to  battle  in  defence  of  their  ancient  rights.  Some  bloody  battles  were 
fought  between  the  Connaught  and  the  Ulster  knights.  In  these 
battles,  Queen  Meibhe  appeared  in  person,  animating  her  soldiers,  and 
inspiring  them  to  extraordinary  deeds  of  valor. 

This  extraordinary  woman  was  killed  at  the  advanced  age  of  one 
hundred  and  ten,  by  a  stone  hurled  from  the  sling  of  one  of  her  Ulster 
foes,  while  bathing,  on  a  summer's  moniing,  in  Loch  Ribb.  He  had 
practised  with  the  sling  for  some  time  previous,  in  order  to  gain  a  cor- 
rect aim. 

About  this  time,  the  bards  and  literati  had  swelled  to  a  very  incon- 
venient number,  and  their  insolence  and  rapacity  excited  the  indignant 
hostility  of  the  great  body  of  the  people.  (On  this  topic  see  section  on 
the  bards,  pages  159,  160.)  An  insurrection  having  been  generated 
by  their  exactions  and  insolence,  a  great  body  ,of  them  fled  to  Ulster, 
where  they  were  received,  and  protected,  and  entertained,  to  the  number 
of  one  thousand,  for  seven  years,  by  Connor,  the  prince  of  Ulster,  and 
the  historian  of  the  age.  By  the  management  and  address  of  this 
prince,  he  had  the  nurnber  of  the  ollamhs,  or  doctors  of  learning,  re- 
duced, as  in  the  days  of  Fodhla,  to  two  hundred. 

It  was  in  those  days  that  regulations  for  the  interment  of  the  dead 
were  first  recorded.  It  was  decreed  that  the  head  of  the  deceased 
should  be  placed  to  the  west,  the  feet  to  the  east,  and  a  leacht,  or 
monument  of  stone,  raided  over  all.  Some  of  the  knights  had  graves 
dug,  —  the  bottom  of  smooth  marble,  the  sides  built  with  brick  and 
cement,  in  the  form  of  a  modern  coffin,  and  so  formed  that,  at  top,  a 
•  large  stone  exactly  fitted  it,  and  left  no  room  for  dust  or  worms  to  creep 
in.  In  this  the  corpse  was  laid,  with  his  armor  on  him,  and  his  sword 
by  his  side.  Inscriptions  were  raised  round  the  mouths  of  the  coffins, 
and  the  beauty  of  the  letters  proclaim,  at  this  day,  the  skill  of  the 
sculptors.  Many  such  are  to  be  seen  at  present,  in  several  parts  of 
Ireland. 

In  the  famous  battle  of  Murthemne,  on  Cuchullin^s  being  mortally 
wounded,  he  directs  his  charioteer  "  to  carry  him  to  yonder  can-uig, 
[a  large  stone  placed  on  one  end,]  to  place  his  body  standing  against  it,  his 


SURGERY  THE  STUDY  OF  THE  OLLAMHS.  259 

sword  in  his  hand,  his  shield  raised  up,  and  his  two  spears  by  his  left 
side."  The  renowned  hero  Eogon,  slain  in  the  battle  of  Lena,  was 
laid  out  completely  armed  in  the  same  manner.  The  following  trans- 
lation from  an  Irish  verse  in  the  history  of  this  battle  shows  Eogan  :  — 

"  Placed  erect, 
His  lance  by  his  shoulder, 
His  helmet  on  his  head,  his  coat 
Of  mail  on  his  body, 
And  his  sword  in  his  hand." 

At  the  royal  palace  of  Cruachan,  in  the  county  of  Roscommon,  in 
Connaught,  there  was  a  celebrated  cemetery,  established  for  the  re- 
ception of  the  dead —  a  modern  Westminster  Abbey  :  it  was  called  the 
hill  of  graves.  Here  the  kings  and  princes  of  the  blood  were  buried. 
Dathy  was  the  last  of  the  pagan  monarchs  buried  there.  In  after  ages, 
golden  shields,  and  golden  crowns,  and  helmets,  were  found  in  this 
place,  also  golden  urns,  and  other  precious  evidences  of  the  grandeur 
of  the  past  ages. 

By  several  accounts  of  the  battles  of  those  times,  we  learn  that 
surgeiy  was  made  the  special  study  of  some  branches  of  the  learned 
professions,  or  ollamhs.  But  the  practice  of  physic  and  surgery,  like 
other  learned  branches,  in  remote  ages,  was  kept  in  certain  families,  and 
transmitted  to  their  descendants  as  hereditary  rights.  The  military 
surgeons  were  deemed  the  most  skilful,  and  those  belonging  to  the 
royal  militia  the  best  of  all.  It  was  a  common  saying  then,  in  refer- 
ence to  a  person  that  was  dying,  or  despaired  of,  that  "  all  the  phy- 
sicians of  the  royal  militia  would  not  raise  him." 

Having  arrived  at  that  age  in  the  history  of  Ireland  when  the  feats 
of  chivalry  became  more  intimately  interwoven  in  the  social  and 
political  institutions  of  the  people,  this  may  be  a  proper  place  to 
consider  the  origin  and  nature  of  practices  that,  in  after  ages,  engrossed 
so  much  of  the  mind  of  the  most  polished  and  learned  people  of 
Europe.  So  extremely  ancient  have  the  institutions  of  chivalry  been  in 
Ireland,  that  the  most  learned  historians  know  not  where  to  fix  their 
origin.  Unfortunately  for  letters,  the  early  histories  of  the  Gauls  and 
Britons,  and  of  every  other  nation  subdued  by  the  Romans,  are  lost. 
The  Romans  proved  themselves  every  where  as  much  the  enemies  of 
science  and  letters  as  of  the  liberties  of  mankind.  In  Selden^s 
Titles  of  Honor,  an  English  work  of  authority,  it  is  settled  that  the 
order  of  knighthood  took  not  its  rise  in  Rome. 


260  INSTITUTIO?;    OF    KNIGHTHOOD    IN    IRELAND. 

Ireland,  however,  having  ever  preserved  her  freedom  from  the 
universal  yoke  of  Rome,  her  history  is  plainly  the  only  key  to  the  laws 
and  customs  of  the  ancient  Celtae. 

We  find  our  ancestors,  in  Phoenicia  and  Egypt,  attributed  the  first 
civil  reformation  of  the  people  to  the  curetes,  or  knights  ;  and  curetes  is, 
to  this  day,  the  Irish  name  of  a  knight,  and  cure  the  French  name 
for  a  pastor.  Caesar,  in  his  Commentaries,  describes  the  Gaulish 
knights,  and  says  they  were  the  second  order  in  the  state  ;  and,  as  the 
ancient  Irish  and  Gauls  were  the  allies  of  each  other  against  the 
common  foe  Rome,  it  is  most  natural  to  conclude  that,  from  the  constant 
intercourse  kept  up  between  both  people,  the  social,  political,  and 
wariike  customs  of  one  nation  would  be  adopted  and  practised  by  the 
other.  The  order  of  knighthood  was  known  in  Ireland  from  the  days 
of  Ollamh  Fodhla ;  for  we  find  them  a  distinct  class,  taking  part  in 
the  legislative  deliberations  of  Tara  more  than  eight  hundred  years 
before  the  Christian  era.  There  were  five  equestrian  orders  in  Ire- 
land. The  first  was  the  Niagh  Nase,  or  knights  of  the  golden  collar ; 
and  this  order  was  peculiar  to  the  blood  royal,  as  without  it  no  prince 
could  presume  to  become  candidate  for  the  monarchy. 

In  the  fourth  century  of  the  Christian  era,  when  EochaidtJi,  king  of 

Leinster,   seized  the  palace  of  Tara,  previous  to   the   election  of  the 

monarch,  the  Druids,  and  doctors,  and  lawyers,  remonstrated  against 

the  iliegahty  of  the  act,  as  he  was  unfitted  to  become  even  a  candidate 

for  the  throne,  inasmuch  as  he  had  not  yet  received  the  gradth-gaiage, 

or  the  order  of  chivalry  ;   upon  which  he  relinquished  his  claim,  and 

surrendered  the  palace  to  Nial  the  Grand.     Of  the  other  orders,  there 

were  the  Curaithe  na  Craobh-Ruadth,  or  the  red  branch  knights  of 

Ulster ;  the  Clana  Deagha,  or  Munster  knights  ;  the  Leinster  knights 

were  called  Clana  Baoisgne ;  the  knights  of  Connaught   were  of  the 

old  Danaan  race,  and  yielded  not  the  palm  in  courage  or  discipline  to 

any  heroes  in  Europe.     Each  of  these  classes  of  warriors  had  peculiar 

"  arms,"  or  siu^ns,  on   their  helmets   and  banners,  that  they  might   be 

known  on  the  field  of  battle  by  their  friends.     This  was  the  origin  of 

heraldry,  and  orders  of  nobility,  so  much  prized  by  the  aristocracy  of 

Europe.     The  rank  these  knights  held  was  very  early  settled,  for  they 

preceded   all  orders   in   the   state,  except   the    ollamhs,  or    doctors  in 

different  sciences,  and  the  blood   royal.     By  the  law  of  colors  already 

explained,  knights  were  allowed   five  colors  in  their  clothes.     In  two 

centuries  nearer  to  us,  they  were  allowed,  by  law,  silver  shields  and 

targets,  and  the  privilege  of  fighting  in  chariots,  which  was  previously 


TRAINING    OF    THE    KNIGHTS.  261 

the  privilege  only  of  the  blood  royal,  or  of  generals.  In  subsequent 
reigns,  it  was  decreed  that  the  knights  should  wear  a  torquis,  or 
collar,  of  gold,  pendulous  from  the  neck.  And  this  last,  Straho  and 
Livy,  the  Roman  historians,  say,  was  constantly  worn  by  the  knights 
of  Gaul.  Not  only  their  rank  was  ascertained,  but  the  utmost  care  was 
taken  of  their  education,  and  their  military  regulations. 

Academies,  at  the  national  expense,  were  founded  for  them  at  Tara 
in  Meath,  Emania  in  Armagh,  Cashell  in  the  south,  Chruachan  in 
Connaught,  and  Naas  in  Leinster.  These  schools  were  like  the  military 
school  of  West  Point,  or  the  military  academies  of  France  or  England. 
The  candidates  were  entered  at  seven  years  of  age,  when  slender 
lances  were  put  into  their  hands,  and  a  sword  by  their  sides.  From 
this  to  fourteen,  they  were  instructed  in  letters  and  military  discipline, 
when  they  took  their  first  vows.  They  were  now  exercised  every  day 
in  casting  a  javelin  at  a  mark ;  at  which,  in  time,  they  became  so 
expert,  that  they  could  with  certainty  transfix  an  enemy,  if  within 
their  reach.  The  cran  tubal,  or  sling,  was  another  instrument  with 
which  they  hurled  death  around  with  wonderful  precision.  At  the  use 
of  the  sword  and  target,  they  were  uncommonly  skilful,  and  they  fought 
on  foot,  on  horseback,  or  in  chariots,  according  to  circumstances.  At 
eighteen,  they  took  their  last  vows  ;  and,  from  the  accounts  of  this 
order  of  men  still  preserved,  we  are  surprised  at  the  elevation  of  their 
sentiments.  To  swear  by  their  knighthood  was  the  most  sacred  oath, 
for  it  reminded  them  of  all  their  vows. 

At  the  battle  of  Ventry,  in  Kerry,  one  of  the  knights  in  Fionas 
array  swore  in  the  following  translated  words :  "  I  affirm  on  my 
word,  and  on  the  arms  of  chivalry  "  —  an  oath  which  no  one  of  them 
was  ever  known  to  break.  At  the  battle  of  Murtheimhne,  fought 
before  the  incarnation,  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  when  Cuchullin  is  ad- 
vised by  his  officers  against  fighting  the  imperial  army,  he  at  length 
cries  out,  "  Since  the  days  that  my  first  arms  were  put  into  my  hands, 
[that  is,  since  I  received  the  order  of  knighthood,]  I  have  not  declined 
a  battle,  nor  shall  I  this."  Their  common  saying  was,  Ish  fear  bleath 
na  seaghhail — "  Glory  is  preferable  to  life." 

Before  the  batde  of  Maigh-Lena,  in  the  King's  county,  fought  in 
the  second  century  of  the  Christian  era,  it  was  proposed,  by  some 
officers  of  the  imperial  militia  of  Ireland,  to  attack  and  surprise  the  troops 
of  Munster  at  night ;  to  which  Gaull,  the  son  of  Morni,  general-in- 
chief  of  the  Connaught  knights,  thus  replied :  "  On  the  day  that  I  received 


262  MILITARY    RENOWN    OF    IRELAND    ACKNOWLEDGED. 

the  honor  of  knighthood,  I  vowed  never  to  attack  an  enemy  at  night, 
by  surprise,  or  under  any  kind  of  disadvantage  ; "  and  accordingly  this 
noble  commander  refused  to  lead  out  his  troops  till  the  day  had  dawned. 
The  general  mode  of  challenge  between  the  Irish  knights,  in  practice  in 
those  ages,  was  this :  In  every  military  academy,  before  the  great  court, 
a  coat  of  mail  and  a  shield  were  suspended  under  a  handsome  arch,  to 
denote  them  always  ready  for  battle.  At  all  public  festivals,  and  par- 
ticularly when  the  young  knights  took  their  last  vows,  numbers  repaired 
to  the  scene  of  action  to  witness  the  ceremony.  Such  foreign  knights 
as  chose  to  enter  the  lists,  struck  the  shield  three  times  with  their  lances, 
when  each  cried  out,  Sgreadaim  sgiath  and  sarim  compach  —  that  is, 
••'  Strike  the  shield  and  demand  the  fight."  Their  names,  quality,  and 
proofs  of  knighthood  were  then  demanded,  and  the  terms  of  the  tourna- 
ment adjusted. 

Mr.  O'Halloran  goes  into  proof,  at  length,  to  show  that  the  Gauls 
and  Romans  borrowed  their  orders  of  knighthood  and  heraldry  from  the 
Irish  ;  for  the  custom  of  obliging  all  candidates  for  the  monarchy  to 
be  knights  of  the  highest  military  order,  which  we  see  adopted  in  the 
tenth  and  twelfth  centuries  of  Christianity  throughout  Europe,  was 
observed  in  Ireland  previous  to  the  Christian  era.  Our  histories 
of  chivalry,  yet  well  preserved,  tell  us  that  the  knights  of  Ireland, 
in  very  early  days,  frequently  traversed  the  continent  of  Europe  in 
quest  of  adventure,  where  they  gained  glory  and  honor.  And  so  cele- 
brated were  they  in  Europe,  that  they  were  called,  by  way  of  preemi- 
nence, the  heroes  of  the  Western  Isle.  Harris  says,  "The  French  had 
no  regular  body  of  men  charged  with  the  care  of  armories,  processions, 
and  ceremonies,  until  A.  D.  1031,  when  we  find  mention,  in  their  chron- 
icles, of  Robert  Daupin,  as  their  first  king  at  arms.  In  England,  it  does 
not  appear  that  any  such  officer  as  the  herald  was  ever  employed  on 
r;:issions  by  William  the  Conqueror,  or  either  of  his  sons;  and  it  was 
lialf  a  century  after  the  invasion  of  Ireland,  that  the  office  was  introduced 
among  the  English  warriors,  who,  no  doubt,  tooJc  their  original  idea  of 
it  from  the  Irish  princes  J'  Dr.  Warner  (English  authority)  says,  "  It 
must  be  confessed  that  this  was  a  period  of  great  military  renown  in 
Irish  history;  for  here  were  three  principal  orders  of  knights  at  that  time, 
who  were  not  only  accounted  the  greatest  men  of  the  age  by  their  own 
provinces,  but  were  so  confessed  by  all  the  nations  of  the  western  "world. 
We  are  told  that  their  valor,  their  strength,  and  the  largeness  of  their 
stature,  (being  the  picked  men  of  the  nation,)  were  the  wonder  of  the 


THE    VALIANT    CUCHDLLIN.  263 

surrounding  countries ;  and  that  their  exploits  are  not  to  be  paralleled  in 
history."  It  was  one  of  the  principal  customs  of  the  ancient  Irish  to 
train  up  their  youth  to  a  military  life,  that  they  might  either  defend  their 
country  in  times  of  distress,  or  carry  the  fame  of  their  arms  abroad." 
Add  to  this  what  Llhuid,  an  old  Welsh  historian,  has  long  since  demon- 
strated, viz.,  that  the  names  of  the  principal  commanders  who  opposed 
Ctzsar  in  Britain  are  pure  Irish,  Latinized.  Can  we  suppose  that  those 
whom  we  saw  so  manfully  assist  the  Carthaginians  and  Gauls,  in  their 
struggles  with  the  Romans,  would  remain  idle  spectators  when  the 
Romans  were  approaching  so  near  their  own  homes?  Certainly  not. 
And  I  shall  show,  in  the  course  of  these  lectures,  that  with  the  aid  of 
Irish  legions,  led  by  the  great  Irish  heroes  and  generals,  Nial  and  Dathy, 
the  Romans  were  finally  driven  out  of  England,  in  some  four  hundred 
years  later  than  the  period  I  am  now  treating  of.  And  the  same 
generals  and  Irish  legions,  or  cohorts,  chased  the  Roman  force  to  the 
very  foot  of  the  Alps.  As  the  name  of  the  valiant  Cuchullin  has 
frequently  appeared  in  the  songs  of  our  bards,  I  deem  it  appropriate  to 
insert  here  an  account  of  the  battle  at  which  he  fell,  which  was,  unhap- 
pily, between  the  native  princes  of  Ireland,  and  grew  from  the  claims 
of  the  rival  houses  of  Heber,  Heremon,  and  Ir,  to  the  chief  government 
of  the  nation.  I  take  the  account  from  Pepper,  whose  own  soul  seemed 
to  have  imbibed  the  spirit  of  the  heroes  he  so  eloquently  describes. 

"  The  allied  army  encamped  in  Ardee,  which  was  then  called  Baile 
na  Riog,  or  the  'Town  of  the  Kings,'  which  is  still  its  Irish  appellation. 
Here  Fergus  and  the  other  chiefs  wished  to  bring  the  Ultonians  to 
battle,  and,  with  this  intent,  they  raised  fortifications  on  the  banks  of  the 
River  Dee,  a  deep  and  rapid  stream,  that  rises  from  a  small  lake  in  the 
county  of  Meath,  five  miles  north-west  from  Ardee,  and,  after  passing 
through  that  town  and  Dunleer,  and  receiving,  in  its  course,  the  waters  of 
several  tributary  rivulets,  falls  into  the  sea  at  Annagassin,  in  the  county 
of  Louth,  at  the  distance  of  fifteen  miles  from  its  original  source.  The 
rath,  or  mound,  which  the  Connacians  then  erected  adjoining  Ardee,  is 
one  of  the  most  majestic,  elevated,  and  extensive  piles  of  earth  and  stone 
in  Ireland. 

"  Connor,  in  the  mean  time,  made  a  vigorous  preparation  to  oppose 
the  meditated  attack  of  the  approaching  foe,  and  happily  succeeded,  by 
his  artifice  and  address,  in  appeasing  the  resentment  of  the  hero  Cuchul- 
lin, and  in  persuading  him  to  take  the  chief  command  of  the  Ultonian 
army,  then  encamped  at  Dundalk.  The  very  name  of  this  chief  of  the 
Craob-rogh,  or  the  knights  of  the  Red-wreath,  was  a  '  tower  of  strength ' 


264  BATTLE    OF    MULL  AC  RE  W. 

to  Connor's  forces.  Notwithstanding  that  Cuchullin  could  never  forget 
nor  forgive  the  baseness  and  cruelty  of  the  king  of  Ulster  to  his  relatives, 
he  still  was  impelled  to  assume  the  command  of  the  army,  not  only  by 
the  desire  of  glory,  but  by  the  craving  of  revenge;  for,  in  a  former  war 
between  the  Connacians  and  Ultonians,  Lugha,  the  champion  of  Mun- 
ster,  had  killed  his  father.  The  Ultonian  general  had  strict  orders  to 
remain  on  the  defensive  at  Dundealgan,  (Dundalk,)  until  he  should  be 
reenforced  by  a  legion,  under  Connal  Cearnach,  that  was  daily  expected 
to  return  from  an  expedition  to  Britain.  The  Connacians,  aware  of  their 
numerical  superiority,  did  every  thing  which  artifice  could  suggest  to 
force  Cuchullin  to  a  battle.  They  abandoned  their  entrenched  camp  at 
Ardee,  and  took  up  a  position  on  an  eminence  at  Muirthimme,  (Mulla- 
crew,)  four  miles  northward  of  their  former  camp,  and  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  Caislean  na  Calga,  or  Galga  Castle,  the  patrimonial  resi- 
dence of  the  Ultonian  general.  This  movement  compelled  Cuchullin 
to  extend  the  right  wing  of  his  army  to  a  height  now  called  Ard  Patrick, 
or  the  Hill  of  Patrick.  The  two  armies  approximated  so  close,  that  it 
was  impossible,  in  consequence,  to  avoid  a  battle.  The  Ultonian  chief, 
however,  notwithstanding  his  fiery  valor  and  impetuous  courage,  wished 
to  decline  coming  to  action,  until  the  arrival  of  his  gallant  colleague, 
Connal.  But  Fergus  and  Lugha  caused  trumpeters  to  approach 
Cuchullin's  camp,  in  order  to  mock  and  deride  them,  and  by  this  means 
provoke  him  to  join  battle  with  them.  These  insults  had  the  desired 
effect ;  for  they  irritated  the  brave  hero  of  Ulster,  who,  impatient  to 
avenge  them,  issued  the  signal  for  the  attack  on  the  Connacian  camp 
At  that  moment,  when  his  military  passion  reached  the  acme  of  enthu- 
siasm, some  of  his  officers  endeavored  to  persuade  him  to  postpone  the 
action  for  a  day.  He  indignantly  retorted,  '  What !  are  we  to  fear  their 
superior  numbers?  No!  their  defeat  will  be  more  glorious  to  the  Ulster 
arms.  I  to  shrink,  like  a  dastard,  from  the  face  of  the  vaunting  foe !  O, 
never !  Since  my  first  arms  were  put  into  my  hands,  I  have  never  de- 
clined a  battle,  nor  shall  I  this.  If  I  am  to  fall  under  the  spear  of 
Lugha,  I  shall  fall  like  my  heroic  sire,  covered  with  a  warrior's  glory, 
and  with  a  spotless  fame,  worthy  of  being  embalmed  in  the  song  of 
Erin's  bards.'  The  onset  was  as  dreadful  as  it  was  desperate ;  resent- 
ment and  implacable  rage  burned  in  every  breast,  and  rendered  the 
conflict  of  the  belligerents  sanguinary  and  fierce  beyond  any  former  ex- 
ample on  record.  Cuchullin's  war  chariot,  like  the  red  thunderbolt 
felling  the  trees  of  the  forest,  flew  through  an  avenue  studded  by  uplifted 
battle-axes,  and   paved  with   dead  bodies.     To  stop  this  fiery  car  of 


DEATH    OF    CUCHULLIN.  265 

carnage,  which  rolled  through  the  Connacians  as  irresistible  as  the  head- 
long torrent  of  burning  lava  when  sweeping  down  the  rocky  declivities 
of -^tna,  was  an  achievement  that  none  except  Lugha  had  the  daring 
courage  to  attempt  The  Munster  champion  bravely  resolved  to  cross 
his  blood-flowing  path,  and  arrest  his  destructive  career,  or  nobly  die  in 
the  glorious  attempt.  Our  ancient  historians  compared  the  collision  of 
the  war-cars  of  Lugha  and  Cuchullin  to  that  of  two  huge  rocks  of  flame, 
thrown  in  contact  by  a  violent  volcanic  concussion.  The  combatants 
fought  with  a  force  and  a  fury  which  astounded  the  contending  armies. 
It  was  a  murderous  conflict  of  two  enraged  giants,  each  of  whom  was  at 
once  fired  with  the  desire  of  vengeance  and  glory.  After  fighting  from 
noon  to  dusk  with  unexampled  bravery  and  unshaken  resolution,  Lugha 
succeeded  in  piercing  the  heart  of  the  Ultonian  champion  with  his  jave- 
lin. Thus  fell  the  renowned  champion  of  LTlster,  a  hero  whose  exploits 
have  been  the  theme  of  countless  songs  and  stories  of  Irish  and  Scottish 
writers." 

34 


266 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


THE    FOUR-LEAVED    SHAMROCK. 


BY    LOVER. 


A  Four-leaved  Shamrock  is  supposed  to  endue  the  finder  with  magic  power- 


ModerAto, 


1.     I'll  seek   a  four-leaved  shamrock      In     all   th^   ^^^'^Y^ 


gs- 


--r^ 


dells ;  And    if       I      find    the     charmed  leaves,  O, 


~h    w 


"r7: 


^=^E^^^I 


^ 


how  I'll  weave  my    spells !  I  would   not  waste   my 


& 


iS)- 


tir 


TIL. 


mag  -  ic  might     On      diamond,    pearl,    or     gold ;      For 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


267 


1P=F 


^=^ 


treasures  tire   the   wea  -  ry  sense  ;  Such  triumph   is      but 


'~\~ 


—V^'=^W- 


±=d 


^~S 


w 


f9 


^ = ^ j^ 

cold.      But       I     would  play  th' enchanter's    part,     In 

#  ^     # ^ 


tfc 


II" 


T 


~6 — h 

^          ^ 

-n"^ 

Cjl2 1 

^ 

p- 

-/  hi  ■  a 

r      1 

1 

Mm 

A 

1 

0 

m^b   r- 

~J     ~S 

w     n 

f. 

r_ 

^ 

■  * 

1 

^        1^ 

9       * 

1 

1        ^               1^ 

cast  ■ 

■  ing   bliss 

• 

around : 

(9 

not 

a 

tear, 

nor 

/Pi'    1        r                                          II 

(^   17      I 

«^         1 

1 

f 

'di 

?=5-b-^ 

1 

J 

1 

r 

' 

:F 


I 


ach  -  ing   heart,  Should  in     the  world   be  found,  Should 


268 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


T~^ — ^^  5     X 

• 
1 

ri — r 

-P^P— ^^f 

T 

/  b  I     J               ^1 

^^^ 

u 

w    ST" 

U  »U     U     l-l- 

^U)    ^     fl     J-J  . 

-i^-- 

— »- 

-r^i — 

^^p-p^lf 

in     the     world 

be  found. 

'^ 

1      1 

■LnJ           1 

0     » 

«    #    V' 

f^'   I         1                   ' 

r   1    1    1  ■   1     i 

1 

^^      d               -J 

?    • 

*^_ 

1       1 

b       ••  I 

[ 

-^-j,-  S-            S        h    — ^ 

-» — »- 

-S    »          f 

F 

' 

1 

1 

2. 

To  worth  I  would  give  honor; 

I'd  dry  the  mourner's  tears ; 
And,  to  the  pallid  lip,  recall 

The  smile  of  happier  years. 
And  hearts  that  had  been  long  estranged, 

And  friends  that  had  grown  cold, 
Should  meet  again,  like  parted  streams, 

And  mingle  as  of  old. 
O,  thus  I'd  play  th'  enchanter's  part ; 

Thus  scatter  bliss  around  ; 
And  not  a  tear,  nor  aching  heart, 

Should  in  the  world  be  found, — 
Should  in  the  world,  &;c. 


The  heart  that  had  been  mourning 

O'er  vanished  dreams  of  love. 
Should  see  them  all  returning, 

Like  Noah's  faithful  dove ! 
And  Hope  should  launch  her  blessed  bark 

On  Sorrow's  dark'ning  sea  ; 
And  Misery's  children  have  an  ark, 

And  saved  from  sinking  be. 
O,  thus  I'd  play  th'  enchanter's  part ; 

Thus  scatter  bliss  around ; 
And  not  a  tear,  nor  aching  heart. 

Should  in  the  world  be  found, — 
Should  in  the  world,  &;c. 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


269 


:r.lr 


O    PATRICK,    FLY    FROM    ME. 


-t-4— 


-«&' 


:i=^- 


~~\       I' 
'n        r 


1.     O      Pat  -  rick,      fly     jQrom     me,     Or      we      are 


"^" 


-F 


~Sf 


^tt; 


55=^- 


^v 


'^^" 


-# — # 


j^: 


13--^=: 


lost     for  -  ev   -     -    er !  O       Fortune,    kind  -  er 


-^'- 


-(S'- 


o- 


:J) I : 


--P: 


J 


.^ C- 


^zfc 


be.     Nor  thus   our      true     hearts     sev   - 
» ^ » 1^' »' 


-»■ 


Hz 


9 


:r5t 


"s*- 


"T 


~^~ 


:n^ 


P: 


^- 


^1 


=^ 


tt-^ 


My  mother    scolds    me     o'er  and  o'er,    With   lessons 

I        I    r:\ 


El± 


W 


T' 


=f= 


"I r- 


■270 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


ir3^lZ^» 


w 


¥ 


7-T 


--P 


cold    and  end  -  less ;       It     on  -  ly  makes  me  love  him 


i=E 


:r" 


-^rF-f-rF-^ 

:p=:c=+_:t=p: 


more,    Be  -  cause  he's     poor      and        friend  -  less. 


'^-fc 


:pi: 


^iri 


s 


"F" 


And  then  to  me  my  Patrick  says, 

'Tis  true,  he  has  not  riches ; 
But  that  love  they  little  prize, 

Whom  gold  so  much  bewitches. 
He  tells  me  —  but,    ah  me !    I  fear 

Lest  I  from  duty  falter; 
I  wish  he  could  as  soon  persuade 

The  mother  as  the  daughter. 
O  Patrick,  fly  from  me. 

Or  we  are  lost  forever ! 
O  Fortune,  kinder  be, 

Nor  thus  our  true  hearts  sever. 


LECTURE    VIII. 


FROM    THE    BIRTH    OF    CHRIST    TO    A.  D.    141. 

Names  and  Titles  of  the  forty-three  Kings  who  reigned  in  Ireland  during  the  six 
hundred  Years  preceding  the  Birth  of  Christ.  —  Comparison  with  the  Reigns  of 
sixty-four  Roman  Emperors ;  with  the  Saxon  Kings ;  with  the  Scotch.  — Char- 
acter of  the  civil  Wars  among  the  Irish  Chiefs.  —  Julius  Csesar.  —  His  Inva- 
sion of  Britain.  —  His  Character  of  the  ancient  Britons. —  Traffic  of  the  Britons 
carried  on  in  Irish  Ships. —  Irish,  Welsh,  and  British  Druids  meet  in  Mona's  Isle. — 
Agricola  invades  Britain.  —  Reigns  of  the  Irish  Monarchs.  —  Conaire.  —  Connor  of 
the  red  Eyebrows. —  Criompthon.  —  His  Invasion  of  Britain,  and  Victory  over  the 
Romans.  —  Cairbre  the  Usurper. —  Moran  the  Just.  —  Appointed  chief  Judge. — 
Moran's  Collar. — Moran's  Purity.  —  Lord  Norbury  and  other  Judges  unlike  him. 

—  Tuathal. —  Agricola,  the  Roman  General,  prosecutes  the  Conquest  of  Britain. — 
Is  met  at  the  Grampian  Hills  by  Irish  Legions  under  Gealta  Gooth.  —  Erection  of 
the  Roman  Wall  by  Adrian  and  Severus. —  The  Wall  erected  to  keep  out  the 
Irish  and  Picts.  —  Customs  and  Games  of  the  Irish.  —  Baal  Fires.  —  Brilliant  Fetes 
of  the  Monarch  Tuathal.  —  Horse  Racing. —  Charioteering. —  Marriages.  —  Feats 
of  the  Knights.  —  Marriage  Ceremonies.  —  Amphitheatres  in  Meath.  —  Archi- 
tecture of  the  Ancient  Irish.  —  Appeal  to  Irishmen  on  the  Education  of  their  Chil- 
dren. —  History  of  Ireland  forms  no  Part  of  modern  School  Study.  —  Comparison 
between  Irish  and  Roman  Customs. —  Roman  Exercises. — Scipio's  Feats.  —  Ex- 
hibition of  Beasts  fighting.  —  Claudian's  Description  of  the  Beasts.  —  The  Circus.  — 
Sea  Monsters  introduced. — The  Gladiators.  —  Female  Gladiators. — Knights  and 
free  Citizens  become  Gladiators.  —  The  Senators  and  Patricians  become  Gladiators. 

—  Ladies  enter  the  Circus  to  fight  each  other,  and  to  fight  with  the  Beasts.  —  Roman 
Gentry  traded  in  the  Virtue  of  their  Wives.  —  Dreadful  Ferocity  of  the  Roman 
People.  —  Shed  Rivers  of  Blood  in  opposing  Christianity.  —  Ridiculous  Superstitions 
of  the  Romans. —  The  History  of  Rome  is  given  to  our  Youth,  and  that  of  Ireland 
excluded.  —  The  splendid  Reign  of  Tuathal  continued.  —  Provincial  Assemblies. 

—  Regulations  to  encourage  Arts  and  Manufactures. —  Commerce  of  ancient  Ire- 
land very  considerable.  —  Tuathal's  Address  to  the  National  Assembly. —  Great 
Expedition  against  the  Romans,  under  Gealta  Gooth.  —  Defeats  them  in  two 
pitched  Battles. —  Pauses  in  Obedience  to  Instructions  from  the  King  and  Parlia- 
ment.—  Marriage  and  tragic  Death  of  Tuathal's  two  Daughters.  —  The  Monarch 
marks  out  Leinster  for  Destruction.  —  Origin  of  the  Leinster  Tribute.  —  A  Re- 
volt, and  Death  of  Tuathal.  —  Flight  of  his  Son  to  the  Picts.  —  His  Return  and 
Victory  over  the  Usurper 

Having  presented  to  the  reader  the  principal  events  of  Irish  history  for 
a  period  of  six  hundred  years,  since  I  took  up  the  chain  at  the  death  of 
Ollamh,  onoitting  many  vivid  accounts  of  battles,  court  intrigues,  love 
affairs,  which  are  so  like  each  other,  and  so  little  instructive,  that  I  ex- 
pect to  be  pardoned  for  dashing  on  rapidly  over  centuries,  merely  noting 
the  chief  organic  changes,  and  characteristic  acts  of  the  several  ages 
through  which  I  pass  ;  1  now  give  a  catalogue  of  the  kings,  whose 
principal  deeds  I  have  noticed  in  the  preceding  pages,  who  succeeded 


272       CHARACTER  OF  THE  CIVIL  WARS  AMONG  THE  IRISH  CHIEFS. 

Lughaidh,  from  six  hundred  years  before  Christ  to  the  fifth  year 
of  the  Christian  era,  viz. :  Siorlaimh,  Eochaidh  V.,  Eochaidh  VI., 
Conning,  Art  II.,  Fiaclia,  Olioll,  Airgeadmhcr,  Eochaidh  VIL, 
Lughaidh  III.,  Aodh-Diihorba,  Ciombaoith,  Q^ueen  Macha,  Reachta, 
or  Righ  Dherg,  Jughaine  the  Great,  Laoghaire  II.,  Mahon,  Meilge, 
Modh  Chorb,  Aongiis  II.,  Jarero,  Fearchorb,  Conla,  Olioll  III, 
Adamar,  Eochaidh  VIII,  Feargus,  Aongus  III,  Connall,  Niadh, 
Eanda,  Criomthean,  Ruighruidhe,  Jonadhbhur,  Breasal,  Lughaidh 
IV.,  Duach,  Fiachtna,  Eochaidh  IX.,  Eochaidh  X.,  Eidersgeoill, 
Nuadhneacht ;  forty-three  kings,  from  the  reign  of  Lughaidh  II.,  six  hun- 
dred years  before  the  Christian  era,  to  the  fifth  year  of  Christianity, 
which  gives  an  average  reign  of  thirteen  and  a  half  years  to  each. 
From  that  period  to  the  invasion  of  Tergesius  the  Dane,  there  reigned 
sixty-one  kings,  in  a  space  of  seven  hundred  and  thirty-eight  years, 
which  gives  an  average  of  twelve  years  to  each.  When  this  evidence 
of  the  civilization  of  Ireland  for  that  period  is  weighed,  —  when  it  is 
balanced  against  the  history  of  five  hundred  years  of  Rome,  during 
the  full  time  of  the  empire,  —  it  will  then  be  seen  to  which  of  those 
people  the  palm  of  approbation  ought  to  be  adjudged.  From  the 
time  of  Julius  Caesar  to  that  of  Augustulus,  anno  475,  about  five 
hundred  years,  there  reigned  sixty-four  emperors  over  Rome.  Their 
reigns  averaged  but  eight  years  for  each.  Forty-six  of  these  emperors 
were  monsters  of  crime  and  vice  ;  thirty-three  of  them  were  murdered  ; 
seven  were  assassinated  or  poisoned,  one  strangled  ;  two  fell  by  their 
own  hands ;  one  was  burnt,  and  one  was  drowned  ;  and  nineteen 
only  died  natural  deaths. 

If  we  turn  our  eyes  to  England,  we  will  find  that  twenty-eight  kings 
of  the  Saxon  heptarchy  were  murdered  in  a  period  of  three  hundred  and 
fifty  years.  Robertson  says  of  the  Scotch  kings  and  nobles,  they  were 
revengeful.  Of  six  successive  princes,  from  Robert  the  Third  to  James 
the  Sixth,  not  one  died  a  natural  death.  The  wars  and  kingly  murders 
that  grew  from  the  English  factions  of  the  white  and  red  roses,  only  three 
or  four  centuries  past,  are  sufficiently  bloody  and  treacherous  to  keep 
the  tongues  of  Englishmen  quiet  on  topics  like  these. 

It  is  unfortunately  true  that  the  warlike  propensities  of  the  Irish  led 
them  into  hostile  conflicts  with  each  other,  when  the  more  exciting  enter- 
prise of  foreign  wars  did  not  call  their  princes  from  their  own  country. 
Taught,  from  youth  upwards,  to  esteem  personal  bravery  and  military 
exploit  as  the  very  climax  of  human  excellence,  they  resented  insults, 
and  settled  disputes  about  territory,  on  the  field  of  combat.     Still,  in 


THE    CHAIN    OF    SILENCE.  273 

those  deplorable  conflicts,  a  code  of  laws  was  observed  by  the  most 
deadly  opponents,  which  proved  how  sensibly  alive  they  must  have 
been  to  that  principle  of  human  action  called  honor,  whose  root  is  justice, 
and  whose  nourishing  fluid  is  tenderness  and  exalted  human  feeling. 
In  the  hottest  period  of  battle,  if  the  attending  bards  or  heralds,  on 
either  side,  shook  the  *'  chain  of  silence,"  there  was  an  instantaneous 
suspension  of  the  war,  and  the  voice  of  negotiation  was  listened  to. 
The  combatants  were  frequently  induced  to  retire  to  their  respective 
homes  by  the  songs  of  bards,  and  seldom  or  never  have  they  been 
known  to  take  unfair  advantage  of  each  other.  Those  internal  battles, 
however,  were  most  generally  maintained  with  terrible  resolution  on 
both  sides.  The  idea  of  retreating  never  entered  into  the  heads  of  any 
party.  The  absorbing,  impelling  sentiment  that  enwrapped  the  nation, 
directed  them  to  die  on  the  field  or  conquer  their  opponents.  The 
princes  who  instigated  and  led  those  warrior  legions  to  the  field,  deemed 
it  so  great  a  disgrace  to  survive  the  loss  of  a  vital  or  pitched  battle,  that, 
when  they  saw,  towards  the  conclusion,  their  hopes  and  soldiers  die 
away,  they  invariably  plunged  into  the  thickest  of  the  contest,  and  fell 
fighting  by  the  sides  of  the  remnant  of  their  followers.  The  whole  his- 
tory of  Ireland  presents  but  one  exception  to  this  general  practice — that 
of  Malachy  II.,  anno  1010,  who  survived  the  loss  of  his  diadem.  Had 
Napoleon  died,  with  his  sword  in  hand,  resisting  his  enemies  at  the  gates 
of  Paris,  instead  of  on  the  rock  of  St.  Helena,  how  much  more  brilliant 
would  his  fame  have  shone  in  the  eyes  of  the  military  world  than 
it  now  does! — As  to  the  political  equity  of  Napoleon,  I  hold  an 
opinion  on  it  different  from  those  who  cry  him  up  a  genuine  lover  and 
distributor  of  human  liberty,  which  shall  be  expressed  in  its  place. 

With  all  their  faults,  the  ancient  Irish  strictly  revered  the  most  sacred 
laws  of  honor.  Contests  were  frequently  decided  by  the  single  combat 
of  the  contending  princes,  who  put  their  claims  upon  the  issue  of  their 
personal  bravery  and  skill,  whilst  the  contending  armies  on  either  side 
paused  in  their  work  of  death,  and  gazed  upon  the  vital  combat  of  their 
respective  chiefs.  Great  was  the  glory  of  the  victor.  Frequently  a 
diadem  and  a  principality  awaited  his  triumph.  The  opposing  armies 
joined  together,  forgot  their  former  feuds,  and  mutually  partook  of  hos- 
pitality, whilst  the  processions  of  the  victor  to  his  palace,  whether  main- 
tained or  acquired  on  the  field  of  honor,  were  swelled  by  his  former 
enemies  as  well  as  friends,  and  were  attended  by  a  pomp  and  circum- 
stance to  which  modern  days  afford  no  parallel. 

On  this  feature  in  their  character,  the  eloquent  Phillips  has  founded  the 
35 


274  JULIUS  Cesar's  invasion  of  Britain. 

following  stanza  in  his  beautiful  song  of  "  Cushlamachree,"  which  is 
printed,  with  the  music,  in  the  beginning  of  this  work:  — 

"  Thy  sons  they  are  brave ;  but,  the  battle  once  over, 
In  brotherly  love  with  their  foes  they  agree." 

We  have  now  arrived  at  that  era  in  tlie  world's  history  marked  by 
the  birth  of  a  Savior.  Rome  had  risen  to  the  meridian  of  her  power. 
Julius  C(zsar,  as  her  general,  had  conquered  more  than  half  the  then 
known  world.  He  had  subjected  many  of  the  civilized  and  barbarous 
nations  of  the  earth  to  his  sway,  and  compelled  them  to  pay  tribute  to 
the  Roman  aristocracy.  After  his  conquest  of  Gaul,  Spain,  Africa, 
Egypt,  Pontus,  and  some  other  states  of  lesser  note,  he  had  carried 
before  him,  in  his  triumphal  procession  into  Rome,  vessels  of  gold  and 
silver,  computed  by  modern  authors  to  be  worth  tivelve  millions  pounds 
sterling,  or  sixty  millions  of  dollars,  —  together  with  eighteen  hundred 
and  twenty-two  golden  diadems,  weighing  fifteen  thousand  and  twenty- 
three  pounds  weight.  All  these  were  put  into  the  Roman  treasury,  as 
spoils  to  the  republic,  independent  of  the  booty  he  brought  home  for 
himself.  In  addition  to  all  these,  the  profusion  of  jewels,  paintings, 
and  other  rich  and  valuable  curiosities,  swelled  his  spoils  to  an  in- 
credible amount. 

Elated  with  this  success,  he  sought  the  shores  of  Britain,  to  add  it 
to  his  conquests.  According  to  his  own  account,  he  landed  on  the 
shores  of  Britain,  near  Dover,  on  the  26th  of  August,  fifty-five  years 
before  the  birth  of  Christ.  He  soon  overcame  the  feeble  resistance  of 
scattered  and  undisciplined  tribes.  He  describes  the  inhabitants  as 
divided  into  forty  tribes,  each  living  in  a  state  of  independence  of  the 
other.  Those  in  the  southern  parts,  ^vho  appeared  to  be  emigrants  from 
Belgic  Gaul,  were  the  most  civilized.  They  had  made  some  progress 
in  agriculture  and  the  arts  of  life.  The  rest  maintained  themselves  by 
pasture,  were  clothed  with  the  skins  of  beasts,  painted  their  bodies,  and 
were  constantly  shifting  their  habitations,  either  in  search  of  food  or  to 
annoy  or  avoid  their  enemies.  They  had  no  other  laws  than  the  will 
of  their  chiefs. 

Caesar  returned  to  the  continent  after  establishing  a  temporary  govern- 
ment in  Britain,  in  the  name  of  Rome  ;  but  was  obliged  to  go  back  the 
next  year  to  quell  the  insurrections  of  the  northern  Picts.  In  this  he 
succeeded,  having  landed,  from  a  fleet  of  eight  hundred  ships,  an  im- 
mense army,  with  which  he  overran  a  great  portion  of  Britain.  But  the 
foot  of  a  hostile  Roman  soldier  never  polluted  Ireland,  and  subsequent 


IRISH,    WELSH,    AND    BRITISH    DRUIDS    MEET    IN    WALES.  275 

events,  well  attested  by  Roman  and  English  history,  will  tell  the  rea- 
son why. 

On  Caesar's  return,  he  sent  over  lawgivers  to  England,  and  pursued, 
as  did  succeeding  governors,  a  conciliatory  policy.  The  laws  of  Rome 
were  partly  adopted  in  the  south  of  Britain,  +>ut  rejected  towards  the 
north.  The  only  thing  the  Britons,  at  this  time,  shipped  to  other  coun- 
tries, according  to  Caesar,  was  tin,  which,  it  appears,  the  Phoenicians 
obtained  from  the  British  mines  in  Cornwall  ;  but  as  the  Britons,  ac- 
cording to  Tacitus,  had  no  ships  at  this  time,  this  traffic  was  carried  on 
in  Irish  vessels  —  an  important  admission,  which  is  made  by  the  Roman 
historian  in  his  Life  of  Agricola.  Britain  remained  in  this  condition  for 
ninety  years,  during  which  no  Roman  general  approached  the  country. 
In  the  forty-sixth  year  of  the  Christian  era,  Platius,  a  Roman  general, 
landed  in  Kent,  and  advanced  to  the  Thames,  which  he  passed,  and 
fought  three  great  battles  with  the  Britons,  whom  he  defeated  near 
Oxfordshire.  In  five  years  afterwards,  the  Roman  general  Pauli- 
nus  arrived  in  Britain,  and  found,  that  in  Mono's  Isle,  now  called 
the  Isle  of  Anglesey,  (separated  from  the  main  land  in  Wales  merely 
by  a  river,  over  which  the  greatest  suspension  bridge  in  the  world  now 
hangs,  namely,  the  Menai  bridge,)  was  congregated  an  immense  num- 
ber of  Irish  knights,  Britons,  Welsh,  Druids,  and  bards,  who  opposed 
his  progress.  In  this  isle  there  was  established  a  sacred  seat  of 
Druidism,  to  which  the  Druids  of  Ireland  used  to  repair  to  mingle 
their  peculiar  ceremonies  with  those  of  their  brethren  of  Wales  and 
other  parts  of  Britain. 

The  Roman  general  met  with  great  resistance  here,  and  he  bent 
his  whole  force  to  the  destruction  of  the  religious  and  military  congre- 
gations on  the  island.  It  was  here  the  Irish  allies  were  accustomed 
to  land  from  Wexford.  The  Roman  general  laid  siege  to  this  place, 
and  finally  destroyed  the  fortifications,  together  with  the  Druidical 
altars,  and  then  erected  a  fort  of  great  strength,  leaving  behind  him 
a  strong  garrison,  to  drive  off  auxiliaries  who  might  approach  from 
Ireland, 

In  twenty  years  afterwards,  we  find  Julius  Agricola,  the  Roman 
general,  employed  in  retaking  Mona's  Island,  which  proves  that  this  was 
the  battle-ground  between  the  Irish  allies  of  Britain  and  the  Roman 
legions. 

Returning  to  my  narrative  of  Ireland,  we  find  Conaire,  in  the  first 
years  of  the  Christian  era,  monarch  of  Ireland.  He  belonged  to  the 
family  fi-om  which  the  Dalriada  of  Scotland  descended,  and  fix)m  whom 


276  CONATRE. CONNOR. CRIOMTHON CAIRS. 

her  present  majesty,  by  the  female  side,  claims  lineage.  The  first  act 
of  Conaire's  reign  was  an  unexampled  punishment  on  the  people  of 
Leinster  for  the  murder  of  his  father.  He  ordered  that  every  first  of 
November,  three  hundred  swords  mounted  with  gold,  three  hundred 
cows,  three  hundred  purple  cloaks,  and  three  hundred  steeds,  should  be 
delivered  at  his  palace  as  an  eric  from  that  province,  for  the  crime.  He 
reigned  forty  years,  some  historians  assert  it  to  be  sixty  years;  but 
during  his  reign  the  people  enjoyed  a  perfect  state  of  happiness.  He 
was  succeeded  by  Connor  of  the  Red  Eyebrows,  and  he  again  by  Cri- 
ompthon,  who  penetrated  Britain  with  a  victorious  army,  harassing  the 
Roman  forces,  destroying  their  fortifications,  and  carrying  home  quanti- 
ties of  warUke  spoils.  Criompthon  died  suddenly  by  a  fall  from  his 
horse. 

A.  D.  41.  On  the  death  of  this  prince,  he  was  succeeded  by  Cairhrey 
the  usurper,  a  prince  of  the  Danaan  line,  from  Connaugbt.  Cairbre 
possessed  shinh)g  abilities,  as  well  as  cunning  and  treachery.  His  remote 
ancestors  were  amongst  the  very  first  chiefs  of  the  tribes  who  settled  m 
Ireland,  and  his  family,  through  a  long  course  of  ages,  mourned  the  pre- 
dominance of  the  Milesian  race  in  the  government.  Cairbre,  seeming^ 
to  possess  this  feeling  to  an  uncontrollable  degree,  conceived  the  daring 
resolution  of  seizing  upon  the  sceptre  by  a  treacherous  effort.  To  carry? 
this  resolve  into  effect,  he  negotiated  with,  and  secured  the  alliance  of., 
some  British  Belgte  and  Gauls,  to  act  with  the  forces  which  his  own 
province  of  Connaught  afforded.  He  prepared  for  a  favorable  oppor- 
tunity to  attack  the  constituted  authorities.  It  was  in  that  moment  wherv 
the  throne  of  Ireland  had  become  vacant  by  the  death  of  the  beloved 
Criompthon..  when  the  princes  and  nobles  of  the  kingdom  had  assem.bled- 
at  Tara  for  the  purpose  of  ehicting  a  successor  to  the  crown.  The 
festive  entertainments  which  custom  had  ordained,  were  being  enjoyed- 
These  electoral  entertainments  generally  continued  three  days.  Cairbre 
watched  the  hour  of  unsuspecting  hilarity  for  his  attack.  Late  in  the 
night,  when  the  princes  and  other  authorities  in  the  palace  of  Tara  were 
stultified  with  wine,  and  relaxed  with  enjoyment,  he  and  his  troops,  who 
approached  by  secret  marches,  roshed  upon  the  devoted  guests,  and 
slaughtered  all  they  could  reach,  without  distinction  or  mercy.  The 
sanguinary  Cairbre  was  then  proclaimed  king  by  his  soldiery,  who  com- 
pelled the  terrified  arch-Druid  to  inaugurate  him  as  monarch,  on  the 
Stone  of  Destiny,  with  the  accustomed  solemnity.  For  five  years,  the  full 
duration  of  his  reign,,  he  acted  towards  the  nation  with  singular  mildness 
and  justice,  and  his  son  Moran,  the  celebrated  lawgiver  and  judge. 


MORAN    APPOINTED    CHIEF    JUDGE. HIS    COLLAR.  277 

won  the  general  affections  of  the  people  by  his  talents  and  unexampled 
equity. 

On  the  death  of  Cairbre,  the  usurper,  Moran,  the  heir  apparent,  was 
proclaimed  monarch  of  Ireland,  with  the  usual  ceremonies ;  but  when  a 
deputation  of  the  national  assembly  waited  on  him  with  the  crown,  this 
great  man  declined  to  assume  it,  giving  his  reasons  in  the  following 
memorable  words :  — 

"  I  never  shall  wear  that  crown,  to  which  1  have  no  just  right,  except 
what  I  might  derive  from  the  violence  that  placed  it  on  my  father's 
brow.  Do  you  conceive  Moran  so  ignoble  as  to  accept  the  power 
which  is  based  on  such  dishonorable  claims  ?  No,  legislators !  You 
wrong  me  when  you  suppose  that  injustice  should  be  the  foundation  of 
my  personal  aggrandizement.  If  my  own  honest  merits  cannot  secure 
me  the  applause  of  posterity,  let  my  deeds  rest  i-n  darkness,  in  oblivion." 

Feardhaih,  of  the  old  Milesian  line,  was  therefore  called  (anno  46)  to 
the  throne,  and  to  him  all  parties  in  the  state  swore  allegiance.  Moban 
was  appointed  chief  judge  of  all  matters  in  the  kingdom  ;  and,  from  his 
extraordinary  wisdom  and  integrity,  his  name  has  passed  down  to  us 
as  a  model  for  judges  in-  all  succeeding  ages.  The  prince  and  the 
judge  were  worthy  of  each  other,  and,  by  their  wisdom  and  equity, 
produced  in  the  kingdom  the  most  perfect  state  of  social  happi- 
ness. So  great  was  the  reputation  of  Moran  for  wisdom  and  justice, 
that  the  golden  collar  he  wore  round  his  neck  was  worn  by  all  his 
successors ;  and  so  wonderful  were  the  powers  attributed  to  it,  that  the 
people  were  taught  to  believe  that  whoever  gave  a  wrong  decree  with 
this  collar  round  his  neck,  was  sure  to  be  compressed  by  it  in  proportion 
to  his  deviation  from  the  line  of  truth  ;  but  when  the  judgment  given 
was  just,  it  would  hang  loose  and  easy.  The  common  people,  even  to 
this  day,  swear  dar-an-joadh-Mhoran,  i.  e.  "  by  the  collar  of  Moran," 
which  is  deemed  a  most  solemn  asseveration. 

With  the  exception  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  lord  chancellor  of  Eng- 
land, in  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  who,  according  to  Sir  James 
Mackintosh,  was  the  purest  judge  that  appeared  in  England  for  a  thou- 
sand years,  we  have  no  judge,  in  England  or  Ireland,  that  won  such 
universal  approbation  and  respect  as  Judge  Moran,  until  we  come  to 
our  own  days,  and  light  on  the  person  of  the  lamented  Sir  Michael 
O'Loughlin,  the  late  Irish  master  of  the  rolls,  —  one  who  came  from 
a  line  of  ancestors  known  in  Ireland  a  thousand  years  ago. 

Dr.  Warner,  the  English  historian,  says  of  Chief  Justice  Moran, 
"  There  is  not  in   all  history,   as    I   remember,  another  instance  of  a 


273  IRISH    LEGIONS    OPPOSE    THE    ROMANS. 

revolution  like  this,  brought  about  by  the  self-denial  and  strength  of  a 
single  man,  called  to  the  exercise  of  royal  power  through  the  wicked- 
ness and  perfidy  of  his  own  father,  divesting  himself  of  this  power,  and 
disarming  a  giddy  multitude,  in  order  to  establish  the  public  tranquillity, 
and  set  the  lawful  heir  ujx)n  the  throne.  Indeed,  ancient  or  modern 
hdstory  affords  no  parallel  of  mch  self-denial,  if  we  except  the  single 
instance  of  Lycurgus,  the  famous  Spartan  lawgiver,  who,  though 
called  by  general  consent  to  the  throne,  on  the  death  of  his  brother, 
no  sooner  heard  that  liis  sister-in-law  was  pregnant,  than  he  abdicated 
the  regal  sway,  and  assumed  merely  the  regency  of  the  state." 

Such,  descendants  of  the  Irish  £ace,  was  Judge  Moran ;  one  who 
elevates  your  nation  on  the  score  of  judicial  equity  to  an  equality  with 
the  proudest  and  most  polished  on  the  earth.  It  was  much  regretted, 
in  the  days  of  Lord  Norbury,  that  Moran's  collar  could  not  be  found 
10  place  about  his  neck,  for  it  would  have  choked  him  long  ere  he 
condemned  so  many  brave  men  to  the  block  ;  and  it  would  be  cred- 
itable to  justice,  if  a  distmguished  functionary,  who  figured  lately  in 
certain  "  state  trials,"  had  had  this  collar  round  his  neck  while  charging 
the  jury. 

Anno  69,.  Fiachadh  was  proclaimed  monarch  of  Ireland.  In  the 
same  year,  Vespasian  was  proclaimed  emperor  of  Rome.  Fiachadh 
pcuired  forces  into  North  Britain,  and  continued  to  resist  the  Roman 
power  there.  In  those  batdes,  the  celebrated  Gealta  Gooth,  (the 
GaJgacus  of  Tacitus,)  an  Irish  chieftain  of  those  days,  led  over  the 
Irish  legions  against  the  Romans,  who  were  then  sweeping  the  plains 
o!'  Britain  ;  but  internal  division,  which,  at  that  time,  grew  up  amongst 
the  chiefs  and  princes  of  Ireland,  absorbed  the  national  spirit,  and  kept 
back  the  supplies ;  otherwise  the  Roman  arms  might  have  been 
stemmed  much  sooner  and  much  more  effectually  than  they  were. 

Anno  86,  we  find  Fiachadh  slain  in  battle,  and  succeeded  by 
Elim,  who,  however,  was  not  suffered  to  enjoy  his  powers  long.  He 
was  opposed  by  Tuathal,  the  son  of  the  preceding  monarch.  Tuat- 
hal  gathered  home  some  of  the  Irish  legions  from  North  Britain,  with 
which  he  attacked  Elim,  and,  in  eighty-five  batdes.  won  his  way  to  the 
throne.  Though  he  waded  through  much  blood  in  his  way  to  power, 
yet  his  reign  was  otherwise  just,  wise,  and  glorious.  His  first  public 
act  was  a  convention  of  the  estates  of  Tara.  Before  this  assembly  he 
appeared  in  his  place  as  monarch  and  president  of  their  councils.  He 
addressed  them  with  great  eloquence,  pointed  out  the  danger  of  divisions, 
and  of  the  pretensions  of  so  many  families  whose  blood  entitled  them  to 


adman's    wars    in   BRITAIN. THE    ROMAN    WALL.  279 

the  throne,  and  besought  them,  as  they  valued  their  safety  and  dreaded 
the  power  of  Rome,  to  pass  an  act  hmiting  the  chief  monarchy  to 
the  male  issue  of  one  house.  To  this  they  agreed,  and  they  swore 
fealty  to  the  house  of  Heremon. 

This  prince  revived  all  the  wise  institutions  of  Ollamh  Fodhla. 
More  lands  were  appropriated  by  the  estates,  or  parliament,  to  the 
support  of  the  crown  and  the  interests  of  literature,  and  to  enable  the 
prince  to  support  his  dignity  with  greater  splendor.  These  lands  were 
called  fearon  buird  righ  Erion,  or  the  raensal  lands  of  the  monarch 
cf  Ireland.  The  great  Ollamh  Fodhla,  having  conferred  on  the 
University  of  Tara  the  power  of  granting  the  highest  degrees  in 
literature  and  science,  King  Tuathal  followed  up  the  idea,  and  con- 
ferred privileges  and  powei-s  on  the  Tara  University,  endowing  it  liber- 
ally with  revenues. 

A  little  while  ago,  I  brought  forward  a  view  of  the  invading  armies 
of  Rome,  penetrating  Britain,  attacking  Mona's  Island,  which  was  then 
a  point  of  great  consequence,  as  the  rendezvous  of  the  allies  of  the 
Britons. 

In  the  intestine  struggles  of  Ireland,  in  the  last  and  preceding  reigns, 
a  portion  of  the  Irish  forces  were  withdrawn  from  the  Isle  of  Anglesey. 
Agricola  had,  therefore,  the  easier  conquest  of  that  important  military 
post.  And,  though  little  or  no  defence  had  been  made,  yet  Tacitus 
asserts,  that,  by  its  capture,  Agricola  got  the  name  of  a  "  most  con- 
summate general."  Having  obtained  this  important  post,  he  swept 
the  plains  of  Britain  before  him  from  the  south,  and  was  repulsed  only 
on  the  gathering  together  of  a  sufficient  force  of  Irish  allies  on  the 
Grampian  Hills,  under  Gealta  Gooih,  the  Irish  general.  Here  a 
desperate  resistance  was  offered  to  the  overwhelming  legions  of  Rome, 
by  the  combined  arms  of  the  Irish  cohorts,  Picts,  and  North  Britons  ; 
but,  though  Tacitus  claims  the  victory  of  the  day  for  his  father-in- 
law,  Agricola,  yet  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  Romans  never  penetrated 
farther.  Indeed  Agricola  contented  himself  with  erecting  a  chain  of 
forts  from  the  Clyde  to  Galway  Frith,  which  divided  Britain  from 
Scotia  Minor.  In  twenty  years  farther  on,  we  find  the  Roman 
emperor,  Adrian,  obliged  to  come  into  Britain,  to  defend  their 
possessions,  which  defence  ended  in  his  building  a  wall  from  Sol- 
way  Frith  across  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tyne.  Again,  Severus  has, 
farther  on,  to  fight  for  his  existence  against  the  combined  forces  of  the 
Picts  and  Irish  ;  and  we  may  form  some  idea  of  the  strength  of  his 
legions,  when  we  learn  that  fifty  thousand  of  them  died  of  an  epidemic, 


280  BAAL    FIRES.  CUSTOMS    OF    THE    IRISH. 

near  York,  in  England,  whilst  prosecuting  his  defence  of  the  Roman 
conquests. 

Severus,  in  the  year  200  of  the  Christian  era,  builds  the  famous 
wall  of  stone  along  the  line  of  Adrian's  wall  of  clay,  which  divided 
England  from  Scotland.  -Its  height  was  twelve  feet,  its  breadth,  at  the 
foundation,  was  nine  feet,  and  its  length  sixty  miles.  In  front  was  a 
ditch  eleven  feet  broad.  And  here  was  high  and  haughty  Rome,  com- 
pelled, by  the  valor  of  the  Milesian  race,  to  pause,  and  draw  a  limit 
westward  to  her  all-conquering  power.  This  wall  yet  remains 
above  the  earth,  a  stupendous  monument,  not  of  Roman  greatness, 
but  of  Irish  valor  —  a  sort  of  memorial  to  teli  the  world  that  such  a  race 
was  never  destined  by  Heaven  for  slavery. 

Here  may  be  the  best  place  to  view  the  customs,  games,  and  amuse- 
ments, of  the  ancient  Irish,  and  to  make  a  comparison  between  their 
character  and  that  of  the  Romans  during  parallel  ages.  I  have  al- 
ready shown  that  the  Irish  worshipped  Baal,  or  the  sun,  as  the  great 
author  of  nature,  of  heaven,  and  earth.  It  was  the  custom,  on  the 
eves  of  May  and  November,  for  the  Druidical  priests  to  light  up  holy 
or  worship-fires,  in  honor  of  the  sun,  throughout  the  kingdom,  when 
all  other  fires  were  extinguished,  and  not  rekindled  but  by  a  torch  from 
the  chief  fire  of  the  Druids.  This  chief  or  primary  fire  was,  by  Tu- 
athaJ,  ordered  to  be  lighted  only  in  Tara,  where  it  was  surrounded 
with  the  utmost  degree  of  splendor  and  ceremony.  The  fire  was 
lighted  in  a  shady  grove,  when  the  king,  queen,  princes,  Druids,  bards, 
chiefs,  knights,  and  the  multitude,  were  present.  When  the  ceremony 
was  completed,  portions  of  this  holy  fire  were  then  given  to  the  first 
orders,  from  whose  fires  the  otiiers  took  torches,  and  so  on  the  fires  of 
the  whole  kingdom  were  lighted  up.  Although,  at  this  time,  we  may 
smile  at  the  simplicity  of  this  custom,  yet,  in  those  days,  it  had  a  con- 
siderable influence  on  the  people.  And  so  difficult  it  is  to  subdue  a 
popular  custom,  that,  even  in  our  days,  the  first  of  May  is  ushered  in  by 
the  young  and  gay  with  extraordinary  excitement,  though  the  original 
cause  for  the  custom  is  unknown  to  probably  nine  hundred  in  every 
thousand. 

The  object  of  the  monarch  Tuathal  was  to  conduct  the  government 
of  the  country  in  a  way  agreeable  to  the  taste  and  feelings  of  the 
people.  In  order  to  make  the  meetings  of  the  gentry  and  chiefs  more 
frequent,  and  to  attach  them  to  his  person,  he  revived  the  festive  meet- 
ings on  the  plains  of  Louth  with  uncommon  splendor.  Here  he  erected 
a  superb  pile  of  architecture,  where  he  revived  the  great  fair,  to  which 


MARRIAGES. IRISH    ARCHITECTURE.  281 

all  the  trading  people  of  the  kingdom  repaired.  It  commenced  fourteen 
days  before  the  first  of  August,  and  continued  fourteen  days  after.  The 
amusements  of  horse-racing,  charioteering,  feats  of  arms  and  dexterity 
by  the  knights,  took  place  at  this  national  gathering.  Temporary 
amphitheatres  of  wood  were  raised  for  the  accommodation  of  many 
thousand  persons  ;  and  the  ladies  were,  of  course,  assigned  the  best  and 
most  conspicuous  places  at  these  public  entertainments.  At  these  meet- 
ings, marriages  and  alliances  were  formed  between  the  families  of  the 
chiefs,  gentry,  and  distinguished  orders,  and  every  method  was  studied 
to  promote  exhilarating  exercise,  and  refined  and  modest  enjoyment. 

So  intent  was  Tuathal  on  raising  the  morals  of  his  people  to  the 
highest  pitch  of  virtuous  refinement,  that,  to  promote  connubial  al- 
liances, he  offered  prizes  to  such  young  men  as  selected  their  wives  at 
this  great  meeting.  Here  rival  knights  contended,  at  tilts  and  dexterous 
feats  of  grace  and  agility,  for  the  ladies  of  their  love  ;  and  poets  sang, 
and  rustics  wresded,  to  win  the  smiles  and  approbation  of  the  fair. 

The  learned  O'Flaherty  says  of  these  games  and  amusements,  that 
the  strictest  order  and  most  becoming  demeanor  were  observed  through- 
out :  the  men  were  placed  by  themselves  ;  the  ladies  had  a  separate 
place  assigned  them  in  the  capacious  amphitheatres  of  oak  erected  for 
the  occasion,  where  their  parents  were  present,  and  treated  about  their 
nuptials.  As  soon  as  the  match  was  settled,  the  happy  youth  presented 
a  garland  of  roses  to  the  elected  object  of  his  choice,  and  then  led  her 
forth  to  the  Druid's  altar,  where  the  nuptial  ceremony  was  solemnly 
performed  by  the  .ministering  Druid.  We  are  told,  that  this  prince 
erected  on  the  site  of  these  festive  games  a  Druidlcal  cave  In  the 
earth.  The  ruins  of  this  celebrated  pagan  abode  are  yet  to  be  seen, 
and,  say  the  learned  Bcauford  and  the  Welsh  antiquarian  Llhyuide, 
who  visited  the  ruins,  "  they  equal  any  time-honored  remnant  of  ancient 
architecture,  which  a  Palmyra  or  Babylon  could  boast."  The  learned 
Camden  and  Raymond,  both  English  writers,  say  the  same,  one 
of  whom  describes  this  celebrated  cave  "  as  elegantly  vaulted,  with 
polished  marble  slabs,  indented  into  each  other  —  Is  eighty  feet  long,  with 
a  marble  paved  floor,  and  walls  encrusted  with  the  same  material." 
There  are  bass-relief  and  hieroglyphic  Inscriptions  on  some  of  the 
panels,  boldly  sculptured.  And  Beauford  continues  his  remarks  in  the 
following  words :  "  It  Is  a  ridiculous  assumption  In  some  English 
writers,  who,  to  gratiiy  their  prejudices,  maintain  that  the  ancient  Irish 
were  not  eminent  in  architecture  before  the  English  Invasion.  The 
round  towers  and  antique  cathedrals  of  Cashell,  Clonard,  Armagh, 
36 


282  SHIP-BUILDING.  EDUCATION    OF    IRISH    CHILDREN. 

Ardfeit,  and  many  others,  with  hundreds  of  old  abbeys  and  innumer- 
able Druidical  altars  and  caves,  are  testimonials  in  favor  of  the  taste, 
the  architecture,  and  the  genius,  of  the  ancient  Irish." 

Bede  has  honorably  admitted  that  to  Ireland  his  country  was  in- 
debted for  their  naval  and  mural  architecture.  William  Rufus  sent 
into  Ireland  for  the  oak  that  built  Westminster  Abbey,  over  which  it 
yet  presides,  a  grand  and  solemn  witness  of  its  superiority  over  the  oak 
©f  England.  "  King  Alfred,  who  had  been  exiled  in  Ireland,  on 
regaining  possession  of  his  kingdom,  invited  over  Irish  ship-builders, 
who  constructed  for  him  a  large  fleet.  Some  of  the  vessels  thea 
built  had  seventy-six  oars,  and  were  generally  navigated  by  sixty  or 
seventy  sailors."  —  DundeVs  Inquiry  into  the  Rise  and  Progress 
of  the  British  Navy,  London  edition,  1799. 

Gildas,  who  wrote  A.  D.  560,  says,  "  The  Hibernians  had  large 
ships  for  the  purposes  of  war,  but  that,  in  carrying  on  trade,  they  con- 
veyed their  commodities  over  a  sea  rough  and  tempestuous  in  wicker 
boats,  encompassed  with  a  swelling  covering  of  ox-hides  ;  "  these  were 
called  Curraghs,  and  were  noticed  by  Tacitus  five  hundred  years 
before  Gildas  wrote.      Gildas  himself,  was  educated  in  Ireland. 

We  are  now  considering  the  period  ranging  In  the  first  century  of 
the  Christian  era,  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  Ireland  was  yet 
blessed  generally  with  the  light  of  Christianity. 

I  have  opened  to  you  a  view  of  the  rational,  healthful,  modest,  and 
graceful  amusements  practised  by  your  ancestors  —  at  least  the' ancestors 
of  the  Irish  — even  before  the  refining  influence  of  Christian  precept  had 
added  a  polish  and  a  lustre  to  their  character.  You,  children  of  this 
brave,  chivalrous,  modest,  and  virtuous  race !  to  you  I  now  address 
myself.  You  send  your  youth  to  the  schools  which  a  liberal  go\ern- 
ment  has  provided  for  their  instruction  ;  and  they  are  directed  to  drink 
their  first  draughts  of  knowledge  froiu  tiie  fountains  of  Greece,  Rome^ 
and  England,  whilst  the  country  of  their  ancestors,  containing  all  that  is 
brave,  beautiful,  grand,  learned,  pious,  modest,  and  virtuous,  is  totally 
neglected.  Not  even  is  there  a  history  of  that  glorious  country  on  your 
school  tables.  The  history  of  the  oppressor  of  your  race  is  that  which 
corrupt  fashion  and  impure  and  degenerate  taste  direct  you  to  peruse; 
whilst  the  wisdom  of  those  neglected  sages,  saints,  and  heroes,  of  your 
own  country  is  cast  off,  —  that  country,  that  opened  its  doors  to  the  per- 
secuted missionaries  of  literature,  when  the  hurricane  of  human  passion, 
which  swept  over  Europe  in   the   middle   ages  would,  but  for    your 


AMUSEMENTS    OF    THE    ROMANS.  283 

sainted  ancestors,  have  extinguished  every  vestige  of  Greek,  or  Roman, 
or  ancient  literature. 

But  come  now,  let  us  examine  the  lessons  which  your  youth  are 
directed  to  study  in  the  senate,  in  the  field,  and  in  the  theatre,  of  the 
Romans,  which  are  pretended  to  be  so  far  beyond  the  models  for  study 
which  your  own  neglected  ancestors  have  left  you.  I  have  shown  you 
the  innocent,  the  modest,  the  graceful,  the  elegant  amusements  of  your 
calumniated  ancestors,  on  the  plains  of  Louth,  and  in  the  palaces  of 
Tara. 

Let  us  now  take  a  glance  at  the  public  amusements  of  the  Romans, 
previous  and  sulasequent  to  the  same  period,  whilst  both  people  were 
under  the  influence  of  Druidical  or  pagan  worship.  The  feats  of 
exercise  which  these  heroes  performed,  consisted  chiefly  of  running, 
leaping,  swimming,  throwing  a  stone  or  a  javelin,  or  running  against  a 
horse  across  a  plain. 

It  is  thus  the  famous  Scipio  is  described,  in  a  grand  gathering  of  the 
Roman  people,  by  Italicus,  as  translated  by  Dryden :  — 

"  Among  the  rest  the  noble  chief  came  forth, 
And  showed  glad  omens  of  his  future  worth. 
High  o'er  his  head,  admired  by  all  the  brave, 
He  brandished  in  the  air  his  threatening  stave ; 
Or  leaped  the  ditch,  or  swam  the  spacious  moat, 
Heavy  with  arms  and  his  embroidered  coat 
Now  fiery  steeds,  though  spurred  with  fury  on, 
On  foot  he  challenged,  and  on  foot  outrun ; 
While  'cross  tlie  plain  he  shaped  his  airy  course, 
Flew  to  the  goal,  and  shamed  the  generous  horse. 
Now  ponderous  stones,  well  poised  with  both  his  hands, 
Above  tlie  wondering  crowd  unmoved  he  sends; 
Now  'cross  the  camp  he  aims  his  ashen  spear. 
Which,  o'er  ten  thousand  heads,  flies  singing  in  the  air." 

Such  were  the  extolled  exercises  of  Scipio,  one  of  their  greatest 
heroes.  And  there  is  nothing  in  the  boasted  feats  that  an  Irish 
hero  of  the  same  age  would  not  accomplish ;  and  we  could  get 
a  thousand  Irish  boys,  of  the  present  age,  to  beat  Scipio  hollow,  at 
leaping  ditches,  throwing  stones,  or  running  against  the  swiftest  horse. 
So  much  for  some  of  the  ivonderful  feats  of  these  great  models  which 
we  are  to  follow.  Let  us  go  farther  into  their  delicate,  polished,  ele- 
gant, amusements.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  Roman  people  to  have 
periodical  combats  with  wild  beasts,  got  up  for  their  amusement.  The 
animals  v/ere  brought  from  the  most  distant  countries  for  their  gratifica- 


234  THE    GLADIATORS. 

tion.  There  were  three  sorts  of  diversions  with  the  beasts,  all  which 
Vv'ent  under  the  description  venatio.  The  first  order  of  the  amusement 
was  when  the  people  were  permitted  to  run  after  the  beasts,  and  catch 
what  they  could  for  their  own  use  ;  the  second  order,  when  the  beasts 
fought  with  one  another ;  and  the  last,  when  they  were  brought  out  to 
engage  with  men. 

Claudian,  their  own  poet,  thus  describes  the  animals  that  were 
collected  to  gratify,  by  their  presence  and  their  feats  in  the  ring,  the 
elegant  Roman  patricians :  — 

"  All  that  witli  potent  teeth  command  the  plain, 
All  that  run  horrid  with  erected  mane, 
Or  proud  of  stately  horns,  or  bristling  hair,  — 
At  once  tlie  forest's  ornament  and  fear,  — 
Torn  from  the  deserts  by  the  Roman  power. 
Nor  strength  can  save,  nor  craggy  dens  secure." 

The  middle  part  of  the  circus  was  set  all  over  with  trees,  removed 
thither  by  main  force,  and  fastened  to  huge  planks,  which  were  laid  on 
the  ground.  These,  being  covered  with  earth  and  turf,  represented  a 
natural  forest,  into  which  the  beasts  were  let,  from  a  cave,  or  dens  under 
ground.  The  people,  at  a  sign  given  by  the  emperor,  fell  to  hunting 
and  combating  them,  and  carried  away  what  they  could  kill  to  regale 
upon  at  home.  Sometimes  we  find  a  tiger  matched  with  a  lion ; 
sometimes  a  lion  with  a  bull,  a  bull  with  an  elephant,  a  rhinoceros  with 
a  bear.  But  the  most  wonderfully  surprising  feature  in  those  horrid 
sports  was,  the  bringing  of  the  sea-water  into  the  amphitheatre,  when 
huge  sea-monsters  were  introduced,  to  combat  with  wild  beasts.  Cal- 
phuni,  in  his  Eclogues,  describes  the  scene  thus :  — 

"  Nor  sylvan  monsters  we  alone  have  viewed ; 
But  huge  sea-calves,  dyed  red  with  hostile  blood 
Of  bears,  lie  floundering  in  the  wondrous  flood." 

The  men  who  en<iao;ed  with  wild  beasts  had  the  common  name  of 
bestiarii.  Some  of  these  were  condemned  persons  ;  others  hired  them- 
selves out,  at  a  set  pay,  as  gladiators.  We  find  several  of  the  nobility 
and  gentry,  many  times,  voluntarily  undertaking  a  part  in  these  encoun- 
ters ;  and  Juvenal  acquaints  us  that  the  ladies  of  Rome  were  am- 
bitious of  showing  their  courage  on  such  occasions,  though  with  the 
forfeiture  of  their  modesty  :  — 

"  Nor  Mars  alone  his  bloody  arms  shall  wield ; 
Venus,  when  Caesar  bids,  shall  take  the  field  — 
Not  only  wear  the  breeches,  but  the  shield." 


THE    GI-ADIATORS.  285 

'•  Cum  M<zvia  Tuscum  jigat  aprum,  et  nuda  ieneat  venabula  mamma." 
Those  who  coped  on  the  ground  with  beasts,  commonly  met  with  a 
very  unequal  match  ;  and  their  safety  consisted  in  the  nimble  turning 
of  their  bodies,  and  leaping  up  and  down  to  elude  their  adversary. 
In  the  show  of  wild  beasts,  exhibited  by  Julius  Caesar,  in  his  third 
consulship,  twenty  elephants  were  opposed,  in  the  circus,  to  6ve  hundred 
footmen. 

The  first  rise  of  the  celebrated  but  horrible  class  of  human  beings, 
called  gladiators,  is  accounted  for  by  the  Roman  writers  in  this  way  : 
It  was  their  custom  to  believe  that  the  ghosts  of  the  dead  were  only  to 
be  satisfied,  and  kept  fiom  howling  abroad,  by  the  sacrifice  of  human 
blood.  At  first  they  used  to  buy  captives  and  slav'es,  whom  they 
butchered  and  offered  up  at  these  obsequies ;  afterwards  they  contrived 
to  veil  over  their  impious  barbarity  with  the  specious  show  of  pleasure 
and  voluntary  combat.  And  therefore,  on  the  day  appointed  for  the 
sacrifices  to  the  departed  ghosts,  they  obliged  the  captives  to  engage  in 
mortal  combat  with  each  other,  at  the  tombs  of  the  chief  men  ;  and 
the  victor  who  killed  his  opponent  obtained  his  liberty  and  a  reward. 
This  shocking  custom,  as  I  shall  show,  grew  with  the  growth  of 
Rome,  and  strengthened  with  her  strength,  until  a  nation  of  savages 
was  created,  which  sv/ept  like  a  curse  over  the  face  of  the  earth. 

The  first  public  show  of  gladiators,  apart  from  the  funeral  rites,  took 
place  at  Rome,  in  the  consulship  of  Claudius,  long  before  the  Christian 
era.  Within  a  little  time,  when  they  found  the  people  exceedingly 
pleased  with  such  bloody  entertainments,  the  consuls,  who  courted  pop- 
ularity, gave  them  these  feats  of  blood  frequently,  and  they  soon  grew 
into  a  custom.  And  not  only  on  the  death  of  any  great  or  I'ich  citizen 
did  these  inhuman  rites  take  place,  but  all  the  principal  magistrates  took 
occasion  to  present  the  people  with  such  spectacles,  in  order  to  procure 
their  esteem  and  affection.  As  for  the  emperors,  it  was  so  much  their 
interest  to  ingratiate  themselves  with  the  commonalty,  that  they 
obliged  them  with  these  shows  upon  almost  all  occasions ;  as  on 
their  birthday,  at  the  time  of  a  triumph,  after  any  signal  victory, 
or  at  the  consecration  of  any  public  edifice.  As  the  occasions  of 
these  solemnities  were  prodigiously  increased,  so  was  the  length  of 
them,  and  the  number  of  the  combatants.  At  the  first  show  exhib- 
ited by  the  family  of  the  Bruti,  there  were  only  three  pair  of  gladia- 
tors. Julius  Cassar  presented  three  hundred  and  twenty  pair  of  these 
fighdng  monsters.  Titus  exhibited  a  combat  of  gladiators  and  wild 
beasts  which  lasted  a  hundred  days  together.     And    Trajan  continued 


286    ROMAN    LADIES    ENTER   THE    CIRCUS    TO    FIGHT    EACH    OTHER. 

the  barbarous  amusement  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  days,  at  a  sin- 
gle show,  during  which  he  brought  out  a  thousand  pair  of  gladiators. 

These  gladiators  were  commonly  slaves  or  captives ;  for  it  was  an 
ordinary  custom  to  sell  a  disobedient  servant  to  the  lanistis,  (master 
gladiators,)  or  their  instructors,  who,  after  they  had  taught  them  part  of 
tiieir  skill,  let  them  out  for  money  at  the  shows.  But  mark  I  the  free- 
men subsequently  put  in  for  a  share  of  this  honor,  to  be  killed  in  jest, 
and  many  times  offered  themselves  to  hire  for  the  amphitheatre  — 
whence  they  had  the  name  of  the  auctorati.  Nay,  the  knights  and 
noblemen,  and  even  the  senators,  at  length  were  not  ashamed  to  take  up 
the  same  profession,  some  to  keep  themselves  from  starving,  after  they 
had  squandered  away  their  property,  and  others  to  curry  favor  with  the 
emperors.  The  emperor  Augustus  issued  a  public  edict  that  none  of 
the  senatorian  order  should  turn  gladiators,  and  soon  after  he  laid  the 
same  restraint  upon  the  knights.  Yet  these  prohibitions  were  so  little 
regarded  by  succeeding  emperors,  that  Nero  brought  out  into  one  show, 
as  gladiators,  four  hundred  senators  and  six  hundred  of  the  equestrian 
order. 

But  all  this  will  be  left  in  the  shade,  when  we  come  to  a  further 
search,  and  find  the  very  ivomen  engaging,  in  the  circus,  as  gladiators  — 
particularly  under  Nero  and  Domitian.  Juvenal,  in  his  sixth  satire, 
thus  exposes  their  barbarous  manners  —  translated  by  Dryden : 

"Behold  tlie  strutting  Amazonian  there! 
She  stands  in  guard,  with  her  riglit  foot  before, 
Her  coats  tucked  up,  and  all  her  motions  just ; 
She  stamps,  and  then  cries  '  Hah ! '   at  every  thrust" 

And  again  he  says, — 

"O,  what  a  decent  sight  'tis  to  behold 
All  thy  wife's  magazine  by  auction  sold  — 
The  belt,  the  crested  plume,  the  several  suits 
Of  armor,  and  the  Spanish  leather  boots ! " 

These  female  gladiators  fought  with  sharp  sp^rs  or  swords,  until  the 
combat  ended  with  the  death  of  one.  Some  of  the  more  daring  en- 
gaged with  the  men,  and  even  with  the  wild  animals.  —  The  Roman 
senators  traded  in  the  virtue  and  in  the  persons  of  their  wives  ;  it  was 
common  for  these  noble  Romans  to  let  out  their  wives  for  one,  two,  or 
three  years,  to  other  noble  Romans,  and  receive  them  back  again  with 
the  price  of  their  dishonor.  Even  the  great  Cato  was  guilty  of  this 
degradation.     O,  but  it  is  shocking  to  proceed. 


HOME  AS  STUDIED  BY  OUR  YOUTH.  287 

This  barbarous,  cruel,  inhuman,  beastly  state  of  morals  prevailed  in 
Rome  for  six  hundred  years  —  ay,  during  its  most  palmy  days. 

When  the  thrones  of  the  emperors  were  at  last  endangered  by  the 
numbers  of  the  gladiators,  —  when  all  decency  was  swept  away,  and  all 
security  for  life  or  property  anniiiilated,  by  the  prevalence  of  this  hor- 
rible propensity,  in  a  city' composed,  we  are  assured,  of  millions,  —  it  was 
then  the  emperors  tried  to  put  a  stop  to  the  horrid  practices  ;  but  it 
was  not  till  Christianity  had  triumphed,  it  was  not  till  the  divine 
precepts,  given  to  the  apostles  and  Christian  missionaries,  had  been 
sowed  and  nurtured  by  rivers  of  the  martyrs'  blood,  that  these  inhuman 
practices  were  abated  and  melted  down.  How  did  this  ferocious  race 
meet  the  preachers  and  apostles  of  Christianity  ?  Ask  the  page  of  his- 
tory, and  it  will  answer,  With  imprisonment,  torture,  and  death.  His- 
tory will  tell  you  that  the  Christian  blood  shed  by  the  Romans,  in  their 
persecutions  of  the  followers  of  Christianity,  exceeded  the  powere  of 
calculation.  It  is  said  that  four  millions  of  human  beings  were  put  to 
death  simply  for  professing  the  peaceful  doctrines  of  the  merciful  Savior 
of  the  world.  And  at  length,  so  wearied  did  the  Roman  judges  be- 
come, from  the  sheer  labor  of  condemning  the  Christians  to  death,  and 
so  fatiguing  was  the  labor  of  executing  them,  that  judges  and  execution- 
ers at  last  could  not  with  readiness  be  obtained  to  do  the  work  of  blood. 
Many  of  these  judges,  and  many  of  the  executioners  too,  seeing  so  many 
freely  go  to  death  rather  than  renounce  a  single  particle  of  the  Christian 
faith,  became  themselves  Christians  ;  for,  they  said,  a  religion  that  could 
not  be  extinguished  after  the  shedding  of  so  much  blood,  must  have  God 
to  support  it. 

But  it  is  not  only  of  their  ferocity  and  beastly  habits  we  can 
speak — they  practised  the  most  ridiculous  superstition.  They  be- 
lieved in  dreams,  and  had  public  interpreters  appointed  to  communicate 
to  the  emperor  the  meaning  of  the  dreams  of  his  people.  Thus  the 
dreams  of  the  young  or  the  old  ladies  of  Rome  influenced  the  decis- 
ions of  generals  and  statesmen.  The  appearance  of  certain  birds  or 
animals  crossing  the  march  of  an  army,  would  induce  their  bravest  gen- 
erals to  turn  aside  from  their  purpose.  Animals  were  sacrificed  to  their 
gods  to  propitiate  them  before  battle,  and  the  manner  of  their  death  de- 
cided the  order  of  battle  ;  the  quantity  of  blood,  the  number  of  groans 
or  struggles  of  the  dying  beast,  gave  the  cast  to  their  fate.  - 

Such  was  bloody,  barbarous,  beastly,  and  inhuman  Rome  —  Rome, 
whose  deeds  your  youth  are  taught  to  study,  as  sources  of  instruction  and 
models  for  imitation  —  Rome,  whose  history  is  held  to  be  a  part  of 


288  REIGN    OF    TUATHAL. 

the  "classics,"  or  that  combination  of  knowledge,  which  the  world 
bows  to  as  the  literary  code,  by  which  it  is  to  be  governed  ;  whilst 
Ireland,  brave,  chivalrous,  modest,  virtuous,  hospitable  Ireland, — 
pious,  learned,  cultivated,  polished,  —  the  land  where  not  one  martyr  was 
offered  to  oppose  the  introduction  of  Christianity, — the  land  where 
architecture  flourished,  and  flourishes  to  this  day, — the  school  for  virtue, 
oratory,  music,  poetry,  and  arms,  —  that  great  and  good  model  which  has 
survived  Rome,  and  will  survive  equally  bloody  and  inhuman  England, 
—  that  great  model  of  all  the  human  duties  and  all  the  human  orna- 
ments, children  of  the  Milesian  race,  is  forgotten  by  your  teachers,  and 
your  youth  are  educated  in  every  thing  but  the  history  of  your  ven- 
erated and  almost  forgotten  father  land. 

Having  made  this  unavoidable  digression,  I  return  to  the  reign  of  the 
monarch  Tuaihal.  The  triennial  meeting  of  the  estates  at  Tai'a  were 
carefully  attended  to  during  this  reign.  The  national  records  were 
revised  and  corrected,  and  every  new  art  or  discovery  that  sprang  up 
was  cherished.  It  is  recorded  that,  at  this  time,  a  meeting  of  the 
estates  of  Connaught  was  held  at  the  palace  of  Cruchain,  in  that 
province,  at  which  new  laws  were  oiiginated,  to  be  proposed  in  the 
chief  parliament  of  Tara.  During  the  same  reign,  a  meeting  of  the 
estates  of  Leinster  was  held  at  Naas,  to  suggest  alterations  in  the 
national  code  of  laws,  and  to  provide  for  the  better  administration  of 
the  laws  throughout  the  province.  This  proves  for  us,  that,  at  this 
period,  the  legislative  powers  of  government  were  distributed,  to  a  cer- 
tain extent,  through  the  provinces,  just  as  the  powers  of  the  American 
republic  are,  to  a  certain  extent,  distributed  through  the  states.  This 
is  further  confirmed  by  the  action  of  the  Ulster  estates,  which  met  at 
the  celebrated  palace  of  Emania,  in  the  north,  in  the  same  reign  ; 
where  certain  laws  were  passed  for  the  regulation  and  encouragement 
of  arts,  manufactures,  trade,  and  commerce.  And  thus  were  laid  in  the 
earth  those  seeds  of  manufactures  and  commerce,  which,  we  shall  see, 
as  we  get  along,  progressed  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  and  still  linger  in 
that  part  of  the  kingdom.  In  fact,  we  may  say  that  Ireland  was  to 
Europe,  in  respect  of  manufiictures,  what  the  New  England  States  are  to 
America.  On  this  matter,  Tacitus,  the  Roman  historian,  in  his  Life  of 
Julius  Agricola,  states  that  the  commerce  of  the  Irish,  in  his  days, 
was  much  more  extensive  tlian  that  of  the  Britons. 

The  Roman  legions  had  now  laid  waste  a  great  part  of  Britain. 
Owing  to  the  struggles  for  die  diadem  that  had,  for  the  previous  few 
years,  distracted  the  Irish  at  home,  and  had  drawn  back  the  auxiliary 


tuathal's  address  to  the  national  assembly.  289 

legions,  which  they  had  been  previously  enabled  to  leave  in  Britain, 
the  Romans  found  little  to  resist  their  onward  course,  and  King 
Tuathal,  fearing  for  the  triumph  of  Roman  power  so  near  him,  appre- 
hending his  own  green  island  might  be  the  next  gem  the  stranger 
would  set  in  his  diadem,  summoned  the  estates  to  assemble  and  consider 
their  danger,  being  in  the  very  neighborhood  of  Roman  conquerors. 
King  TuathaVs  address  to  his  parliament  is  to  be  found,  in  the  original 
Irish,  in  Bishop  MoUoy's  Genealogies  of  Irish  Kings,  and  bears  the 
marks  of  vigor  and  eloquence. 

After  alluding  to  other  matters,  the  prince  thus  concludes  a  powerful 
appeal :  — 

"  Behold,  wise  counselloi-s,  the  Roman  legions  menacing  our  coasts, 
pampering  their  lofty  hopes  with  the  expectation  of  subjecting  this 
sacred  isle,  rich  with  the  dust  of  Milesian  heroes,  to  their  yoke !  Will 
you  suffer  your  wives  and  daughters  to  be  dragged  as  captives  to  the 
streets  of  Rome,  to  share  the  ignoble  fate  of  Britain  and  Albania's 
daughters  ?  Will  you  suffer  the  Roman  eagles  to  perch  on  the  national 
standard  of  Gathclus,  [the  harp,]  that  sacred  standard  which  the  great 
Hebrew  prophet,  Moses,  gave  to  the  father  of  the  Milesian  race  ?  Be 
united,  be  firm  in  concord,  and  the  Irish  air  will  never  be  poisoned  by 
the  breath  of  the  Roman  invaders.  When  we  march  forth  to  battle, 
with  souls  enkindled  with  the  spirit  of  patriotism,  the  despoiler's  power 
will  recede  from  our  spears,  as  the  foaming  waves  recoil  when  broken 
and  dissolved  on  the  rocks  of  our  shores.  Yes,  senators,  if  destructive 
and  intestine  dissension  make  no  chasms  in  our  ranks  and  love  of 
country,  the  Romans  shall  find  us  invincible,  and  as  firm  in  the  fight 
as  the  majestic  mountain,  which,  seated  on  its  ocean  throne,  looks 
down  with  contempt  at  the  idle  rage  of  the  turbulent  billows  that  burst 
on  its  rocky  footstool !  " 

This  heart-stirring,  this  sublime  appeal  to  the  nation,  was  responded 
to  in  the  equipment  of  an  immense  force  for  immediate  operations  in 
Britain.  This  force  was  put  under  the  command  of  the  celebrated 
Irish  hero  whose  name  has  come  down  to  our  days  surrounded  with 
glory  —  Gealta  Gooth,  whose  progeny  gave  kings  to  Leinster  for  many 
ages  after. 

The  forces  of  Rome  at  this  time  had  devastated  Britain,  under  the 
Roman  emperor,  Adrian,  anno  118,  and  were  about  marching  on 
Caledonia,  which,  by  treaty,  the  Irish  were  bound  to  protect  from 
invasions.  The  king  of  the  Picts  placed  the  combined  forces  under 
the  command  of  the  Irish  general,  and  he  immediately  gave  batde  to 
37 


290         GEALTA  GOOTH  COMMANDS  AN  EXPEDITION. 

the  Romans,  whom  he  defeated  in  two  engagements,  and  compelled 
to  retreat  to  Newcastle.  The  emperor,  Adrian,  who  was  then  in 
Wales,  repaired  to  the  north,  where  his  armies  were  disheartened. 
Here  he  commenced  a  wall  of  clay,  the  erecting  of  which  he  in- 
spected in  person,  carrying  it  across  from  Carlisle  to  Newcastle,  a  dis- 
tance of  sixty  miles.  This  wall  subsequently  gave  place  to  a  wall  of 
stone,  erected  by  Severus,  which  yet  remains  to  tell  the  world  of  the 
bravery  of  the  ancient  Irish,  and  their  kinsmen,  the  Picts. 

Gealta  Gooth  encamped  at  Stirling,  and  awaited  orders  from  the 
king  and  parliament  of  Ireland,  as  to  whether  he  should  cross  the 
Tweed  in  chase  of  the  Romans ;  but  it  was  decided  in  the  Irish 
councils,  that  he  should  not  proceed  farther  with  the  Irish  army  than 
their  compact  with  the  Caledonians  required.  And  here  was  the  Roman 
power  checked  by  one  of  our  forgotten  ancestoi-s,  while  the  Roman 
warriors,  who  fled  before  him,  are  recorded  and  held  up  to  our  youth 
as  the   paragons  of  bravery  and  military  glory. 

Shortly  after  this,  an  event  occuiTed,  of  a  most  painful  and  tragic 
character,  which  lit  up  for  a  long  time  after  the  strife  of  civil  war  in 
Ireland.  The  monarch  Tuathal,  whose  life  we  are  considering,  had 
two  daughters,  fair  and  beautiful ;  the  elder  of  whom,  Dairine,  was 
wooed  and  wedded  by  Eochaidtk,  prince  of  Leinster,  and  carried,  with 
an  immense  retinue,  in  great  splendor,  to  his  palace  of  Ferns,  in 
Wexford.  The  bride  was  accompanied  to  her  future  palace  and 
home  by  her  younger  sister,  Fithier,  a  princess,  we  are  told,  of 
extraordinary  beauty,  who  remained  some  time  in  the  palace  of 
Ferns.  During  this  time,  the  prince,  Eockaidth,  smitten  with  her 
extraordinary  beauty,  conceived  a  strong  passion  for  his  sister-in-law, 
and.  In  some  time  after  her  return  to  her  father's  palace  of  Tara,  fol- 
lowed her  thither,  dressed  in  the  deepest  mourning,  and  represented  to 
the  king,  his  father-in-law,  that  his  wife,  Dairine,  had  died  suddenly  — 
"  an  event,"  said  he,  "  that  will  break  my  heart,  unless  your  majesty 
snatches  me  from  the  precipice  of  despair,  by  giving  me  the  princess 
Fithier,  to  soothe  my  sorrows,  and  replace  in  these  arms  the  counter- 
part of  that  angel  perfection  of  which  death  has  robbed  me."  The 
monarch,  moved  by  his  well-assumed  grief,  consented  to  bestow  a 
second  daughter  on  the  fiend.  He  soon  wooed  and  captivated  the 
young  princess,  and  they  were  married  by  the  arch-Druid,  with  great 
solemnity,  at  the  palace  of  Tara.  In  some  time  afterwards,  the  married 
pair  set  out  for  the  prince's  palace  at  Ferns.  When  they  arrived  there, 
the  shame  and  amazement  of  the  young  princess,  Fithier,  on  finding 


ORIGIN    OF    THE    LEINSTER    TRIBUTE.  291 

her  elder  sister  yet  alive,  cannot  be  described.  Dairine,  the  first  and 
lawful  wife  of  the  prince,  fired  with  jealousy,  loaded  her  poor  innocent 
sister  with  the  most  dreadfid  reproaches,  which  operated  so  sensibly  on 
her  feelings,  that  she  fell  into  convulsions,  and  died  in  a  paroxysm  of 
grief.  Dairine,  deeply  affected  at  the  death  of  a  sister  she  always 
loved  so  dearly,  threw  herself  upon  the  body,  and,  overwhelmed  with  the 
wickedness  of  her  husband  and  the  death  of  her  beloved  sister,  plunged 
a  dagger  in  her  own  bosom,  and  died  clasping  that  sister  in  her  arms. 

In  the  whole  history  of  Greece  or  Rome,  —  ay,  of  Roman  virtue, 
that  you  are  taught  so  much  to  admire,  —  there  is  no  more  shining 
example  of  female  virtue,  sensibility,  and  self-immolation,  on  their  long 
records,  than  the  death  of  these  two  sisters  presents. 

So  overwhelmed  in  grief  and  rage  was  the  monarch  Tuathal.  at 
this  dishonor  and  tragic  end  of  his  two  daughters,  that  he  called  his 
estates  of  Tara  together,  before  whom  he  related  all  these  facts,  when 
it  was  resolved,  with  one  accord,  to  drive  the  guilty  prince  of  Leinster 
from  his  throne.  War  was  instantly  declared,  and  the  enraged  monarch 
led  his  army  into  Leinster  in  person,  laying  waste  the  habitations  of 
Eochaidth's  followers.  Eochaidth  and  a  few  of  his  followers  sought 
safety  in  flight ;  and  from  the  place  of  his  secret  refuge,  he  despatched 
his  chief  bard  to  the  enraged  monarch,  with  offers  of  the  most  humble 
submission  to  such  terms  as  he  chose  to  dictate.  This  proposal 
being  made  with  considerable  address  by  the  prince's  bard,  an  armistice 
was  agreed  to  upon  the  following  conditions:  That  Eochaidth,  to 
enjoy  his  life  and  crown  for  himself,  and  to  have  his  principality 
guarantied  to  his  successors  forever,  should  pay  unto  the  chief  monarch 
of  Ireland  the  following  tribute  every  second  year,  viz.,  three  thou- 
sand cows,  three  thousand  ounces  pure  silver,  three  thousand  mantles 
richly  embroidered,  three  thousand  sheep,  three  thousand  hogs,  and 
three  thousand  copper  caldrons.  This  tribute,  known  as  the  Boroimhe 
tax,  was  the  after-cause  of  much  internal  warfare,  when  the  guilty 
author  had  been  for  centuries  in  the  dust.  It  proves  for  us  the  mas- 
culine virtue  of  those  people  who  marked  a  whole  province  to  destruc- 
tion for  the  crime  of  its  prince ;  and  it  proves  the  wealth  that  abounded 
in  Ireland  in  those  early  ages,  by  the  nature  of  the  medium  in  which 
this  tribute  was  paid. 

Some  of  our  English  neighbors  of  the  present  day  insinuate,  that 
we  were  a  poor,  miserable  set  before  they  came  amongst  us ;  that  v,'e 
had  no  gold  or  silver ;  that  we  had  no  manufactures  of  cloth,  and, 
of  course,  no  such  thing  as'  embroidered  mantles ;  and  that,  as  for 
copper  caldrons,  we  never  had  the  like,  and  never  had  a  leg  of  mutton 


292  DEATH    OF    TUATHAL. 

to  put  into  a  caldron,  till  they  came  over  and  blessed  us  with  their  arts, 
sciences,  and  civilization.  But  the  items  of  these  and  other  tributes, 
the  detail  of  the  will  of  our  princes,  and  th6  concurring  testimony  of 
Roman,  French,  and  Florentine  writers,  will  prove,  in  spite  of  our 
oppressors,  what  Ireland  was.  And  the  concurring  desire  and  sym- 
pathy of  mankind  will  soon  restore  Ireland  to  her  rightful  position,  and 
enable  her  to  pass  through  future  ages  with  still  more  stainless  glory 
than  she  won  during  the  ages  that  are  past. 

Tuathal,  having  reigned  fifty  years,  was  killed  by  a  revolter, 
named  Mul,  who  persecuted  his  family  and  followers.  Tuathal's  eldest 
son  fled  to  the  camp  of  his  uncle,  the  chief  of  the  Picts,  in  whose 
armies  he  performed  prodigies  of  valor.  But  the  usurper,  Mai,  losing 
the  confidence  of  the  people,  FeidUmh,  the  exiled  prince,  hastened 
back  to  his  native  land  with  a  few  followers,  when  the  whole  popula- 
tion rose  in  his  behalf,  and,  after  some  slight  resistance,  the  usurper  was 
killed,  and  Feidlimh  crowned  with  much  pomp  at  the  palace  of  Tara, 
in  the  year  of  Christianity  141. 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


293 


THE    EMERALD    ISLE. 


Q.UABI  Alleoretto. 


K^ 


i^iz: 


~^3' 


~»JZ9 

r  Li 


L     Far,     far      o'er     the     waves   •  of  the   blue  glan-cing 


0~&   9   9   9   W     W99t>   '   ^      9 


'=p-- 


-F 


■PEE^: 


wa  -  ters,        Sweet  E  -  rin,      my     coun  -  try, 


n    1    i~T 

9~9~9~9' 


B 


T=ZS*_B=J 


7 9       '^9—^- 


wan  -  der 


to 


thee  ;         Thy     free  -  heart  -  ed 


--^ 


"n: 


^ 


:-ZSi 


1=^ 


^5^ 


--nS- 


zr 


-r- 


2IZK 


itic: 


fEEf^lf^ 


3rE 


sons,      and  thy     bright     srni  -  ling      daughters,         Are 


^fe=; 


T 


;^: 


— «S>'- 


'gr 


at 


•294 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


-ll 


:»ztiii': 


-r 


=i=F 


:^=: 


call  -  ing        me      home   o'er       the      wild,   swell  -  ing 


_<izzzsizzt 


T~ 


~csr 


T' 


S 


:tz=:H: 


^f 


"^1 


sea ;         My        heart   has       gone      out      like         a 


^ 


T' 


--P 


3 


"~\ r 

~9  T 


>         > 


J 


~T 


^ 


wild     bird     be    -    fore      me,         And     rests      on     thy 


"n        1 Tr\ 


^ 1 ST 


N — P^- 


SL 


^: 


shore,      as      I         lin  -  ger      the        while, 


"n: 


m=j^" 


To 


'ST 


■P^ 


T" 


:i)= 


:«^#-# 


:r:sz:r 


.^a: 


:gn~hn 


T-f^ 


'r~r 


9--W- 


-•SiS — 
bless   the         bright  heaven  that   sweet  -  ly      smiles 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


295 


oer  me 

_*  ft 


And  the     bark    that 


near  -  ins 


(Q   m    (9   0~9 


the 


— ^- 


r^i    I    r 


'I     I     r 


I     I     r 


Cres. 


I 


^1      m 


near 


the 


Em  -  e 


■^ 


raid 


Isle. 


e 


^=i- 


ji: 


jr" 


2. 


Yes,  Erin !    green  Erin !    though  long  years  have  whitened 

The  dark  shading  locks  that  hung  over  my  brow, 
Yet  closer  in  love,  the  cords  have  they  tightened 

Of  the  heart  that  is  yearning  to  be  with  thee  now. 
I  fancy  I  grasp  the  brave  hand  of  my  brother  ; 

I  see  the  glad  light  of  my  sister's  fond  smile ; 
I  stand  in  the  hall  of  my  father  and  mother, 

Who  welcome  me  back  to  the  Emerald  Isle ! 


O !   land  of  the  grateful,  where  every  emotion 
Of  kindness  is  fostered,  of  friendship  sincere  ; 

Where  every  breast,  in  its  loyal  devotion. 

Would  barter  its  life-blood  to  spare  thee  a  tear! 

0  beautiful  land !    whose  sunny-eyed  daughters 

Wear  hearts  on  their  lips,  that  have  never  known  guile, 

1  hasten  to  thee,  o'er  the  far-swelling  water, 

My  home,  and  my  Hountry !   the  Emerald  Isle ! 


296 


MUSIC. 


CAROLAN'S    RECEIPT. 


(OL     REIE     CHEARBALLAIN.) 


■# f^l 


fez 


-rrrr     ^#^- 1  i     J^#~S" 


ra: 


I     r 


rrrr  rn 


:n — i^i~r 


7 ^i^ri ^~ 


r#- 


~*  r  r1    I 
~rT"ri — I ^- 


Tpj-r — I — rr 
TFT'i      I      rr 


'^' 


I   I   I  I 


'rrr 


I  9 


ff — »t:::^"i    rzzrl    i    r-r-r-\ — r-rT#~| — r"r  i  ^     *a. -P 

r7~^r  I — r     a —     r'rT~i — rvn r^r  rz    rr»^ i 

I — XXX:^' ^ —  ~~^™-™— — r,:r""ri —  Zirr^r:— rtrrzi  I 


r#- 


-p-^j-p- 
"r"r"rir" 


■r___    1 I 


"r  r 


-r~n 


— J — ra-r-^— Zir]Zlzr»lZi: 


-^ 


EPPz!^EE!EE£!^s^S5 


1        I      I       I 


MUSIC. 


297 


THE    THREAD-BARE    COAT. 


(an   cota   liome.) 


r# 


Ig— gg 


l'^ 


&         m' 


-=^- 


5~ 


:^^«=^=J^=6^ 


.^ 


*^I 


^^? 


#: 


— ^~n:"Tn    r:^: 


-# 


1    i"n:n' 


*#"«' 


^P^^S^ 


U <-  ^ !_ 


"g'n"g"*'~r' 


'#        I 


"I — r'r-r 
"r™rrz 


T""T"r7 


-# 


=s=; 


e? 


1^       I 


J I 


3=*gE=l=5 


>§: 


i]~:n— E 


•#        y 


1     I  n    I    I    r   r 


s-*^=s=s='^ 


r»--^^^qnH      I     1     i      i-r 


n^nzzi 


'»~^~g~g~ 


=5==J 


r*    r 


33 


LECTURE   IX. 


FROM    A.  D.   141    TO   279. 

Reign  of  Feidhmh.  —  Law  of  Lex  Talionis.  —  Reign  of  Cathoir  More.  — His  extraor- 
dinary Will.  —  His  Posterity.  —  Wealth  and  Refinement  of  the  ancient  Irish. — 
Reign  of  Con  of  the  Hundred  Battles.  —  Quarrel  with  Eogan,  Prince  of  Munster.  — 
Battle  of  Lena.  —  Gaul  M'Morna,  the  Connaught  Hero.  —  Death  of  Con,  and 
Accession  of  Conaire. — Carbrai  Rihda. —  Caledonian  Colony.  —  Established  and 
sustained  by  the  Irish.  —  Proof.  — Feargus  the  Second  of  Scotland.  — Liah  Fail.  — 
The  Stone  of  Destiny. —  The  Kings  of  Ireland,  Scotland,  and  England,  crowned 
upon  it.  —  Origin  of  many  Irish  Families. — Fion  M'Cumhall.  •=— Oisin.  —  The 
Leinster  Militia. — The  Reign  of  Cormac.  —  His  Laws.  —  Palace  of  Tara  rebuilt  by 
him,  of  Marble.  —  His  Magnificence.  —  The  Officers  he  appointed.  —  Successes  of 
Fion  M'Cumhall  against  the  Romans  in  Britain.  —  Revolts  against  Cormac. — 
Cormac's  Abdication  in  Favor  of  his  Son.  —  His  Writings.  —  Proclaims  his  Belief  in 
God,  and  renounces  the  Sun  Worship.  —  Persecution  of  him  by  the  Druids.  — 
Tara's  Hall. —  Great  Meeting  on  Tara  Hill,  in  August,  1843. 

Feidlimh,  as  we  have  seen,  succeeded  to  the  throne,  anno  141. 
He  introduced  a  consolidation  of  all  the  good  laws  of  his  predeces- 
sors—  Ollamh,  Moran,  Jughaine,  More,   and  Connor. 

Previous  to  his  time,  the  only  crime  punishable  with  death  was  the 
insult  of  any  person  at  Tara  during  the  sitting  of  the  legislature, 
especially  the  insult  of  a  lady.  All  crimes  committed  under  other  cir- 
cumstances might  be  paid  for  by  eric,  or  fine.  This,  we  find,  was  the 
custom  of  the  early  Greeks,  and  of  the  Britons  also,  down  to  the'seventh 
century  of  the  Christian  era.  Feidlimh  introduced  the  law  known  as  lex 
talionis,  which  signifies  a  life  for  a  life,  an  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a  limb 
for  a  limb.  The  punishment  of  death  was  inflicted  on  criminals  by  the 
sword,  by  the  arrow,  or  by  drowning.  "  Hanging,"  says  Bishop  Hutch- 
inson, "  the  most  ignominious  of  all  deaths,  was  unknown  in  Ireland 
until  after  the  English  invasion."  A  complete  reformation  of  the  laws 
was  effected  by  Feidlimh,  and  a  comprehensive  code  of  enactments 
was  passed,  which  appropriated  punishment,  founded  on  the  strictest 
equity,  to  every  occurring  crime.  These  enactments  have  passed 
down  to  posterity,  known  as  the  Breatha  Nuimhe,  or  Celestial  Judg- 
ments, and  have  formed  the  foundation  of  that  code  of  laws  estab- 
lished  in  Britain  seven  centuries  later,   by   King  Alfred. 

Feidlimh  died  at  his  palace  of  Tara,  anno  150,  after  a  reign  of  nine 
years,  leaving  behind  him,  in  the  equitable  code  of  laws  which  he  com- 
piled, a  lasting  monument  of  his  wisdom  and  talents,  —  a  code  v/hich 


CATHOIR    MORE. HIS    WILL.  299 

Warner  pronounces  to  be  "  strictly  equitable,  and  agreeable  to  the  laws 
of  God." 

The  estates  of  Tara  were  summoned  to  choose  a  successor,  and  the 
choice  fell  on  Cathoir  More,  grandson  of  Gealta  Gooth,  the  cele- 
brated hero  who  opposed  Agricola  and  his  Roman  legions  at  the 
Grampian  Hills. 

Cathoir  More,  we  are  told,  was  a  wise  prince ;  but  the  pretensions 
of  other  of  the  royal  houses  disturbed  his  reign,  and,  at  length.  Con, 
surnamed  "  of  the  Hundred  Battles,"  a  prince  of  his  own  line,  foment- 
ed an  insurrection  against  his  throne,  and  finally  disputed  its  possession 
on  the  field.  Both  parties  amassed  considerable  armies  to  contend  for 
empire. 

On  the  night  preceding  the  decisive  battle  that  was  to  put  one  or  the 
other  on  the  throne  of  Tara,  Cathoir  awoke  from  a  dream,  in  which 
he  saw  foreshadowed  the  disastrous  results  of  the  ensuing  day.  He 
summoned  his  chief  bard,  or  secretary,  and  his  ten  sons,  together  with 
all  his  chief  counsellors,  to  his  presence,  whom  he  addressed  as 
follows  :  — 

"  To-morrow's  sun  will  beam  on  my  dead  body ;  but  I  shall  die,  like 
ray  gallant  ancestors,  resisting  the  foe,  while  I  have  strength  to  stand  at 
the  head  of  my  brave  army,  in  whose  ranks  there  is  not  a  single  coward." 

He  then  desired  all  to  leave  him,  except  his  chief  bard,  whom  he 
caused  to  engross  his  will,  a  copy  of  which  is  carefully  preserved  in  the 
Book  of  Lecan,  to  be  seen  in  the  Irish  College,  Paris.  It  was  tran- 
scribed from  that  antique  record  by  the  celebrated  O'Flaherty. 

To  his  beloved  son  Rosa,  called  Failge,  he  bequeaths  his  kingdom 
of  Leinster,  to  which  he  adds  ten  shields,  richly  ornamented,  ten 
swords  with  gold  handles,  ten  gold  cups,  and  wishes  him  a  numerous 
and  warlike  posterity  to  govern  Tara. 

To  his  second  son,  Daire  Berach,  he  gives  Inath  Laigheen,  the 
present  Fingal,  and  part  of  Wicklow.  He  wishes  him  to  prove  a  suc- 
cessful hero,  and  always  to  rule  over  the  Gailean  Glas — the  ancient 
Belgfe.  To  this  he  added  one  hundred  and  fifty  spears,  ornamented 
with  silver  ;  fifty  shields,  ornamented  and  embossed  with  gold  and  silver ; 
fifty  swords,  of  exquisite  workmanship  ;  fifty  rings,  of  the  purest  gold  ; 
one  hundred  and  fifty  cloaks,  of  rich  manufacture ;  and  seven  military 
standards. 

To  his  third  son,  Breasal,  seven  ships  of  burden  ;  fifty  shields,  richly 
ornamented  with  gold  and  silver ;  five  swords  with  gold  hilts ;  and  five 
chariots,  with  harnesses  and  horses.     To  these  he  adds  the  lands  on  the 


300  WILL    OF    CATHOIR   MORE. 

banks  of  the  River  Amergin,  and  charges  him  to  watch  over  the  old 
inhabitants,  who  will  be  otherwise  troublesome  to  him. 

To  Cetach,  the  fourth,  he  leaves  possessions,  thinking  it  a  pity  to 
separate  him  from  his  brothers. 

To  Feargus  Luascan,  the  fifth,  he  left  nothing ;  but  this  defect  his 
brothers  supplied. 

To  Oliel,  the  sixth,  his  backgammon  tables  and  men,  saying  that 
neither  the  possession  of  lands  or  towns  would  be  of  any  use  to  him,  as 
he  never  attended  to  any  study  but  gaming. 

To  his  seventh  son,  Aungos,  he  gave  nothing ;  but  this  defect  his 
brothers  supplied. 

To  Ecoaidth,  the  eighth  son,  he  gives  his  benediction  only,  wishing 
his  posterity  may  adhere  to  their  blood,  and  calls  him  Treath  Fear,  or 
"  a  weak  man,"  for  he  was  so  far  imposed  upon  as  to  give  away  a  tract 
of  land  claimed  as  a  promise  in  his  sleep. 

To  his  son  Criompthon  he  leaves  fifty  brass  balls,  with  brass  maces 
to  play  with  ;  ten  backgammon  tables,  of  curious  workmanship ;  and 
two  chess  tables. 

To  his  youngest  and  tenth  son,  Fiacha,  whom  he  praises  for  his 
bravery  and  spirit,  and  for  the  universal  love  he  gained,  he  leaves  the 
country  about  Wexford ;  recommends  him  to  support  his  brother,  and 
bequeaths  him  fifty  large  vessels,  made  of  yew,  fifty  drinking  cups,  and 
fifty  pied  horses,  with  brass  bits. 

To  his  nephew,  Tuathal,  he  gives  ten  chariots,  with  horses  and 
harnesses ;  five  pair  of  backgammon  tables  ;  five  chess  boards,  with 
ivory  men  ;  thirty  shields,  embossed  with  gold  ;  and  fifty  swords,  highly 
ornamented. 

To  Mogh  Chorh,  one  hundred  black  and  white  cows,  with  their 
calves,  coupled  two  and  two  with  brass  yokes  ;  one  hundred  shields ; 
one  hundred  javelins,  colored  red  ;  one  hundred  polished  spears  ;  fifty 
safFron-colored  cloaks  ;  one  hundred  horses,  of  different  colors  ;  one  hun- 
dred gold  pins  for  cloaks ;  one  hundred  goblets,  elegandy  finished  ;  one 
hundred  large  vats,  made  of  yew ;  fifty  chariots,  curiously  finished,  ten 
of  which  were  of  exquisite  workmanship  ;  fifty  chess  tables  ;  fifty  play- 
ing tables,  of  different  kinds ;  fifty  trumpets ;  fifty  standards ;  fifty 
copper  caldrons  ;  with  a  privilege  of  being  privy  counsellor  to  the  king 
of  Leinster. 

To  the  pnnce  of  Leis  he  left  one  hundred  cows,  one  hundred 
shields,  one  hundred  swords,  one  hundred  spears,  and  seven  spotted 
horses. 


LETTER    or    THOMAS    o'cONOR.  30l 

Cathoir  More,  according  to  the  English  Dr.  Warner,  was  the  richest 
monarch  that  ever  appeared  in  Europe ;  and  these  details  of  wealth 
and  luxuries  prove  the  advanced  degree  of  maturity  to  which  arts  and 
manufactures  had  then  arrived  in  Ireland. 

King  Cathoir  fell,  as  he  himself  predicted,  in  the  next  day's  battle; 
but  his  posterity  often  sons  gave  to  Ireland  several  of  the  most  patriotic 
and  influential  families  who  distinguished  themselves  for  many  ages. 
From  Rosa,  the  eldest  son,  sprang  the  house  of  O^  Connor  Faly,  the 
O'Dcmpsies,  lords  of  Clanmarah,  and  the  O^Duns.  From  Daire  Ba- 
rach  are  the  O^Gormans,  O'Mallone,  and  O'Mooneys  descended. 
The  issue  of  Fiachiadth,  the  younger,  gave  more  kings  to  the  throne  of 
Leinster  than  those  of  all  his  brothers  united.  From  him  are  descended 
the  royal  families  of  MMurragh,  and  Cavanagh,  kings  of  Leinster, 
O' Toole,  O' Byrne,  O' Murphy,  O'DoivIing,  O'Maoilrain,  O'Cin- 
seleugh,  M  Cormick. 

Rosa  Failge,  the  eldest  son  of  Cathoir,  is  the  great  progenitor  of  the 
O'Connors  of  Faly,  or  OfFaly,  a  district  comprehending  the  King  and 
Queen's  counties,  and  part  of  the  county  of  Kildare.  Roger  and  Arthur 
O'Connor,  or  their  children,  are  the  only  legitimate  descendants  of  this 
sept  of  the  0'Connoi"s  now  living.  Their  father,  John  O'Connor,  of 
Mount  Pleasant,  enjoyed  a  remnant  of  the  family  estates  in  1750. 
Arthur  O'Connor  was  seized  as  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  revolution  of 
1798,  and  in  the  amnesty  agreed  upon  between  Lord  Castlereagh  and 
the  state  prisonei-s,  he  passed  over  to  France,  where  he  yet  remains  in 
exile.  I  am  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  family  of  Roger 
O'Connor  to  speak  with  certainty  of  its  living  members ;  but,  having 
written,  for  information  on  this  point,  to  the  venerable  Thomas  O'Con- 
or,  of  New  York,  I  have  received  from  him  the  following  letter  in  reply, 
which  I  give  to  the  reader  without  curtailment :  — 

"New  York,  June  24,  1844. 
"  Dear  Sir, 

"  I  have  your  favor  of  the  19th  instant.  I  am  not  an  his- 
torian, and  cannot  throw  any  useful  light  on  the  interesting  subject  of 
your  intended  publication.  In  this  momentous  crisis  of  the  Irish  strug- 
gle, the  patriot  will  hail  every  well-authenticated  historical  research  as 
a  useful  contribution  to  the  stock  which  patriotism  accumulates  for  the 
vindication  and  support  of  Ireland. 

"  The  O'Connors  of  Cork,  and  those  of  Roscommon,  to  both  of  which 
you  allude,  are,  I  am  inclined  to  believe,  different  families,  unconnected 
by  consanguinity,  or  deriving  a  common  origin  in  some  period  long  past. 


302  LETTER   OF    THOMAS    o'cONOR. 

"Arthur  O'Connor,  an  exile  residing  in  France,  must,  I  suppose,  be 
the  chief  of  the  Cork  family.  The  O'Connor  Don,  residing  at  Clanalis, 
in  the  county  of  Roscommon,  is  the  head  of  the  Roscommon  family. 
Fergus  O'Connor,  who  distinguished  himself  by  a  generous  advocacy 
of  the  righteous  cause  of  the  British  Chartists,  is,  I  suppose,  a  son  of 
Roger,  and  a  nephew  of  Arthur  O'Connor. 

"  In  a  small  volume,  entitled  '  Dissertations  on  the  Ancient  History  of 
Ireland,'  published  in  Dublin,  some  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago,  I  find 
the  following  paragraph  :  — 

"  '  From  Rossa  Filgeach,  the  eldest  son  of  Cahoir  the  Great,  came  the 
O'Connors  of  Failgeach,  a  large  country  in  ancient  time,  comprehend- 
ing considerable  parts  of  the  King's  county,  the  Queen's,  and  Kildare. 
They  were,  in  all  ages,  a  very  martial  and  renowned  family,  as  all  our 
annals  testify,  (both  before  and  after  the  invasion  of  Henry  the  Second,) 
until  they  were  crushed  by  the  superiority  of  relentless  power,  in  the 
reign  of  Philip  and  Mary.  Some  general  officers  of  the  family  serve,  at 
present,  with  great  repute,  under  his  Catholic  majesty ;  and  John 
O'Connor,  of  Mount  Pleasant,  in  the  King's  county,  esquire,  enjoys,  at 
this  day,  a  part  of  his  ancestors'  estate,  one  of  the  most  ancient  tenures 
in  the  kingdom.' 

"  In  the  same  volume  I  find  the  following :  — 

" '  Roderic,  the  last  king  of  Ireland,  was  chief  of  the  Hy-Brune  and 
Clan  Murray  race.  For  more  than  a  thousand  years,  this  family,  in- 
cluding a  few  of  the  Hy-Fiacans,  governed  the  province  of  Connaught 
with  sovereign  authority.  On  the  failure  of  Roderic's  power,  the  gov- 
ernment of  this  country  fell  to  Cabal  Crovedarg,  in  his  time  as  great  a 
man  as  any  in  this  kingdom,  and  the  younger  brother  of  Roderic. 
From  him  descended,  in  fifteen  lineal  generations,  the  late  Andrew 
O'Connor,  of  Ballintobber,  in  the  county  of  Roscommon,  a  person  of 
great  worth  and  virtue,  the  chief  of  his  name,  and  the  father  of  Daniel, 
the  present  O'Connor  Don,  and  of  the  chevalier  Thomas  O'Connor,  an 
officer  of  great  repute  in  the  service  of  his  most  Christian  majesty. 

"'Dominic,  the  eldest  son  of  O'Connor  Don,  lives  now  abroad  on  his 
travels;  and  I  mention  him  here  with  the  greater  pleasure,  as,  in  so 
early  a  period  of  life,  he  is  exhibiting  those  rare  accomplishments,  which 
are  not  the  less  valuable  that  they  are  independent  of  the  highest  birth, 
as  well  as  out  of  the  reach  of  fortune.' 

"  In  a  work  compiled  by  an  Irish  ecclesiastic,  and  published  in  Eng- 
land, in  the  year  1814,  th'^re  appears  a  genealogy  showing  the  descent 
of  the  present  fanuly  of  the  O'Connors  of  the  county  of  'Roscommon, 


LETTER   OF    THOMAS    o'cONOR.  303 

from  Tordelbachus,  the  supreme  monarch  of  Ireland,  the  father  of 
Roderic  and  of  his  brother  Cahal  Crovedarg,  (Red-handed,)  herein 
ah'eady  mentioned.  The  names  appear  in  Irish  and  in  Latin.  They 
are  as  follow,  as  well  as  1  can  translate.  Opposite  to  some  of  them, 
I  give,  in  brackets,  the  names  as  they  appear  in  the  Latin  version. 
The  other  names  are  probably  properly  translated. 


1. 

Turlough  (Tordelbachus.) 

11. 

Owen. 

2. 

Charles. 

12. 

Carbery  (Carbreius.) 

3. 

Hugh  (iEdhus.) 

13. 

Dermod  (Diannitius.) 

4. 

Roderic. 

14. 

Hugh. 

5. 

Owen  (Eoganus.) 

15. 

Charles. 

6. 

Hugh. 

16. 

Charles. 

7. 

Turlough. 

17. 

Dennis. 

8. 

Hugh. 

18. 

Charles. 

9. 

Turlough. 

19. 

Dennis. 

10. 

Felim. 

"Dennis,  the  last  name  above  mentioned,  died,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Owen,  the  first  of  the  family  of  Balenagare,  who  assumed  the 
affix  of '  Don.'  He  died,  and  is  succeeded  by  his  son  Dennis,  the  pres- 
ent O'Connor  Don,  residing  at  Clanalis,  in  the  county  of  Roscommon, 
formerly  the  residence  of  the  late  Dominic  O'Connor  Don. 

"  Owen,  of  Belenagare,  and  Dominic,  of  Clanalis,  were  descended 
from  a  common  ancestor,  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  monarch  Tourlough, 
or  Tordelbachus.  The  deaths  of  Dominic  and  of  his  brothers  Alexan- 
der and  Thomas,  without  issue,  in  the  present  century,  rendered  extinct 
that  branch  of  the  O'Connor  family.  The  next  in  lineal  succession 
from  the  monarch  was  Owen  of  Belenagare,  then  living.  This  accounts 
for  the  genealogy  being  carried  down  in  the  living  line  of  Belenagare, 
and  not  in  the  extinct  line  of  Clanalis. 

"The  present  O'Connor  Don  represents  his  county  in  the  imperial 
parliament  —  more  properly  the  British  parliament ;  for  the  mockery  of 
Irish  participation  in  the  legislature  is  an  absolute  and  intended  insult  to 
Ireland.     But  a  better  fate  is  in  store  for  unhappy  Ireland. 

"  I  fully  believe  that  England  is  a  falling  nation.  If  any  thing  is 
more  clear  to  my  mind,  it  is  this,  that  Ireland  is  a  rising  nation.  The 
great,  last  struggle  now  making  by  England  is  a  proof  that  British 
rulers  are  sufficiently  sensible  of  the  necessity  of  more  than  ordinary 
exertion  to  maintain  a  tottering  fabric,  not  in  the  vain  expectation  of  se- 
curing permanent  stability,  but  with  the  more  rational  hope  of  extend- 


304 


LETTER   OF    THOMAS    O  CONOR. 


ing  the  lease.     If  I  mistake  not,  the  British  minister  has,  by  the  im- 
prisonment of  O'Connell,  extinguished  this  hope. 

"The  rise  of  Ireland  does  not  depend  solely  on  the  fall  of  England. 
Such  fall  might  accelerate  the  ripening  destiny  of  Ireland;  but  Ireland 
must  rise  in  despite  of  whatever  obstructions  may  be  interposed  by  the 
British    minister.      The  British   people — thanks   to   our  enlightening 
presses — at  length  discover  that    they  are  not  themselves  free;  that 
they  gain  nothing,  but  lose  much,  by  the  degradation  of  Ireland,  and 
that  it  is  their  interest  to  make  a  common  cause  with  Ireland  against  the 
common  enemy  of  both.     The  poor  may  not  reach  the  station  of  the 
wealthy,  so  far  as  worldly  pelf  is  concerned,  but  they  will  approximate 
in  intellectual  endowment.     Inequality  of  pecuniary  fortune  will  always 
exist,  and  it  may  be  well  that  it   be  so ;  but  the  acquisition  of  literary 
information,   the  fruition  of  which  by  one   portion  of  the  community, 
and  the  insidious  denial  of  it  to  the  other,  have  hitherto  constituted  the 
distinction  between  the  lordly  arrogance  of  the  one  and  the  constrained 
servility  of  the  other,  is  about  to  become,  like  the  air  we  breathe,  the 
common  heritage  of  all ;  delusion  and  humbug  will  no  longer  prevail 
over  the  tutored  mind  ;  neither  fraud  nor  force  will  cajole  or  deter ;  lit- 
erary education   will  resist  the  subtlety  of  the  one,    and  the  modern 
invention  of  an  Irishman  —  passive  resistance — will  nullify  the   other. 
The  revolution  of  Europe  is  clearly  commenced.     Old  Ireland  is  in  the 
van.     It  surely  cannot  be  that  those  who  lead  in  the  movement  will  be 
the  last  to  reach  the  goal  of  general  aim.     '  Whom  God  would  destroy, 
he  first  makes  mad.'      Neither  concession  nor  compromise  will  come 
from  a  government  which  casts  the  gamester's  last  throw.     Mr.  Peel 
obstinately  resists  the  repeal  of  the  union.     Let  me  be  a  prophet :  the 
present  generation  will  not  pass  away  until  an  Irish  ambassador  will  be 
received  at  Washington,  and  there  recognized  as  the  representative  of 
free,  sovereign,  and  independent  Ireland.     I  will  not  see  this  day;   you 
may.     Emi  go  bragh. 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  Thos.  O'Conor. 
"Thomas  Mooney,  Esq." 

I  take  it  that  I  have  proved,  from  the  items  of  the  will  of  Cathoir 
More,  that  Ireland  was  then  (the  second  centur}')  in  the  enjoyment 
of  all  the  arts,  manufactures,  luxuries,  and  literature,  which  mankind 
could  boast  of  in  any  part  of  the  world. 

Independently  of  the  great  wealth  conveyed  by  Cathoir  More  to  his 


CON    OF    THE    HUNDRED    BATTLES.  305 

ten  sons,  —  the  profuse  Retail  of  gold  and  silver  vessels ;  of  arms  and 
war  chariots,  ornamented  with  gold  ;  of  embroidered  mantles  and  cloaks 
for  knights  and  ladies;  of  ships  ;  of  cattle;  of  spears,  swords,  banners; 
of  the  chess  boards  and  ivory  men  ;  of  backgammon  tables  ;  of  musical 
instruments,  &;c.,  seems  to  have  been  recorded  by  the  wealthy  donor, 
with  a  prophetic  eye,  as  evidences  which  would  go,  to  the  latest  pos- 
terity, to  overwhelm  in  confusion  those  who,  having  pillaged  Ireland, 
and  butchered  her  people,  would  traduce  her  name,  and  deny  her  the 
honor  of  her  twenty-four  centuries  of  political  independence  —  an  inde- 
pendence adorned  by  the  development  of  arts,  sciences,  literature,  and 
glory.    But  in  this  the  calumniators  of  Ireland  shall  be  disappointed  ;  for 

"  Enough  of  her  glory 
Remains  on  each  sword 
To  light  us  to  victory  yet" 

In  the  year  of  Christianity  153,  Con  of  the  Hundred  Battles,  son 
of  Feidlimh  the  Lawgiver,  succeeded  to  the  monarchy  of  Ireland. 
He  was  a  prince  of  great  abilities,  both  in  the  field  and  in  council ;  and 
his  reifi-n  has  furnished  the  historians  of  Ireland  vvitli  much  exciting 
matter  for  applauding  comment  and  instructive  digression.  His  reign 
was  embroiled  by  a  contest  with  Eogan,  the  prince  of  Munster,  for 
the  supreme  government  of  the  country.  Many  heroically-fought 
battles  ensued.  At  length,  it  was  resolved  that  the  government  and 
patronage  of  Ireland  should  be  divided  into  equal  parts,  as  in  the  days 
of  Heber  and  Heremon,  the  first  kings ;  that  Eogan  should  govern  the 
southern  division,  lying  beyond  the  line  drawn  from  Dublin  to  Galway  ; 
and  that  Con  of  the  Hundred  Battles  should  have  the  government  and 
income  of  the  northern  division.  This  arrangement  continued  for  some 
years  ;  but  in  the  year  181,  we  find  the  wars  again  renewed,  we  are  in- 
formed upon  the  following  grounds  :  — 

Eogan,  on  a  royal  tour  through  his  dominions,  visited  Dublin,  which, 
in  those  days,  was  called  Atha  Cliath  Dubhline,  or  the  "  Passage  over 
the  Black  PooV  He  found  a  greater  number  of  ships  on  the  north,  or 
Con^s  side  of  the  river,  than  on  his  own  ;  and,  of  course,  the  revenues 
and  customs  derived  by  Con  were  unduly  greater  than  his.  This  proves 
to  us  the  extent  of  trade  which  Dublin  enjoyed  in  those  early  times. 
In  the  days  of  St.  Patrick  we  find  it  celebrated  "  for  its  extent  and 
magnificence,  the  number  and  riches  of  its  inhabitants,  the  grandeur  of 
its  edifices,  and  the  greatness  of  its  commerce." 

This  trivial  ground  of  quarrel,  added  to  others  of  a  weightier  charac- 
ter, produced  the  revival  of  hostilities.  Both  princes  prepared  with 
39 


306  EOGAN.  ART. GAUL    m'mORNA. 

great  animation  for  the  decisive  battle  that  \^as  to  give  one  or  other 
supreme  dominion.  At  length  the  armies  meet  at  Lena,  in  the  King's 
county.  The  Munster  prince,  Eogan,  is  described  by  the  historians  as 
cutting  down  all  before  him  in  the  contest  —  moving,  like  the  living 
demon  of  fire,  through  the  hostile  ranks. 

Art,  another  princely  warrior,  is  thus  described,  as  he  enters  the 
battle  field,  by  the  recording  bard  :  — 

" tlie  hero  of  Tara ! 

The  irresistible  wave  in  enmity ; 

As  quick  as  lightning  in  defence; 

Terrible  in  battle; 

The  support  of  mighty  armies ; 

The  very  hand  of  liberality ; 

The  all-protecting;  the 

Performer  of  most  mighty  deeds  ! 

AH,  the  son  of  Con,  the  son 

Of  Tuathal,  arose. 

Warrior-like  was  his  anger, 

Powerful  his  voice ; 

Lovely  the  champion, 

His  flaxen  hair  plaited. 

His  shirt  of  silk. 

In  one  hand  he  bears  two  bows, 

In  the  other  his  javelin. 

And  by  his  side 

His  dreadful  and  irresistible  sword. 

Yonder  he  sweeps  over  the  plain,  like 

The  thunder-bolt  that  tumbles  the  rocks 

Into  the  foaming  sea. 

How  majestic  is  the  hero's  step! 

The  brightness  of  his  sword  contends 

With  the  refulgence  of  the  sunbeam ; 

The  gleam  of  his  spear  illuminates  the  hill ! " 

We  find,  from  the  detailed  descriptions,  three  things  proved ;  Jlrst, 
the  beauty  and  majesty  of  the  poetry ;  secondly,  the  bravery,  high 
bearing,  and  natural  nobility  of  the  hero  ;  and,  thirdly,  the  fact  of  the 
silk  manufacture  being,  at  this  early  age,  a  flourishing  branch  of  national 
industry  —  centuries  before  the  Gauls  or  Britons  were  in  possession 
of  it. 

But  at  length  the  mighty  Gaul  M'Morna,  the  Connaught  general, 
stood  before  Eogan,  sword  in  hand.  "  Now,"  said  Eogan,  "  we  meet 
in  a  fair  field ;  let  our  swords  decide  which  of  us  is  the  bravest."  They 
fought  desperately  for  an  hour,  when  it  was  the  fate  of  Eogan  to  fall,  a 


DEATH    OF    CON,    AND    ACCESSION    OF    CONAIRE.  307 

victim  to  his  own  unreasonable  ambition.  During  this  great  personal 
combat,  the  armies  on  each  side,  as  if  by  the  spell  of  enchantment,  sus- 
pended hostilities  to  gaze  with  wonder  on  the  mighty  conflict  of  their 
chiefs.  Such  a  circumstance,  if  illustrated  by  the  poetry  of  a  Homer, 
would  rank,  on  the  pages  of  glory,  as  brilliantly  as  any  action  or  circum- 
stance of  Greek  or  Trojan  valor  which  that  great  poet  cast  in  the  mould 
of  immortality. 

When  Eogan  fell,  pierced  by  a  hundred  wounds  from  the  sword  of 
Gaul  M'Morna,  his  soldiers  lifted  up  his  body  on  their  shields,  to  show 
to  Eogan's  followers  that  he  was  slain.  "  Lay  down  the  body  of  the 
king  of  Munster,"  said  his  brave  conqueror,  "  for  he  died  as  a  hero 
should  die  —  covered  with  wounds  and  glory." 

Ck)n  of  the  Hundred  Battles  was  then  declared  monarch  of  Ireland, 
over  which  he  reigned,  not  without  much  trouble,  for  thirty  years. 
Historians  differ  about  the  manner  of  his  death,  some  alleging  he  fell 
in  battle,  others  that  he  was  assassinated.  O'Halloran  doubts  the  latter 
view,  as  it  was  totally  inconsistent  with  the  genius  and  spirit  of  chivalry 
which  then  pervaded  every  class  in  Ireland. 

A.  D.  183.  On  the  death  of  Con,  the  national  assembly  of  Tara 
proceeded  to  the  election  of  a  successor.  The  suffrage  of  the  majority 
declaring  for  Conaire,  of  the  northern  or  Heremonian  line,  he  was, 
accordingly,  seated  on  the  throne  of  Tara.  Conaire,  being  in  undis- 
turbed possession  of  the  L'ish  throne,  had  the  greater  means  left  to  him 
of  opposing  the  Roman  power  in  Britain,  and  went  over  at  the  head 
of  considerable  legions  of  Irish,  to  resist  their  forces,  which  were 
commanded  by  Severus,  A.  D.  192.  The  Irish  historians  dwell  in 
terms  of  rapture  on  his  progress  and  battles  with  the  Roman  legions. 

A.  D.  200.  In  his  reign,  or  immediately  after  it,  Carbrai  Rihda, 
one  of  his  sons,  was  sent  over  to  Caledonia  to  protect  it,  as  an  Irish 
province,  against  the  threatening  arms  of  Rome.  Since  the  days  of 
Heber  and  Heremon,  Albania,  or  Scotland,  was  partially  subject  to  Ire- 
land, acknowledging  allegiance,  under  the  memorable  compact  entered 
into  between  Heremon  and  the  Picts.  Carbrai  was  invested  by  the 
national  assembly  of  Tara  with  some  of  the  attributes  of  independence, 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  more  satisfaction  to  the  Albanians,  who  were 
flattered  with  the  idea  of  obtaining  the  semblance  of  an  independent 
prince  to  reign  over  them.  Carbrai,  according  to  Bede,  commenced 
the  first  regular  attempt  at  an  independent  government  in  Caledonia,  in 
the  second  century.  "  From  this  leader,"  continues  Bede,  "  whose 
name  was  Riada,  the  posterity  of  those  settlers  are,  to  this  day,  called 


308   THE  CALEDONIAN  COLONY  PROVED  TO  HAVE  BEEN  IRISH. 

Dal  Reudimh,  or  the  Irish  occupiers  of  the  part."  The  Abbe  M'Geo- 
ghegan  is  also  positive  on  this  point,  and  explains  thus  :  "  It  is  true  that 
before  this  time  the  Albanian  Picts  were,  for  centuries,  tributary  to  the 
crown  of  Ireland ;  yet  it  remained  for  Carbrai  to  form  the  first  regular 
settlement  in  Scotland."  Primate  Usher,  a  great  authority,  says  that 
this  prince  reduced  all  Scotland  under  his  dominion ;  and  O'Kennedy, 
in  his  Chronology  of  the  Stuart  Line,  published  in  Edinburgh,  1780, 
asks,  in  reply  to  some  of  the  Scottish  writers,  who  contended  for  an 
origin  from  the  north  of  Europe  for  their  ancestors  —  "  How  can  the 
Caledonians,  in  the  face  of  the  authorities  of  Bede  and  Fordun,  have 
the  egregious  folly  to  deny  their  Irish  origin  ?"  In  addition  to  these, 
there  are  all  the  Irish  historians  agreeing  to  and  asserting  the  same 
great  facts.  In  a  most  learned  essay  by  Dr.  Barnard,  Protestant 
bishop  of  Killaloe,  published  by  Walker,  in  1786,  entitled  an  Inquiry 
into  the  Oricrin  of  the  Scots  in  Britain,  which  has  never  since  been 
refuted,  there  are  detailed  proofs  exhibited  which  would  alone  sustain 
the  claim  of  Liiand  to  tl.e  colonization  and  government  of  Caledonia. 
We  have  seen  that  their  old  language  and  music  were  Irish,  to  which 
may  be  added  their  measurements  —  a  Scotch  and  Irish  mile  being 
two  thousand  two  hundred  and  forty  yards,  which  differs  from  the 
length  of  an  English  mile.  A  few  extracts  from  the  "  Inquiry  "  may 
be  appropriate. 

"The  original  of  that  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  Britain,  property 
called  Scots,  has  been  a  point  of  history,  so  established  by  the  concur- 
rence of  all  writers  on  that  subject,  both  native  and  foreign,  from  Venera- 
ble Bede  down  to  Sir  George  M'Kenzie,  that,  for  a  period  of  at  least 
nine  hundred  years,  it  was  never  esteemed  matter  of  question,  until  some 
late  Scottish  antiquarians,  anxious  to  support  an  hypothesis  inconsistent 
with  their  own  annals  and  tradition,  have  thought  proper  wholly  to  reject 
the  received  opinion  of  their  ancestors  on  this  head,  and  to  offer  to  the 
public,  in  its  place,  an  entire  new  system  of  their  own,  founded  on  argu- 
ments of  probability  sufficiently  plausible  and  ingenious,  but  unsupported 
hy  ivritien  testimonies,  or  any  authentic  documents  whatsoever.''^ 

The  bishop  then  examines  the  testimonies  of  several  learned  au- 
thors on  the  question,  and  quotes  the  Roman  writer  Tacitus,  the 
British  writers  Gildas,  Bede,  Fabius,  Athelwerdus,  Geojfrey  of  Mon- 
mouth, and  Fordun,  Buchanan,  John  Major,  M'Kenzie,  and  other 
learned  writers  of  Scotland.  His  quotation  of  the  celebrated  sugges- 
tion of  the  historian  Tacitus  to  Julius  Agricola,  his  father-in-law,  in 
reference  to  the  necessity  of  conquering  Ireland  for  the  purpose  of  ren- 


EXTINCTION    OF    ROMAN    POWEK    IN   BRITAIN.  309 

dering  the  Roman  empire  in  Britain  the  more  secure,  ^deserves  our 
special  notice.  "  The  intercourse  between  the  Irish  and  the  Caledoni- 
ans, and  their  ancient  alliances,  had  been  further  cemented  when  it 
became  their  mutual  interest  to  join  their  forces  against  the  Romans  — 
the  Caledonians  to  preserve  their  liberty,  and  the  Irish  to  keep  the 
enemy  from  attacking  theirs,  which  they  were  in  no  danger  of  until  after 
Britain  was  totally  subdued.  Tacitus,  speaking  of  the  utility  of  an 
expedition  against  Ireland,  to  secure  the  Roman  conquest  in  Britain, 
adds,  among  other  motives,  ut  libertas  tanquam  e  conspectu  tolleatur, 
[to  take  away  that  hankering  after  freedom  which  the  sight  of  a  free  ally 
so  near  at  hand  would  naturally  excite.]  This  hint  gives  the  reader  to 
understand  that  Agricola  had  already  suffered  some  inconvenience  from 
this  connection  of  interests.  The  expedition  here  suggested  never  took 
place,  because,"  adds  the  bishop,  "  that  general  had  work  enough  cut 
out  for  him  by  the  valor  of  the  Irish  and  Caledonians  under  Galgacus, 
[Gealte  Gooth]  loithout  crossing  the  sea  in  search  of  a  new  enemyy 

After  a  comparison  of  all  the  accounts  which  the  learned  bishop 
examined,  he  thus  sums  up :  that  a  colony  of  Scots  from  Ireland 
had  anciently  settled  in  Caledonia  ;  that  they  had  several  conflicts  with 
the  Romans,  after  Caesar's  invasion  of  that  country  ;  that  they  were,  on 
one  occasion,  attacked  by  the  Romans  under  Maximus,  defeated,  and 
forced  to  abandon  Britain  ;  that,  on  Maximus's  leaving  Britain,  they 
took  advantage  of  his  absence,  and  made  fresh  attempts  to  reinstate 
themselves  ;  that  they  were  again  forced  back  by  Gratianus,  and  obliged 
to  fly  to  Ireland ;  after  whose  death  they  returned  in  full  force,  a  united 
army  of  Irish,  Caledonians,  and  Picts,  and  laid  waste  and  occupied  the 
country  from  sea  to  sea  ;  that,  lastly,  they  established  complete  dominion 
in  Scodand,  about  anno  396,  when  the  names  of  Caledonians  and 
Picts  were  sunk  by  Niall,  and  the  general  name  of  Scotia  substituted. 
And  further,  about  the  same  period,  the  great  Niall  of  the  Nine  Hostages 
began  his  reign  in  Ireland,  —  he  who  vanquished  the  Romans  in  several 
battles  through  Britain,  and  finally  extinguished  their  power  in  that 
country,  after  it  had  subsisted  for  four  hundred  years. 

Cairbra  Rihda  had  established  a  firm  footing  in  Caledonia,  during  his 
expedition,  in  the  close  of  the  second  and  beginning  of  the  third  century, 
which  was  continued  by  his  descendants  for  better  than  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years.  Towards  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  we  have  an  ac- 
count of  another  migration  of  Scots  into  Britain,  and  more  settlements 
obtained  there.  This  was  when  Britain  was  totally  freed  from  the 
Romans.     When  the  Irish  made  their  second  great  settlement  in  the 


310  LIAH   FAIL,    OR    STONE    OF    DESTINY. 

northern  part  of  Britain,  their  armies  committed  excesses,  which  are  re- 
corded and  deplored  both  by  Gildas  and  Bede.  But  this  was  natural 
in  exuhing  conquerors,  who  had  been  previouly  harassed  for  ages  by 
legions  from  that  soil. 

From  this  time  the  settlement  of  the  Scots  (Irish)  in  Caledonia  as- 
sumed a  monarchical  aspect.  And  it  appears,  further,  that  they  were 
determined  to  have  a  king  and  government  independent  of  the  mother 
country.  With  this  object  in  view,  they  invited  the  monarch  of  Ireland, 
Arcath,  or  Earca,  to  send  them  his  son  Feargus  to  be  their  king.  The 
proposal  was  accepted ;  and  upon  this  occasion  did  the  Irish  monarch 
make  the  Scots  colony  a  present  of  the  famous  Liak  Fail,  or  "  Stone  of 
Destiny,"  on  which,  from  the  times  of  Heber,  the  kings  of  Ireland  were 
crowned.  This  took  place  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fifth  century.  It 
was  the  popular  belief  of  the  Irish,  for  many  centuries,  that  an  ille- 
gitimate branch  of  the  royal  family  could  be  detected  on  being  placed 
sitting  on  this  stone.  The  policy  of  kings  favored  this  delusion.  On 
this  stone  were  crowned  all  subsequent  kings  of  Scotland,  to  the  time  of 
the  conquest  of  that  country  by  Edward  the  First  of  England,  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  when  it  was  carried  by  that  prince  to  England,  as  a 
precious  trophy — a  symbol  of  conquest,  and  deposited  in  Westminster 
Abbey.  Upon  this  stone,  which  is  encased  in  an  antique  oaken 
chair,  all  the  kings  of  England,  from  that  time  to  the  present,  have 
been  crowned  and  proclaimed.  The  learned  Bishop  Barnard  lemarks 
thus  on  the  superstitious  properties  attributed  to  this  famous  relic : 
"  In  the  days  of  paganism,  no  Irish  king  would  have  parted  with 
such  a  mysterious  relic  ;  but  as  Ireland  was  then  just  become  Chris- 
tian, vve  may  suppose  that  it  was  little  esteemed  ;  though  Feargus  the 
Second  might  think  it  would  be  of  use  to  him  to  give  his  new  subjects 
a  superstitious  veneration  for  his  person  and  family,  and  prevent  them 
from  attempting  to  shake  a  throne  thus  established  by  fate  itself." 

Yet  we  find,  amid  the  enlightened  people  of  England,  that  their  cor- 
onations of  their  monarchs  are  considered  incomplete  —  in  fact,  illegal  — 
if  the  kingly  ceremony  of  sitting  on  this  stone  be  omitted.  Her  present 
majesty  was  crowned  sitting  on  this  old  Irish  stone,  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  surrounded  by  all  the  bishops,  peers,  chancellors,  and  heralds, 
of  her  country,  and  by  ambassadors  from  the  courts  of  every  civilized 
country  upon  earth.  And  yet  these  English  are  the  people  who  absurd- 
ly enough  sneer  at  the  "  superstitions  of  the  ignorant  Irish." 

It  is  common  in  individuals,  swelled  by  temporary  affluence,  to  deny 
connection  with  poor  relations,  no  matter  how  respectable  they  may 


ORIGIN    OF    MANY    IRISH    FAMILIES.  311 

once  have  been  ;  so  the  Scotch,  after  boasting  for  nine  or  ten  centuries 
their  Irish  origin,  turned  round  when  Ireland  had  fallen  in  political 
opulence  and  literary  wealth,  and  endeavored  to  disown  their  parentage 
and  protection. 

The  only  piece  of  Albanian  Scottish  historical  antiquity  extant  is  a 
regal  poem,  much  like  our  style,,  containing  a  list  of  their  kings,  begin- 
ning with  Loam,  brother  to  Feargus,  and  ending  with  Malcolm,  the  son 
of  Donchadh,  confirming,  word  for  word,  our  Irish  annals. 

The  Scotch,  then,  are  the  Irish  inhabitants  of  North  Britain ;  and  as, 
through  the  posterity  of  our  monarchs,  we  gave  Scotland  and  England  a 
long  race  of  kings,  it  will  be  necessary  to  keep  an  eye  on  the  progress 
of  the  Milesian  race  in  that  direction. 

The  Mackeoghs  were  connected  with  this  great  line.  From  Cor- 
mac  Cos  and  Eogan,  princes  of  great  valor  and  prowess  in  the  field, 
sprang  several  noble  families,  that  shine  in  the  Irish  annals  —  names  that 
fling  the  radiance  of  exalted  virtue  and  martial  renown  on  the  pages  and 
the  nation  they  adorn. 

Amongst  these  are  the  M'  Carthies,  the  O'  Connells,  O^  Callaghans, 
O'Keeffes,  O'Donohoes,  O^Mahonies,  O^Donovans,  M Aniliffee, 
O^Shee,  O'Line,  M'Gillicuddy,  O^Gara.  From  the  posterity  of 
Cormac  Cas  have  proceeded  the  O^Briens,  MNamaras,  M'Mahons, 
Kennedies,  iW'  Clinchies,  M'  Cochlins,  O'Hiffernons,  O'  CarroUs,  (princes 
of  Ely  and  Louth,)  O^Rierdons,  O^ Flanagans ,  O'Haras,  O^Fogar- 
tys,  O'Maras,  O^Machaiio,  O'Caseys,  O^Flynns.  From  the  monarch 
iW'  Con  proceeded  the  families  of  O^Driscol,  (chief  of  the  county  Cork,) 
O'Leary,  O^Kelly,  O^Bernes,  O' Breogan.  The  very  old  and  re- 
spectable Scotch  family  of  M^Flanchy  and  Campbell  claim  the  honor 
of  a  descent  from  the  same  ancient  and  honorable  source. 

I  now  return  to  the  reign  of  Conaire,  from  which  I  digressed  to 
present  the  reader  with  a  distinct  view  of  the  progress  of  the  Mile- 
sian colony  in  Caledonia.  In  doing  so,  I  was  obliged  to  anticipate 
my  narrative  at  least  three  centuries,  as  relates  to  that  branch  of  the 
subject. 

In  this  age  of  Ireland's  story  there  appeared  two  men,  whose  tran- 
scendent powers  —  the  one  in  arms,  and  the  other  in  poetry  —  cannot  be 
passed  over  with  ordinary  haste.  The  first  is  Fion  M'  Cumhall,  the 
chief  of  the  Leinster  militia ;  the  second  Oisin,  his  son,  the  Homer  of 
ancient  Ireland. 

First,  of  Fion,  the  military  hero.  The  time  in  which  he  flourished 
was  about  the  year  220  of  the  Christian  era.     So  great  was  this  hero's 


312  FION   m'cUMHALL. THE    REIGN    OF    CORMAC. 

exploits  on  the  field,  that  he  was  magnified,  by  his  admiring  successors, 
to  the  size  of  a  giant ;  and  all  his  celebrated  militia  were  ranked  by  the 
popular  legends  as  giants,  or  men  of  extraordinary  agility  and  stature. 
Hence  there  hangs  about  Fioii  M'CumhalVs  niche,  in  the  temple  of 
Fame,  a  romantic  drapery,  which  renders  his  whole  history  doubtful  to 
those  who  are  unwilling  to  believe  aught  that  is  brave  or  virtuous  of  Ire- 
land in  the  ages  of  her  independence.  Fion  was  a  great  hero,  a  great 
general,  a  great  legislator,  and  the  terror  of  the  Roman  power  in  Britain. 
He  resided  chiefly  on  the  Hill  of  Allen,  in  the  county  of  Kildare.  He 
trained  his  militia  himself;  and  when  I  relate  that  he  was  equally 
the  terror  of  the  Ulster  and  Munster  knights  of  his  own  country, 
it  gives  no  mean  idea  of  his  heroism  ;  but  when  I  further  state  that  he 
made,  with  his  fleets,  no  less  than  thirty  descents  on  Wales,  which  was 
then  under  the  government  of  Rome,  and  carried  from  thence  great  spoils 
of  war  each  time,  it  will  give  some  idea  of  his  bravery  and  prowess. 
According  to  all  the  best  authorities,  including  Warner,  the  English 
historian,  and  the  solemn  declaration  of  the  Gaelic  Society  of  Dublin, 
published  through  its  Transactions,  "  Fion,  the  renowned  general-in- 
chief  of  the  Irish  militia,  was  son  of  Cumhall  and  Murin,  who  was  daugh- 
ter of  Thady,  son  of  Nuadh,  the  '  white  monarch  of  Ireland.'  He  was 
son-in-law  to  King  Cortnac,  and  grandson  to  Con  of  the  Hundred  Battles. 
His  two  sons,  Oisin  and  Feargus,  by  the  Irish  princess,  were  renowned 
in  arts  and  arms.  Feargus  Fair  Lips,  figuratively  meaning  of  sublime 
diction,  has  been  emphatically  styled  the  'philosophic  poet  of  pointed 
expression.' "   So  far  from  the  Transactions  of  the  Gaelic  Society. 

Warner  says,  in  reference  to  the  Leinster  militia,  "  That  great  body 
of  heroes,  the  Irish  militia,  was  commanded  by  Fian,  the  gallant  son  of 
Cumhall,  who  was  married  to  the  daughter  of  Cormac  Cas."  All  this 
it  is  necessary  to  place  on  the  record,  as  there  was  a  dispute  about  the 
hero's  country.  The  great  poet  Oisin  has  left  behind  him  a  fragment 
of  his  composition,  which  has  sailed  down  the  stream  of  time  to  us. 
In  it  are  discoverable  the  fire,  the  genius,  and  the  well-stored  mind,  of 
one  whom  Ireland  may  proudly  rank  against  the  loftiest  talent  of  the 
past  ages,  or  of  that  in  which  he  lived.  For  a  full  account  of  Oisin,  see 
page  168. 

THE   REIGN   OF   CORMAC. 

Two  hundred  and  fifty-five  years  after  the  birth  of  Christ,  the  court 
of  Tara  was  adorned  by  one  of  the  most  enlightened  and  brilliant  of  the 
Milesian  princes  —  the  monarch  Cormac  His  road  to  the  throne  lay- 
through  hostile  legions ;  yet  he  had  address,  skill,  and  bravery  sufficieat 


REFORMS    OF    CORMAC.  313 

for  the  design.  Being  a  legitimate  prince  of  one  of  the  rival  houses  of 
the  southern  hue,  his  claims  to  power  were  supported  by  a  valorous 
ai'my,  in  which  there  commanded  the  celebrated  hero  Lugha,  who,  in 
the  heat  of  battle,  slew,  with  his  own  hand,  Feargus,  the  rival  prince, 
annihilating  thus  all  further  impediment  to  the  exaltation  of  Cormac. 
That  prince  was  crowned,  with  an  unusual  degree  of  splendor,  on  the 
Stone  of  Destiny,  at  Tara,  anno  255.  It  was  the  most  brilliant  coro- 
nation that  had  taken  place  for  many  previous  centuries.  More  than  a 
hundred  Druids  of  the  first  class  assisted  in  the  gorgeous  ceremonies,  and 
a  hundred  bards  chanted  the  inaugural  salutation,  mingling  with  their 
voice   the  tones  of  instrumental  music. 

Having  reached  the  summit  of  his  ambition,  he  immediately  directed 
his  attention  to  the  state  of  the  laws,  and  the  administration  of  justice 
throughout  the  kingdom.  The  law^s,  which  had  greatly  accumulated 
from  the  reign  of  OUamh  Fodhla,  were  all  reviewed,  purified,  digested, 
and  condensed.  Any  that  were  deemed  in  the  slightest  degree  inequi- 
table were  abolished,  and  a  code  of  jurisprudence  was  established,  which 
remained  in  force  from  that  time,  say  Warner  and  others,  to  the  end  of 
the  monarchical  dynasty  of  the  Milesians,  in  the  twelfth  century.  Dr. 
Warner  says  of  him,  "  The  ordinances  which  he  established  for  the 
public  good,  which  are  yet  to  be  seen  in  the  old  Irish  records,  and  which 
show  his  great  skill  in  the  laws  and  antiquities  of  his  country,  were  never 
abolished  whilst  the  Irish  regal  government  had  existence." 

These  laws  were  so  much  approved  of  by  the  people,  and  by  their 
leaders  in  the  national  assembly,  that  they  were  denominated  the  will 
of  Heaven,  or  celestial  judgments,  and  it  was  ruled  a  treason  or  sacrilege 
to  attempt  to  change  any  portion  of  them  ;  so  true  was  it  ever  that 
no  people  in  the  world  loved  justice  more  than  the  Irish  —  a  trait  in 
their  character  remarked  on,  fourteen  centuries  later,  by  Lord  Coke,  Sir 
John  Davies,  and  many  other  English  jurists. 

Cormac  applied  himself  also  to  the  regulation  of  the  religious  cere- 
monials of  the  people,  and,  for  this  purpose,  summoned  to  Tara  a  great 
number  of  the  Druids  from  all  parts  of  Ireland,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
convoked  the  various  orders  of  learned  doctors  for  the  purpose  of  revising 
the  history  of  the  country,  and  establishing  improved  regulations  for  the 
administration  of  public  instruction.  The  concentration  in  Tara  of  so 
many  men,  eminent  for  their  great  literary  acquirements,  rendered  the 
court  of  Cormac  the  most  brilliant  in  Europe  at  the  time,  and  not  in- 
ferior, indeed,  to  the  courts  of  the  Roman  emperors.  The  monarch  also 
encouraged  poetry  and  music,  and  was  not  insensible  to  the  enchant- 
40 


314  COKMAC'S    MAGNIFICENCE. 

ments  of  the  social  circle.  Though  he  attended  to  the  sober  business 
of  legislation  and  jurisprudence  with  the  grave,  he  mingled,  in  seasons 
of  festivity,  with  the  gay  and  chivalrous.  He  encouraged,  with  lavish 
hand,  every  art  and  science.  He  had  the  old  palace  of  Tara,  and  hall 
of  assembly,  which  were  erected  principally  of  oak,  pulled  down,  and  a 
magnificent  palace  and  legislative  hall  of  marble  erected  on  the  site. 
It  was  deemed  the  most  elegant  structure  in  Europe ;  there  were  many 
grand  entrances  to  it,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  richly-carved  marble 
columns  graced  those  entrances  and  piazzas  on  every  side.  Torna 
Eigis,  who  wrote  in  the  fourth  century,  says,  that  "  the  marble  statues 
of  two  hundred  Irish  kings,  princes,  and  generals,  adorned  the  niches 
of  the  halls  of  Tara."  Whilst  these  great  works  were  in  progress, 
the  royal  establishment  removed  to  Miodh-Cuarto,  in  West  Meath. 
When  they  were  at  length  completed,  they  were  a  source  of  extreme 
delight  to  the  people,  and  to  strangers,  for  many  came  from  other 
countries  to  admire  them.  Several  hundred  bed-chambers  were  fitted 
up  for  the  accommodation  of  foreign  visitors,  and  fifteen  hundred  per- 
sons sat  down  daily  at  the  royal  tables.  W^e  are  further  assured  that 
the  monarch  and  his  guests  were  waited  on  by  one  hundred  and 
fifty  knights  of  noble  blood,  whilst  the  meats  were  mosdy  served  in 
gold  and  silver.  The  music  of  a  hundred  minstrels,  mingling  with 
the  ceremonies  of  these  banquets,  must  have  flung  over  all  the  illu- 
sion of  enchantment. 

As  if  nothing  were  deficient  in  this  splendid  group,  the  monarch  was 
blessed  with  three  sons,  and  ten  daughters,  the  most  beautiful  and  ac- 
complished in  the  land,  whose  animating  presence  in  all  these  courtly 
scenes  must  have  added  to  the  magic  that  abided  around  his  person. 

Dr.  Warner  concludes  his  notice  of  this  monarch  in  the  following 
words:  "There  never  had  been  a  monarch  on  the  throne  of  Ireland 
who  was  attended  by  such  a  numerous  retinue.  The  great  guard,  con- 
sisting of  the  flower  of  the  Irish  army,  always  on  duty  in  the  palace,  and 
the  other  ensigns  and  distinctions  of  royalty  which  he  had  about  him, 
which  were  equal  to  the  dignity  of  the  greatest  princes  of  that  time, 
made  the  court  of  this  monarch  the  theme  of  universal  fame.  What 
added  something  to  its  lustre  was  his  numerous  issue  —  three  sons,  of 
great  renown  in  arms,  and  ten  daughters,  of  distinguished  beauty  and 
rare  accomplishments." 

The  king's  eloquence  in  the  national  assembly  ;  his  skill  in  military 
affiiirs  ;  his  profound  acquaintance  with  the  laws,  literature,  and  history, 
of  his  country ;  his  magnificent  architectural  erections ;  his  refined  man- 


SUCCESSES    OF    FION    m'cUMHALL    AGAISNT    THE    ROMANS.         315 

ners,  elegant  hospitality,  lavish  encouragement  of  science  and  art ;  and 
the  minute  attention  he  paid  to  the  wants  and  welfare  of  the  people,  to 
the  improvement  and  defence  of  the  country,  —  contributed  to  imbody  a 
ruler  that  may  be  weighed  against  a  Solon,  a  Pericles,  a  Lycurgus,  an 
Augustus,  an  Alfred,  or  a  Charlemagne ;  a  Louis  Fourteenth,  a  Fred- 
erick, or  against  any  that  any  age  or  kingdom  has  given  to  man- 
kind. 

Cormac  caused  a  law  to  pass  the  assembly  which  made  it  imperative 
on  every  future  monarch  of  Ireland  to  keep  about  his  person  a  discreet 
nobleman,  of  Milesian  blood,  with  whom  he  could  confidently  converse ; 
a  pious  Druid,  to  direct  him  in  matters  of  conscience ;  a  chief  hrehon, 
(judge,)  to  assist  him  in  his  judicial  decisions ;  a  physician,  to  attend  to 
his  health  ;  a  poet,  to  record  his  mihtary  exploits  ;  a  musician,  to  stimu- 
late his  spirits ;  an  antiquarian,  to  explain  historical  mysteries ;  and  three 
treasurers,  to  collect  his  revenues.  These  offices  were  religiously  con- 
tinued, by  the  Irish  kings,  for  the  remaining  thousand  years  of  their 
power ;  and,  more  remarkable,  they  were  transferred  to  the  English 
court  by  King  Alfred  the  Great,  together  with  the  entire  framework  of 
the  jurisprudence  of  Ireland.  Many,  if  not  all,  the  offices  of  Cormac 
are  still  preserved  in  the  court  of  the  British  monarch,  from  immemorial 
usage.  The  present  keeper  of  Queen  Victoria's  conscience  is  that 
charitable,  moral,  and  conscientious  personage,  the  learned  Lord  Chan- 
cellor Lyndhurst;  and  the  remaining  officers  now  (1844)  about  her 
person,  contrary,  I  presume,  to  her  majesty's  desire,  are  of  a  similar 
character. 

In  the  reign  of  Feargus,  the  predecessor  and  rival  of  Cormac,  Fion 
iVf  Cumhall,  the  renowned  general  of  the  Leinster  militia,  whom  I  have 
already  introduced  to  the  reader,  had  been  despatched,  with  a  consider- 
able army,  to  the  Dalriadian  colony  in  Caledonia,  for  the  purpose  of 
protecting  it  from  the  aggressive  invasions  of  the  Romans.  Fion,  having 
belonged  to  the  party  of  the  fallen  monarch,  whose  cause  he  had  warmly 
espoused  against  Cormac  and  his  father,  was  not  on  terms  of  friendship 
with  the  present  king.  Notwithstanding  this,  he  sent  an  ambassador  to 
Connac's  court,  acquainting  him  with  his  perilous  condition  ;  for  his  army 
had  been  seriously  diminished  by  various  battles  with  the  Romans,  whilst 
the  army  of  the  enemy  had  been  considerably  augmented.  Cormac, 
though  he  entertained  no  kindly  feelings  towards  Fion,  sent  him  a  strong 
reenforcement,  placing  the  entire  command  in  his  hands.  Fion,  thus 
recruited,  attacked  the  Roman  legions,  and  caused  them  to  fly  before 
him  to  the  centre  of  Britain.     In  this  brilliant  campaign,  Oisin,  the  poet, 


316       REVOLT. CORMAC'S    ABDICATION    IN   FAVOR   OF    HIS    SON. 

the  son  of  Fion,  distinguished  himself  by  deeds  of  great  bravery.  Hav- 
ing gone  at  some  little  length  into  the  character  of  Oisin  in  my  section 
devoted  to  the  "  Bards,"  I  refrain  from  any  remark  on  the  topic  here. 

Whilst  victory  crowned  the  arms  of  Cormac  abroad,  his  internal  affairs 
ran  unpleasantly.  The  great  expenses  which  he  had  incurred  in  build- 
ing the  magnificent  palace  and  house  of  assembly  of  Tara,  and  in  sup- 
porting a  most  costly  regal  establishment,  compelled  him  to  raise  large 
revenues  on  the  people.  He  established,  for  this  purpose,  new  tributes, 
which,  as  they  ever  do,  begot  plenty  of  discontent  and  opposition. 
These  led  to  treasons  and  plots;  and  so  Cormac,  notwithstanding  his 
equity,  wisdom,  and  talents,  found  himself  successively  engaged  in  war 
with  the  people  of  Leinster,  Munster,  and  Connaught.  In  an  engage- 
ment with  the  army  of  the  latter,  he  lost  an  eye,  which  rendered  him  in- 
capable of  exercising  longer  the  functions  of  monarch ;  for  it  was  con- 
trary to  the  law  of  Ireland  for  any  prince  who  had  received  a  serious 
blemish  in  his  person  to  remain  on  the  throne. 

Ere  Cormac  resigned  the  throne  to  his  son  and  successor  Eochaidh, 
he  publicly  declared  his  belief  in  the  existence  of  a  supreme  God,  and 
renounced  the  absurd  woi-ship  of  the  sun,  whjch  prevailed  in  Ireland 
for  fifteen  centuries.  This,  as  might  be  expected,  caused  a  mighty 
sensation  in  Ireland.  The  Druids  immediately  became  his  enemies  ;  but 
he  removed  them  from  the  palace,  and  they  never  after  resumed  their 
accustomed  power  in  Ireland.  His  son  Eochaidh  was  crowned  on  the 
Stone  of  Destiny,  at  which  ceremony  the  accustomed  aid  of  the  Druids 
was  dispensed  with.  This  was  the  greatest  blow  against  their  power. 
As  a  matter  of  course,  they  conspired  against  Cormac.  He  had  now, 
after  a  reign  of  twenty-three  years,  retired  to  a  cottage  in  Meath,  near 
the  royal  palace,  where  he  was  consulted  by  politicians,  princes,  and 
literary  men,  upon  all  matters  and  things  interesting  to  them ;  "  For," 
says  the  Gaelic  Society  of  Dublin,  '-'  Cormac  was  transcendently  pre- 
eminent above  all  others  for  his  profound  knowledge  in  the  antiquity 
and  jurisprudence  of  his  country.  The  schools  he  endowed,  the  books 
he  composed,  and  the  laws  he  established,  bear  unquestionable  tes- 
timony of  his  munificence,   wisdom,  and  learning." 

In  that  cottage  he  wrote  his  Advice  to  Princes,  addressed  to  his  son 
Carbre  Eochaidh,  an  able  work,  that  still  exists  in  the  possession  of 
the  O'Halloran  family  of  Limerick.  There  he  also  revised  the  Psalter 
of  Tara,  enlarged  by  commentary  on  Ollamh  Fodhla's  treatise  on  law. 
The  Druids,  determined  to  crush  his  influence,  preached  against  his 
heresy,  and  incited  the  people,  and  even  the  monarch,  his  son,  against 


DEATH    OF    COHMAC. MEETING    ON    THE    HILL    OF    TARA.        317 

him.  They  induced  Eochaidh  to  issue  a  proclamation  calling  on  all 
princes,  ollamhs,  and  people,  to  come  and  worship  Baal  (the  sun)  on 
a  certain  day.  This  was  a  net  to  catch  Cormac,  but  he  regarded  it 
not ;  he  remained  in  his  cottage ;  they  complained  to  the  king  of  the 
act  of  contumacy,  upon  which  he  advised  them  to  bring  the  image 
representing  the  sun  to  the  presence  of  Cormac,  and  call  upon  him  to 
worship.  The  arch-Druid  and  four  others  accordingly  earned  the 
idol  to  the  house  of  the  king,  whom  they  found  engaged  in  prayer  to 
the  supreme  God.  On  entering  into  Cormac's  presence,  they  set  up 
their  idol  on  a  tripod,  and  then  fell  down  before  it  in  worship.  Cor- 
mac took  little  notice  of  their  ceremonies.  The  arch-Druid  soon  arose, 
and  questioned  Cormac  "  why  he  refijsed  to  adore  as  his  fathers  did." 
He  replied,  that  "  the  Deity  whom  he  worshipped  could,  with  a  breath, 
extinguish  the  sun  and  stars,  dry  up  the  ocean,  and  sink  the  universe 
beneath  its  bed."  The  Druids  felt  deeply  mortified  at  this  reply,  on 
receiving  which  they  retired,  vowing  vengeance  on  the  abdicated 
monarch. 

On  the  evening  ensuing  this  meeting,  Cormac  was  choked  by  a  fish- 
bone, at  supper,  and  the  Druids  were  greatly  rejoiced  thereat.  Some 
writers  have  accused  them  of  poisoning  him.  Thus  died  this  extraordi- 
nary man,  the  first  amongst  the  pagan  Irish  who  intuitively  perceived, 
through  the  profound  medium  of  his  philosophy,  the  existence  of  a 
Creator,  in  the  extent,  mechanism,  and  regularity,  of  his  works.  Pos- 
terity has  designated  him  "  Cormac  the  Lawgiver."  In  the  sixth  century, 
St.  CoUimb  Kille  discovered  the  tomb  of  Cormac,  at  Cruachan,  in  the 
county  Roscommon,  The  saint  erected  a  church  over  the  royal  grave, 
the  ruins  of  which  are  yet  to  be  seen. 

Dr.  Warner  further  says  of  this  great  man,  ''  King  Cormac  had  con- 
\nnced  himself  of  the  absurdities  of  idolatry  upon  principles  of  philosophic 
reason  ;  and  had  he  hved  but  a  little  longer,  it  is  probable  that  pagan- 
ism would  have  been  extinct  in  Ireland  before  the  introduction  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  that  the  original  theology  and  patriarchal  worship  would 
have  been  restored." 

Of  the  magnificent  court  which  he  erected  on  the  eminence  called 
Tarn  Hill  there  is  not  now  a  stone  together.  This  far-famed  hill  is 
about  sixteen  miles  from  the  city  of  Dublin.  It  was  the  theatre,  for 
countless  generations,  of  the  deeds  of  the  Milesian  kings  and  senates. 
It  is  a  spot  consecrated,  hallowed,  in  the  memories  of  the  Irish  people. 
The  fall  of  Tara  is  associated  in  their  minds  with  the  fall  of  their  country 
—  with  its  subjection  to  the  stranger. 


318  MEETING    ON    THE    HILL    OF    TARA. 

It  was  here,  in  1798,  that  a  desperate  battle  was  fought  between 
the  United  Irishmen  and  the  British  troops,  in  which  the  former  were 
defeated.  Upwards  of  two  hundred  of  the  United  men  who  fell  in  the 
eno^agement  were  buried  in  one  large  grave  on  this  eminence.  And 
on  this  consecrated  spot  was  held  the  monster  meeting  of  August, 
1843,  at  which  the  Liberator,  Daniel  O'Connell,  presided.  That 
meeting  will  be  memorable  in  Irish  history  throughout  all  ages.  Up- 
wards of  a  million  of  human  beings  gathered  at  the  call  of  O'Connell, 
to  petition  for  the  restoration  of  their  parliament.  They  were  attended 
to  the  ground  by  the  clergymen  of  their  respective  parishes!  The 
holy  sacrifice  of  the  mass  was  offered  up  by  these  priests  over  the 
"  Croppy's  Grave,"  and  the  multitude  knelt  in  prayer  for  the  reception 
into  the  mansions  of  the  Eternal  of  the  souls  of  those  who  fell  at  that 
memorable  battle ;  and  then  they  proceeded  to  the  passing  of  resolu- 
tions declaring  that  no  other  power,  save  the  king,  lords,  and  commons, 
of  Ireland,  had,  or  by  right  ought  to  have,  any  power  to  make  laws  to 
bind  Ireland. 

There  did  not  occur  at  this  meeting  a  single  accident,  insult,  outrage, 
or  quarrel  of  any  kind  ;  nor  was  there  a  single  drunken  person  seen 
amongst  the  million  that  gathered  there  —  a  thing  unparalleled  in  the 
whole  history  of  mankind. 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


319 


TARA'S    OLD    GREEN. 


BY    T.   MOONEY. 


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-^ ^     t»r  -        ^ 

twelve  hundred    thousand  were  there    to      be     seen,  With  their 


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lead-ers     so  brave,  and  their    shamrocks   so    green?*      O'  - 

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:!= 


x. 


_j ^ Sit 


stood  on     the      ru  -  ins     of        Ta  -  ra's  old    hall.      And  he 


i=z»z=^==i 


P 


5 


J= 


iJ=  = 


^  w  ^ 

called   on      the     mil  -  lions     to    kneel   on     the    sod,f  Which 

*  This  was  the  greatest  meeting  ever  held  in  Ireland,  or,  perhaps,  in  any  other 
country.  It  took  place  on  the  13th  of  August,  1843,  on  the  hill  of  Tara,  (distant 
fifteen  miles  from  Dublin,)  on  the  site  of  the  palaces  of  the  former  kings  of  Ire- 
land ;  and  its  object  was  to  demand  the  restoration  of  the  Irish  parliament.  The 
Irish  papers  make  the  number  that  assembled  twelve  hundred  thousand,  while  the 
reporters  of  the  English  press  fix  the  number  at  eight  hundred  thousand.  But,  ad- 
mitting the  middle  number,  of  a  million,  as  the  most  correct,  it  was  the  greatest 
meeting  known  to  history.  There  did  not  take  place  at  this  meeting  a  single  ac- 
cident, insult,  or  disturbance,  during  that  memorable  day. 

t  In  the  insurrection  of  1798,  several  hundred  men  fell  on  this  hill.  A  great 
number  were  buried  in  one  large  grave  on  the  side  of  it,  which  is  called  the 
"  Croppy's  Grave."  On  this  mausoleum  of  patriotism  the  people  knelt  to  pray,  on 
the  morning  of  that  memorable  meeting. 


^p=p= 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


T- 


p  w p, 

cov  -  ered   the      he  -  roes  who   fought  for  their  God,     Their 


"J        N — h — I  ■■ — ^z; f 

i — # — ^1=^=1^: 


— ^~ 


coun  -  try,  their  free  -  dom,  and      shamrocks     so     green. 


2. 

The  eyes  of  all  Europe  looked  on  in  amaze 
On  the  fire  of  Liberty's  beautiful  blaze, 

That  rose  from  the  mountain  where  Patrick  had  been ;  * 
And  the  Saxon  stood  palsied  in  awe  at  the  sight; 
He  said  very  little,  just  then,  about  fight, 
For  he  knew  that  the  hearts  of  the  valiant  and  brave 
Would  never  submit  to  the  chains  of  the  slave, 

In  the  land  of  Saint  Patrick  and  shamrocks  so  green ' 

3. 
And  the  harp  of  old  Tara,  half  silent  so  long. 
Which  breathed,  neglected,  its  mournful  song, 

Strikes  the  music  of  Liberty  over  the  main, 
And  proclaims  the  first  gem  of  the  earth  and  the  sea 
Shall  ever  again  be  great,  glorious,  and  free ! 
For  millions  have  vowed  they  are  ready  to  bleed 
In  defence  of  old  Erin,  and  freedom  of  creed, 

Her  parliament  rights,  and  her  shamrocks  so  green ! 

4. 
Then  hurrah  for  the  men  who  assembled  that  day ! 
To  drive  all  the  tyrant  oppressors  away 

From  the  hill  where  our  parliament  ever  had  been. 
And,  hurrah  for  their  friends,  that  live  over  the  sea'.f 
Who  are  struggling  so  hard  to  set  Ireland  free ! 
And  may  their  exertions  with  triumph  be  crowned; 
And  the  proud  name  of  Erin  be  honored  all  round, 

As  a  nation  of  freemen  and  shamrocks  so  green. 


*  St.  Patrick  preached  the  gospel  on  this  hill  to  the  pagan  king  Logaire,  whom 
with  all  his  court,  he  converted,  in  the  year  434. 
t  The  American  repealers. 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


321 


And  hurrah  for  O'Connell !    who  spoke  to  them  all ! 

Who  stood  on  the  ruins  of  Tara's  old  hall, 
When  a  million  of  patriots  knelt  on  the  green ! 

And  they  sent  up  a  prayer,  that's  registered  in  heaven, 

And  the  chains  of  their  tyrants  will  shortly  be  riven ; 

And  music  shall  echo  the  shouts  of  the  free ! 

And  the  harps  of  old  Tara  sing,  over  the  sea, 
Long  live  the  shillelahsj  and  shamrocks  so  green! 


NOTHING    IN    LIFE    CAN    SADDEN    US. 


"rri    [^ 


m — rrr~  -rrr^rn ^i      r«j  i    rdr 


i^Eg 


1      n~\ — .  ~  I — h — rn 


J~r— r 


0^ 


<2J\    n»hr~  ~r~n — rzzzi 


.*t 


iriri    r      I    I  ~i    ri — r^:2 — r~rr9~9  • : 


322 


MUSIC    AND    POETRr. 


TRUE    LOVE    CAN    NE'ER    FORGET. 


WORDS  BY  rURLONG.   MUSIC  BY  LOVER. 


Founded  on  the  fact  related  of  Carolan,  the  Irish  bard,  that,  after  his  loss  of  sigkt^ 
and  the  lapse  of  twenty  years,  he  recognized  his  first  love  by  the  touch  of  her  hand. 


-#- 


Tenderlt,  but  not  too  Slow. 


^ 


5=i 


#~ 


^ 


-f. 


1.    "True   love  can       ne'er  for -get,  Fond  -  ly       as 


4-!= 


£: 


F=F 


-F 


-#- 


±!=i: 


31^ 


-P^-s=^ 


^: 


3 


when  we  met ;        Dear  -  est,      I         love    thee  yet, 


'^ 


£ 


3= 


£: 


:^ 


My        dar  -  ling     one  !  "      Thus  sang    a     min  -  strel  gray 


^ 


fzz; 


5^ 


-#- 


m 


3 


■^- 


k 


5 


ij^ 


His  sweet,  im  -  passioned  lay,      Down   by  the    ocean's  spray, 


m^ 


I 

5 


^ 


MUSIC    AND   POETRY. 


323 


2==P 


5 


At      rise      of        sun.  But      withered   was     the 


©t 


T=F 


"P 


^ 


15ZT 


E 


:i» 


i»- 


lESEEJ 


?=E- 


minstrel's   sight ;      Morn    to   him   was      dark      as  night 


B±=i 


IST 


-&- 


]5:zs-n"»- 


5 


5— s 


:E 


::^: 


i»- 


:« 


Hi 


IT 


Yet  his  heart  was     full    of  Hght,    As      he  this  lay      be 


@± 


-m 


ta 


-+- 


^ 


-    gun :  .  .  .      "  True     love  can      ne'er    for  -  get, 


1-- 


£ 


-#- 


^ 


^ 


]?3; 


3: 


Fond  -  ly      as      when     we  met; 


Dear  -  est,       I 

-  m  - 


--^ 


I 


£ 


£ 


324 


MUSIC    AND   POETRY. 


"Long  years  are  past  and  o'er 
Since,  from  this  fatal  shore, 
Cold  hearts  and  cold  winds  bore 

My  love  from  me." 
Scarcely  the  minstrel  spoke, 
When,  quick,  with  flashing  stroke, 
A  boat's  light  oar  the  silence  broke 

Over  the  sea. 
Soon,  upon  her  native  strand, 
Doth  a  lovely  lady  land  ; 
While  the  minstrel's  love-taught  hand 

Did  o'er  his  sweet  harp  run, 
"True  love  can  ne'er  forget,  &ic. 


Where  the  minstrel  sat  alone, 
There  that  lady  fair  hath  gone ; 
Within  his  hand  she  placed  her  own: 

The  bard  dropped  on  his  knee; 
From  his  Up  soft  blessings  came; 
He  kissed  her  hand,  with  truest  flame; 
In  trembling  tones  he  named  her  name, 

Though  her  he  could  not  see. 
But,  O  !   the  touch,  the  bard  could  tell, 
Of  that  dear  hand,  remembered  well. 
Ah  !    by  many  a  secret  spell, 

Can  true  love  trace  his  own  ' 
For  true  love  can  ne'er  forget, 
Fondly  as  when  they  met; 
He  loved  his  lady  yet, 

His  darling  one. 


LECTURE    X. 


FROM   A.   D.   279   TO   500. 
SECTION    I. 

Reign  of  Carbrc.  —  Leinstcr  Militia.  —  Their  Constitution.  —  Qualifications.  —  Obli- 
gations. —  Number.  —  Comniande  s.  —  Garrisons.  —  Discipline.  —  Names  of  the 
Legions.  —  Population  of  Ireland    n  that  Age.  —  War  with  Denmark.  —  Triumph. 

—  Civil  Wars  at  Home.  —  Destru^,tion  of  the  Leinster  Militia.  —  Origin  of  several 
Irish  Families.  —  Niall  of  the  Nine  Hostages.  —  Irish  Government  in  Caledonia. 

—  Prowess  of  Niall  in  Caledonia. — Forces  the  Roman  Wall.  —  Capture  of  Pa- 
tricius.  —  Death  of  Niall.  —  Reign  of  Datliy.  —  Brilliant  Victories  over  the 
Roman  Legions. —  Evacuation  by  the  Romans  of  Britain  and  Gaul. — Position 
and   Condition    of   Ireland    at    this    Period.  —  Ireland    the    Athens    of   Europe. 

—  Accounted  for.  —  Proved  by  the  Admissions  of  British  Writers.  —  Opinions 
of  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  Dr.  Warner,  Toland,  Camden,  Whitakcr,  Stilliniflleet. 

—  The  pagan  Worship  of  the  ancient  Irish. —  Comparison  with  that  of  Rome 
and  Greece  in  coeval  Ages. 

We  have  seen,  in  the  preceding  pages,  the  advance  of  arts,  sciences, 
and  literature,  in  Ireland,  ere  yet  the  meridian  rays  of  the  Ciiristian 
religion  had  illumined  her  oak-covered  hills.  We  are  now  approaching 
that  epoch  in  her  history,  when  her  military  glory  and  her  Christian 
works  shine  in  bright  reflections  on  the  page  ;  and,  if  all  the  original 
spirit  of  our  Milesian  fathers  be  not  killed  within  us  by  the  unhealthy 
atmosphere  of  a  selfish  age,  the  trumpet-call  of  freedom  in  behalf  of 
that  suffering  land  shall  be  answered  over  the  Atlantic  by  the  proud 
impulses  of  our  devoted  hearts ;  and  that  country  which  was,  in  other 
ages,  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave,  shall,  by  the 
united  efforts  of  her  scattered  children,  be  again  restored  to  her  rank 
amid  the  nations  — 

"  Great,  glorious,  and  free, 

The  fii-st  flower  of  tlie  earth, 

And  tirst  gem  of  the  sea," 

Anno  279,  we  find  Carbre,  the  son  of  Cormac,  on  the  Irish  throne, 
exhibiting  in  his  government  all  the  virtues  of  his  father.     He  had  the 


326  LEINSTER    MILITIA. THEIR    CONSTITUTION. 

history  and  antiquities  of  Ireland  carefully  revised,  and  some  additions 
made  to  the  national  code  of  laws.  About  this  time,  a  celebrated  Irish 
hero,  Curausius,  had  raised  himself  so  high  in  the  Roman  emperor's 
confidence,  that  he  was  sent  to  Britain  to  govern  as  the  lieutenant  of 
Rome.  Here  he  obtained  the  affections  of  the  people,  and  finally 
assumed  the  purple,  the  symbol  of  imperial  authority.  Rome,  be- 
coming alarmed  at  this,  sent  forces  to  depose  him.  He  applied  to  the 
Irish  monarch  for  aid,  which  he  obtained,  and  then  successfully  resisted 
Rome  until  his  death,  which,  it  is  said,  was  effected  by  assassins. 

It  was  in  this  age  that  the  famous  Leinster  militia  was  broken  up 
and  dispersed.  The  history  of  that  celebrated  corps  deserves  a  special 
place  in  our  memory.  On  the  ancient  partition  of  Ireland  between 
Heber  and  Heremon,  the  different  orders  of  the  people  were  also 
divided,  and  lands  were  assigned  to  the  chiefs  and  princes,  on  the  con- 
dition that  each  should  support  a  stipulated  number  of  armed  troops,  to 
attend  the  prince  when  called  on.  The  land  thus  disposed  of  was 
called  ftaran  an  chidheamh,  or  "  sword  land." 

Here  was  the  origin  of  military  tenures  in  Europe. 

These  troops  were  divided  into  legions  called  catha.  Each  catha 
contained  three  thousand  men ;  every  thousand  was  commanded  by  a 
fear  comhlan  mile,  or  "  the  commander  of  one  thousand,"  who  had 
under  him  ten  captains,  twenty  lieutenants,  and  forty  sergeants.  The 
captain  was  called  fear  comhlan  cead,  or  "  the  commander  of  one 
hundred,"  and  so  on.  The  commander  of  the  legion  was  named 
faioseach  an  catha,  or  "  governor  of  the  legion."  To  each  legion  was 
appointed  a  proper  number  of  physicians  and  surgeons,  afid  these  were 
the  most  eminent  of  the  different  universities  of  the  kingdom. 

None  were  admitted  into  these  legions  but  men  of  large  stature, 
without  any  deformity  of  person ;  they  must  be  versed  in  history  and 
poetry  ;  they  must  be  perfect  in  the  use  of  arms.  Each  soldier  must 
be  able  to  clear  at  once  any  wall  as  high  as  himself,  and  to  run  under 
the  branch  of  a  tree  as  low  as  his  knee  without  relaxing  his  pace. 
He  was  bound  singly  not  to  fly  from  nine  armed  men.  Those  legions 
were  the  children  of  the  state,  and  it  required  interest  to  become  one 
of  the  body.  Another  condition  was  that,  before  enrolling,  the  parents 
and  friends  of  each  candidate  were  to  swear  not  to  revenge  his  death, 
if  slain,  but  to  leave  it  to  the  general.  Such  was  the  constitution 
and  material  of  Fion's  celebrated  legion,  the  Leinster  militia. 

The  force  of  the  whole  kingdom  at  this  time  was  eighty-four  thousand 
fighting  men.      Each  provincial  king  had  his  seven  legions,  of  three 


GARRISONS    OF    THE    LEINSTER    MILITIA. DISCIPLINE.  327 

thousand  men  to  each  legion  ;  besides  this,  the  chief  prince  of  Tara'had 
his  seven  legions.  The  chief  commander  of  each  provincial  army  was 
called  righ  thine,  or  "  king  of  the  soldiery  ; "  and  to  him  they  swore 
fidelity  and  allegiance.  The  marshal  was  named  iuargna  catha; 
and  their  pay  was  made  ouf  in  clothes,  money,  and  provisions,  as  had 
been  established  by  the  Irish  monarch  Seadhna,  who  reigned  in  Ireland 
seven  centuries  before  the  Christian  era. 

From  November  to  May,  they  were  quartered  on  the  country,  each 
house  supplying  a  soldier -with  certain  necessaries.  In  summer,  they 
were  obliged  to  support  themselves  by  fishing  and  hunting.  From 
May  to  November,  they  were  ordered  to  the  different  duns,  or  stations, 
established  to  give  proper  notice  should  an  enemy  approach.  There 
was  one  of  these  old  duns,  or  garrison  forts,  in  the  Bay  of  Tralee, 
one  at  the  mouth  of  the  Casin,  in  the  county  of  Kerry,  also  one  at 
Jnis  Catha,  or  Scattery,  and  some  other  places  in  the  county  Lim- 
erick. Rath  Conan,  in  Limerick,  still  retains  the  name  of  its  governor, 
to  wit,  the  famous  Conan  Maol;  and  many  similar  instances  could  be 
quoted.  Such  soldiers  as  were  not  on  particular  duty,  or  service, 
were  employed  in  great  hunting  matches,  where  the  chase  preserved 
them  in  health  and  vigor,  and  supplied  part  of  their  wants. 

The  red  deer  was  then  numerous  in  the  mountains  of  Ireland ;  they 
were  very  large,  fleet,  and  fierce.  We  have  yet  several  glowing  relations 
of  those  famous  hunts  about  the  romantic  district  in  which  the  lakes  of 
Killarney  are  situated  ;  and  Killarney  itself  is  immortalized  in  the  books 
of  travellers  for  its  stag  hunts,  which  are  yet  continued  with  great  spirit 
by  some  of  the  old  Milesians,  whose  patriotism  and  spirit  not  all  the 
powers  of  England  could  subdue. 

Neither  ancient  nor  modern  history  can  furnish  a  more  complete  and 
formidable  military  institution  than  this.  Men  arrived  at  the  highest 
degree  of  military  discipline  previous  to  their  reception  into  the  army. 
Not  only  expert  at  annoying  an  enemy,  but  equally  so  in  defending 
themselves,  —  not  only  animated  to  the  fight  by  their  natural  courage, 
but  raised  higher  by  the  swelling  sounds  of  music,  and  animated  into 
heroism  by  the  songs  of  the  bards,  —  a  military  body  thus  trained 
up  must  have  been  formidable ;  and  so  indeed  they  were.  Those 
legions  were  denominated  after  the  services  they  performed  against  the 
common  enemy,  Rome.  Thus  the  Irish  forces  kept  up  in  Albion  or 
Scotland  were  called  Jine  Alhin,  or  Albanian  legions ;  the  legions 
in  Gaul   were  called  fine   Gaul, 

This  constant  exercise  of  the  Irish  military  will  explain  very  clearly 


328  WAR   WITH    DENMARK. CIVIL    WARS    AT    HOME. 

not  only  why  they  kept  their  own  country  free  from  foreign  insult 
or  domination,  but  why,  also,  they  were  enabled  to  pour  their  troops 
on  the  continent,  and  why,  in  the  days  of  Caesar,  and  of  successive 
Roman  generals,   they  led  on  the  troops  of  Britain  and  Scotland. 

By  the  military  returns  of  this  age  we  can  estimate  the  population 
of  Ireland  at  four  millions  and  a  half 

In  this  reign,  the  celebrated  Moghcorb  ruled  over  Munster:  his 
mother  was  a  princess  of  Denmark,  called  Ilcrothach,  or  the  "  A\\-love- 
lyj'  The  two  brothers  of  this  princess  flew  to  Ireland,  to  look  for  aid 
from  their  nephew,  to  push  the  usurper  of  their  father's  throne  from 
his  unjustly-acquired  eminence.  Influenced  by  his  mother,  he  pre- 
pared a  large  fleet;  and,  with  a  select  body  of  troops  taken  out 
of  the  Munster  and  Leinster  militia,  he  invaded  Denmark.  The 
Danes  prepared  to  meet  him.  The  battle  was  fierce,  bloody,  and  well 
fought.  The  superior  bravery  and  discipline  of  the  L'ish  at  length 
prevailed.  The  Danes  were  totally  defeated.  There  fell,  on  the  Danish 
side,  the  usurper  of  Denmark,  his  four  sons,  and  four  brothers,  be- 
sides numbers  of  his  commanders,  and  three  thousand  of  his  soldiers. 
Moghcorb  caused  his  two  uncles  to  be  proclaimed  joint  kings  of  Den- 
mark, exacted  tribute  from  the  Danes  for  the  expenses  of  his  war,  and 
returned  home  crowned  with  glory.  This  brilliant  achievement  was 
the  theme  of  the  bards  and  antiquarians  for  many  years. 

The  fame  of  Moghcorb  naturally  begot  the  enmity  of  other  princes 
of  his  own  country,  which  blew  up  at  last,  under  one  pretence  or 
another,  to  open  hostilities ;  and,  unhappily,  we  are  pained  to  read 
of  those  brilliant  arms,  which  won  such  trophies  abroad,  turned  by  Irish 
heroes  on  each  other.  Carbre,  the  prince  of  Ulster,  led  on  his  forces 
towards  Munster,  the  territory  of  Moghcorb.  The  contending  armies 
met  on  the  plains  of  Meath,  near  Tara.  The  Leinster  and  Connaught 
militia,  since  the  days  of  Con,  were  enemies  or  rivals.  The  entire 
forces  of  both  provinces  appeared  under  arms  that  day,  and,  as  neither 
knew  fear  or  thought  of  retreating,  it  became  a  total  carnage  on  both 
sides.  Of  Fion's  troops  not  one  escaped,  but  Oisin,  the  father  of 
Osgur,  and  the  Clana  Morni,  or  Connaught  troops,  experienced  the 
same  dreadful  fate.  Osgur,  the  general,  after  performing  prodigies  of 
valor,  fell  by  the  sword  of  Carbre,  the  king  of  Ulster;  and  he,  in 
return,  met  the  same  fate  from  the  arm  of  the  great  Moghcorb.  This 
battle  was  fought  A.  D.  295. 

The  only  princes  who  survived  this  dreadful  day  were  the  hero 
Moghcorb,   and   Aodth,    king   of    Connaught ;    and    the    latter,    the 


NIALL    OF    THE    NINE    HOSTAGES.  329 

year  after,  raised  a  new  army,  engaged  Moghcorb  at  Spaltrach,  on 
the  borders  of  Munster,  in  which  action  the  gallant  Moghcorb  fell, 
anno  296.  The  Leinster  militia  were  thus  totally  destroyed.  Osgur, 
their  general,  was  killed.  Osgur  was  the  son  of  Oisin,  who  lost  his 
eyes  in  the  battle  ;  and  Oisin,  as  I  have  said,  was  the  son  of  Fion 
3r  Cumhall.  This  band  of  heroes  was  totally  extinguished  by  that 
misfortune.  The  Munster  militia,  which  was  revived  by  Loghcorb, 
continued   to  exist  for  many  centuries  after. 

Anno  300,  Fiacha,  of  Connaught,  was  called  to  the  throne.  From  the 
son  of  this  prince  are  the  Clana  Neill  and  their  tribe,  in  Connaught,  de- 
scended. From  his  brother  descended  the  three  CoJIas,  who  were  the 
progenitors  of  several  noble  families  in  Ireland.  From  the  eldest,  or 
Colla-nas,  came  the  MDonncls,  both  of  Scotland  and  Ireland  ;  the 
M'Douel,  or  Doyles,  the  IWRorys,  the  Clan  Isithigh,  or  O'Sheehies  ; 
the  Clan  Chirrins,  or  O^Kerins,  O'Gniefes.  From  Colla  dha  Criock, 
the  second  son,  sprang  the  M'Mahons  of  Orgial;  the  M^Quines  of 
Fermanagh,  O'Hanlan,  MAnaigh,  MManus,  MEgan,  O'Kellt/, 
O^Madin,  or  Madigan,  O'Nealan.  Of  the  posterity  of  the  third  son 
there  is  no  record. 

These  brothers  had  engaged  in  the  local  struggles  of  their  country, 
which  kept  her  in  trouble  and  civil  wars  for  better  than  half  a  century ; 
during  which  the  celebrated  palace  of  Amania,  the  seat  of  the  Ulster 
princes  for  eight  centuries,  —  the  home  of  bards  and  heroes  for  many 
an  age,  —  was  sacked  and  burned.  Though  it  was  never  after  habita- 
ble, its  venerated  ruins  were  discernible  in  the  last  century. 

Several  monarchs  succeeded  those  princes,  whose  deeds  were  of  the 
average  character.  But  we  light  on  the  reign  of  Eochaidh,  anno 
359,  to  whom  a  son  was  born  named  Niall,  aftenvards  surnamed 
"  of  the  nine  hostages."  After  a  troublesome  reign,  Eochaidh  died, 
and  the  choice  of  a  successor  produced  great  excitement.  At  length 
the  vote  of  the  estates  of  Tara  fell  upon  the  young  Niall,  who,  though 
opposed  with  great  vigor,  even  by  the  swords  of  his  rivals,  was  at 
length  triumphant.  Some  invasions  and  troubles  arising  in  Scotland 
between  the  L'ish  settlements  there  and  the  Romans  on  the  Biitish 
side  of  the  border,  the  monarch  Niall  went  over  with  a  large  force. 
The  troubles  were  subdued,  the  colonists  submitted,  and  acknowledged 
that  all  Scotland,  except  that  part  north  of  the  Friths  of  Clyde  and 
Forth,  was  subject  to  the  Irish  monarch,  to  be  governed  by  laws  made 
by  the  parent  power  in  Ireland.  Hume,  the  historian  of  England, 
acknowledges  this.  He  says,  "  In  very  ancient  language,  Scotland 
42 


330       IRISH  GOVERNMENT  EXTENDED  TO  CALEDONIA. 

means  only  the  country  north  of  the  Friths  of  the  Clyde  and  Forth. 
I  shall  not,"  he  continues,  "make  a  parade  of  literature  to  prove  it, 
because  I  do  not  find  that  the  Scots  themselves  dispute  the  point." 

Niall  settled  the  boundaries  on  this  occasion,  calling  the  entire  of 
Caledonia  Scotia,  after  the  parent  and  governing  country,  Ireland.  It 
ought  to  be  remarked  that  Ireland  was  originally  called  Scotia  in  honor 
of  Scoto,  the -mother  of  the  Milesian  princes  Heber  and  Heremon.* 

Having  thus  setded  all  dissensions,  Niall,  at  the  solicitation  of  some 
Saxon  tribes,  agreed  to  help  them  to  subdue  the  Roman  power  in  Britain. 
And  accordingly  we  find  him  prepare  an  immense  army,  including 
Irish,  Picts,  and  Saxons,  at  the  head  of  which  he  forced  the  celebrated 
Roman  wall,  attacked  the  Roman  cities,  and  compelled  them  to  pay 
tribute ;  after  which  he  returned  to  Ireland  in  great  triumph. 

As  the  Romans  had  been  oppressive  to  Saxon  tribes  in  Gaul,  a  mes- 
senger from  the  latter  appeared  at  the  Irish  court,  to  solicit  the  powerful 
aid  of  Niall  in  coercing  them ;  and  here  again  our  great  Niall  showed 
himself  a  distinguished  hero.  He  prepared  an  expedition  against  the 
Romans,  who  then  held  Gaul  in  subjection.  He  landed  on  the  borders 
of  Brittany,  laid  waste  the  Roman  setdements,  and  came  home  loaded 
with  spoils  and  treasure,  together  with  several  captives,  amongst  whom 
was  the  youth  that  became  afterwards  the  apostle  St.  Patrick. 

Much  discussion  has  arisen  among  writers  about  the  place  of  the 
saint's  birth.  The  best  authorities,  and  the  most  numerous,  too,  agree 
that  he  was  a  Gaulish  captive,  taken  to  Ireland  by  Niall.  He 
might  have  been  born  in  Wales,  for  his  family  came  from  Wales  to 
Brittany ;  the  Book  of  Lecan  says  his  mother  was  a  Frank,  and  that 
she  was  sister  of  St.  Martin,  bishop  of  Tours.  One  thing  is  admitted 
by  all,  namely,  that  he  and  his  two  sisters  were  taken  as  captives  to 
L'eland  by  Niall,  and  sold  as  such,  according  to  the  custom  of  those 
days.     This  invasion  and  caption  took  place  anno  388. 

Niall,  on  his  return  to  Ireland,  found  his  kingdom  suffering  under  trou- 
bles ;  which  having  settled,  he  prepared  a  great  force  to  make  a  second 
descent  on  Gaul.  To  this  end  he  summoned  the  leaders  and  chiefs  of 
his  people  to  Tara,  and  had  present  at  the  assembly  deputies  from 
Scotia  Minor,  who  all  unanimously  resolved  to  support  him  in  his  enter- 
piise  against  the  Romans  in  Gaul ;  and  with  an  immense  force  he 
entered  that  country,  and,  finding  little  resistance,  marched  through 
the  provinces,  and  encamped  on  the  banks  of  the  Loire,  where, 
however,  in  the  midst  of  his  triumphant  career,  he  met  his  death  by  an 
arrow  shot  at  him  from  an  assassin.  His  army  reembarked,  taking  with 
*  It  was  also  called  Erne,  Hybernia,  and  Irland. 


REIGN    OF    DATHY.  331 

them  his  dead  body,  which  was  interred  in  Ireland  with  great  pomp, 
"  He  was  called  the  hero  of  the  nine  hostages,'^  says  Hutchinson,  "be- 
cause he  compelled  nine  nations  to  send  him  hostages.  No  monarch 
carried  the  glory  of  the  Irish  arms  farther  than  Niall.  He  drove  the 
Romans  out  of  Caledonia,  and  pursued  them  to  the  banks  of  the  Loire, 
in  Gaul."     These  hostages  were  covered  with  golden  fetters. 

As  the  posterity  of  Niall  of  the  Nine  Hostages  made  a  most  distin- 
guished figure  in  our  history,  and  as,  from  his  house,  for  almost  six 
centuries,  the  monarchs  of  Ireland  were  chosen,  with  a  single  instance 
excepted,  it  is  proper  to  say  something  of  his  posterity  :  Niall  had  eight 
sons,  four  of  whom  remained  in  Meath  and  its  neighborhood  ;  the  others 
acquired  possessions  in  the  north  of  Ireland.  The  issue  of  these  eight 
sons  have  been  distinguished  by  the  titles  of  Northern  and  Southern 
Ai  Nialls.  From  the  southern  branch  have  descended  O^Sionach, 
or  Fox,  lord  of  TafF;  Magauly,  Mag.  Caren,  O'Braoin,  O'  Qtiin,  and 
O^Daly;  also  O^Kindelan.  From  these  four  southern  brothers,  whose 
territories  lay  in  the  very  centre  of  Ireland,  came  the  O'Malochlins,  the 
M'  Geoghagans,  and  the  O^Molloys.  Of  the  northern  line,  Eogan,  or 
Eon,  the  fifth  son,  got  the  great  tract  of  country  known  as  Tir  Connal, 
or  Tir  Eon ;  for  the  tract  was  formerly  Connal's.  Connal's  tract  goes 
yet  by  the  name  of  Tir  Connel,  and  the  chiefs  of  this  house  assumed 
the  name  of  O^Donnel  from  a  celebrated  ancestor  so  called. 

Anno  420.  On  the  death  of  Niall,  his  nephew,  Dathy,  ascended 
the  Irish  throne.  Several  refugees  from  Roman  persecution  having 
fled  from  Gaul  and  Britain  to  Ireland,  they  besought  him  to  render 
them  assistance.  At  the  head  of  a  powerful  army,  he  landed  in  North 
Britain,  where  he  broke  down  the  Roman  wall,  drove  their  forces  before 
him  out  of  Britain,  passed  with  his  victorious  army  over  to  Gaul,  where 
he  subdued  the  recruited  legions  of  Rome  throughout  that  kingdom, 
and  chased  them  to  the  very  foot  of  the  Alps ;  at  which  point,  unfor- 
tunately, he  was  killed  by  lightning. 

This  brilliant  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  Milesian  race  took  place 
in  the  year  of  Christianity  428.  The  Roman  power  was  now  com- 
pletely extinguished  in  Britain.  The  successes  of  Dathy  gave  other 
nations  courage  to  attack  Rome  in  every  direction,  until,  at  length,  her 
provinces  broke  away  from  her,  one  after  the  other.  She  broke  up  at 
the  extremities,  and  fell,  after  she  had  persecuted  mankind  for  seven 
hundred  years.  Even  so  will  that  great  race,  whose  true  Milesian 
blood  still  streams  through  millions  upon  millions  of  brave  Irishmen, 
—  even  so  will  that  brave  blood,  which  exudes  its  aspiring  and  uncon- 


332       POSITION    AND    CONDITION    OF    IRELAND    AT   THIS    PERIOD. 

querable  spirit  into  every  generation,  —  survive  the  fall  and  dispersion 
cf  the  piratical  aristocracy  of  England.  And  "  when  the  future  travel- 
ler from  New  Zealand  shall  visit  London,  and,  standing  upon  the  single 
remaining  arch  of  its  last  bridge,  view  from  that  spot  the  ruins  of 
St.  Paul's,"  —  the  sacred  island,  which  nourished  that  blood,  for  count- 
less generations,  with  a  miraculous  vitality,  shall  herself  be  then  "  the 
land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave." 

It  is  necessary  to  keep  in  strong  relief  before  the  public  eye  that 
Ireland,  even  under  the  pagan  system,  was  the  school  of  Western  Eu- 
rope. Here  were  preserved,  with  a  religious  exactitude,  the  histories  of 
contemporary  nations,  and  also  an  elaborate  history  of  Ireland,  her 
laws,  literature,  science,  &c.  Here  the  Gauls,  Franks,  Britons,  Welsh, 
the  Picts,  and  the  Germans,  came  to  study.  Three  principal  circum- 
stances contributed  to  this — First,  the  nations  of  Europe  were  constantly 
agitated  and  disturbed  by  the  depredations  of  the  Romans,  for  better 
than  seven  hundred  years,  which  drove  the  studious  to  Ireland,  the  only 
spot  in  Europe  where  their  persons  and  properties  were  safe  from  out- 
rage, —  the  only  spot  in  Europe  that  preserved  its  independence  of 
Roman  sway.  An  evidence  of  this  is  singularly  offered  in  the  names 
of  the  several  tracts  of  land  yielded  by  the  hospitable  Irish  to  those 
refugees,  which  retain  their  names  to  this  day.  In  the  county  Limerick, 
they  have  Gall  Baile,  or  the  "  Gauls'  Town,"  Baile  na  Francoigh,  or 
the  "  Franks'  Town,"  and  so. of  other  places.  I  have  already  shown  that 
the  persons  and  properties  of  the  ollamhs,  or  doctors  of  learning,  the 
bards,  and  Druids,  were  ever  held  most  sacred  by  the  contending  fac- 
tions in  Ireland.  It  was  deemed  a  sacrilege  to  assault,  kill,  or  invade 
the  property  of   any   of  them. 

Secondly.,  the  original  settlers,  under  the  sons  of  Milesius,  brought 
with  them  the  chief  arts  and  sciences  known  in  ancient  Egypt,  and 
the  knowledge  of  manufactures,  and  of  the  arts  of  dyeing,  and  working 
metals,  which  were  known  in  Tyre,  then  the  queen  city  of  the  world. 
This  is  proved  by  various  incontestable  evidences,  which  I  have  already 
arrayed  in  the  early  pages  of  this  book. 

Thirdly,  the  equable  and  healthful  climate  of  Ireland,  its  fruitful  and 
luxuriant  fields,  its  delicious  air  and  water,  the  sweetness  and  richness 
of  its  provisions,  its  romantic  recesses,  time-honored  by  the  study  of  the 
bards  and  Druids,  —  all  these  circumstances  would  conspire  to  attract  the 
studious  to  its  inviting  bosom.  And  when,  as  admitted  by  St.  Patrick 
himself,  he  found  the  Druids  possessed  of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  all 
things  then  known  to  mankind,  —  when  he  found  them  well  versed  in 


ADMISSIONS    OF    BRITISH    WRITERS.  333 

the  languages,  customs,  arts,  and  histories,  of  the  Eastern  nations,  and 
well  acquainted  with  the  features  and  dogmas  of  Christianity,  —  we  can 
then  estimate  the  true  character  of  that  people  amongst  whom  St.  Patrick 
appeared  to  preach  the  Crucified. 

Here,  in  support  of  what  I  have  now  advanced,  let  me  present  again 
the  testimony  of  the  eminent  historians  of  the  present  and  past  century. 

Sir  James  Mackintosh,  who  was  familiar  with  the  past  and  pres- 
ent features  of  man's  history ;  whose  philosophic  eye  penetrated  the 
recesses  of  nature  and  of  science,  and  swept  over  creation's  wide  do- 
main, subjecting  all  to  his  inquiry  and  comment;  the  advocate  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty;  the  companion  of  Henry  Brougham, — he, 
the  monarch  of  the  Edinburgh  Review,  honored  Scotland  by  his  birth ; 
honored  England  by  his  learning;  honored  literature  by  his  genius; 
honored  Ireland  by  the  honesty  of  his  testimony  to  her  ancient  great- 
ness and  learning;  and  he  honored  humanity  by  his  moral  worth. 
Stand  forth,  thou  shining  light  of  the  present  century,  and  tell  the 
world  what  Ireland  was  in  ages  past  I  "  The  chronicles  of  Ireland," 
says  he,  "written  in  the  Irish  language,  from  the  second  century  to 
the  landing  of  Henry  Plantagenet,  have  been  recently  published, 
with  the  fullest  evidences  of  their  genuineness  and  exactness.  The 
Irish  nation,  though  they  are  robbed  of  many  of  their  favorite  legends 
by  this  authentic  publication,  are  yet  by  it  enabled  to  boast  that  they 
possess  genuine  history  several  centuries  more  ancient  than  any  other 
European  nation  possesses,  in  its  present  spoken  language.  They 
have  exchanged  their  legendary  antiquity  for  historical  fame.  Indeed, 
no  other  nation  possesses  any  monument  of  its  literature,  which  goes 
back  within  several  centuries  of  the  beginning  of  those  chronicles. 
Some  of  Dr.  O'Conor's  readers  may  hesitate  to  admit  the  degree 
of  culture  and  prosperity  he  claims  for  his  countrymen ;  but  no  one,  1 
think,  can  deny,  after  perusing  his  proofs,  that  the  Irish  loere  a  let- 
tered people  ivhile  the  Saxons  were  still  immersed  in  darkness  and 
ignoranceJ'  —  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  History  of  England,  vol.  i. 
chap.  ii. 

"  Will  it  be  any  longer  doubted,  after  this,"  says  Warner,  "  whether 
the  ancient  Irish  had  any  philosophy,  literature,  or  arts,  in  their  pagan 
state  ?  Will  any  critic  in  this  country  [England]  any  longer  confidently 
assert  that  the  Irish  had  not  the  use  of  letters  till  after  the  arrival  of  St. 
Patrick,  and  the  conversion  of  the  island  to  Christianity  ?  Ought  we 
Englishmen  not  rather  take  shame  to  ourselves,  that  we  have  hitherto 
always  treated  that  ancient  gallant  people  with  such  illiberal  contempt, 


334  THE    IRISH    UNDER    PAGANISM. 

[and  MARK !]   loho  had  the  start  of  the  Britons,  for  many  ages,  in 
arts  and  sciences,  in  learning  and  laws  1 " 

ToJand,  in  his  History  of  the  British  Druids,  says,  "  At  this  era,  the 
Irish  were  the  most  enlightened  cultivators  of  letters  in  Europe;  and 
so  great  ivas  the  respect  in  ivhich  their  learning  was  held  by  the  Sax- 
ons and  North  Britons,  that  the  Druids  of  these  countries,  for  ages, 
were  initiated  into  their  arts,  knowledge,  and,  mysteries,  by  the 
Irish  Druids.'^  Another  Enghshman,  Camden,  says,  "  St.  Patrick 
found  the  Irish  Diiaids,  who  contended  with  him  at  Tara,  eminently 
versed  in  Grecian  literature  and  astronomy."  Again,  Whitaker,  an- 
other English  historian,  says,  ''In  the  reign  of  the  celebrated  monarch 
NiAL,  the  arch-Druid  of  Ireland,  was  acknowledged  the  sovereign  pon- 
tiff of  the  order  by  the  Druids  and  bards  of  Gaul,  Britain,  and  Scot- 
land." And  Bishop  Stillingfleet,  another  adverse  authority,  says, 
"St.  Patrick  certainly  brought  no  accession  of  literature  to  the  Irish, 
as  their  Druids  ivere  then  the  most  learned  body  of  men  in  Europe,  and 
stood  unrivalled  in  the  cultivation  of  letters." 

"  The  simple  statement  of  Tacitus,"  says  Moore,  "  that,  at  the  period 
when  he  wrote,  [the  first  century,]  the  waters  and  harbors  of  Ireland 
were,  through  the  means  of  commerce  and  of  navigators,  better  known 
than  those  of  Britain,  opens  such  a  retrospect  at  once  into  her  foregone 
history,  as,  combined  with  similar  glimpses  in  other  writings  of  antiquity, 
renders  credible  her  claims  to  early  civilization,  and  goes  far  to  justify 
some  of  the  proud  boasts  of  her  annals."  These  are  testimonies  from 
writers  the  most  of  whom  are  not  Irish !  These  are  testimonies  in  favor 
of  Ireland's  former  standing  in  arts,  in  laws,  in  arms,  and  in  morals, 
which  should  cheer  the  exiled  emigrant  from  that  sacred  island  in  his 
pilgrimage  through  countries  where  he  is  little  known,  and  where  his 
nation  is  studied  only  through  the  printing  presses  of  her  tyrants. 

Such  were  Ireland  and  the  Irish  on  the  arrival  of  the  apostle  Patrick  ; 
and  now  we  shall  witness  her  embrace,  without  the  sacrifice  of  a  single 
drop  of  blood,  the  peaceful,  bloodless  doctrines  of  the  Christian  gospel ; 
we  shall  see  her  become,  in  fact,  a  very  nation  of  apostles  and  preachers 
of  the  gospel  of  Heaven  ;  we  shall  see  her  open  colleges  and  schools  for 
the  youth  of  all  nations,  where  food  and  clothing,  where  education, 
and,  what  was  then  more  valuable,  where  books,  were  given  to  the 
students  free  of  charge  —  books  that  were  valued  at  double  their  weight 
in  gold.  We  shall  see  her  missionaries  go  into  Europe,  —  ay,  through  the 
length  and  breadth  of  Europe  ;  we  shall  see  them  convert,  instruct, 
and  civilize,  the  Saxon,  the  Pict,  the  Gaul,  the  Belgan,  the  German, 


THE    IRISH    UNDER   PAGANISM.  335 

the  Italian.  We  shall  see  their  country  revered  amongst  the  nations, 
and  honored  by  the  appellation  of  insula  sanctorum  et  doctorum, 
(island  of  saints  and  doctors ;)  and  when  this  is  brought  out  before  the 
people  of  this  great  republic,  let  the  paltry  Irishman,  who  forgets  the 
sacred  earth  of  his  forefathers,  be  contemned  by  enlightened  man,  and 
be  despised  by  chivalrous  woman. 

The  religion  practised  generally  by  the  Irish,  down  to  this  period, 
was  pagan  Druidism,  which  continued  for  seventeen  hundred  years 
the  religion  of  the  princes  and  people  of  Ireland.  It  is  hard,  at  this 
distant  period,  to  define  exactly  the  nature  of  the  Druid  religion  ;  the 
reader  will  please  turn  to  page  136,  and  learn  something  of  its  nature. 

It  appears  that  the  paganism  of  the  ancient  Irish  was  better  calcu- 
lated to  generate  good  morals,  than  the  paganism  of  Rome,  or  Greece, 
during  coeval  ages.  We  have  seen  the  Leinster  prince,  Eochaidth, 
banished  from  his  throne,  some  two  centuries  previous  to  this  era,  for 
having  imposed  on  his  father-in-law  a  tale  that  his  first  wife,  daughter  of 
the  king,  was  dead,  and  fraudulently  obtain  the  hand  of  his  second 
daughter  in  marriage,  his  first  being  alive.  We  have  seen  another  king 
in  Ireland  branded  as  "  the  Shameful,"  for  the  crime  of  incest.  And 
we  have  seen  the  solemn  and  ceremonious  nuptial  rights  strictly  observed 
at  the  pubhc  festivities.  We  cannot  find  a  single  feature  of  polygamy 
mark  the  face  of  society  in  ancient  Ireland.  We  have  seen  the  care 
with  which  female  honor  was  guarded ;  and  pagan  Ireland  may  proudly 
contrast  herself,  in  morals,  with  the  most  refined  nations  of  the  ages 
which  we  are  considering.     , 

For,  if  we  turn  even  to  Greece,  though  they  had  there  some  confused 
ideas  of  a  future  state,  yet  Socrates  was  persecuted  for  publishing  his 
belief  in  the  existence  of  a  supreme  God.  Not  so  Cormac,  the  king  of 
Ireland,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  last  century.  When  he  intuitively  dis- 
covered the  existence  of  a  divine  Creator,  and  renounced  the  paganism 
of  the  Druids,  he  was  not  persecuted.  Although  Greece  has  given  to 
the  world  some  splendid'scholars,  yet  the  morals  and  philosophy  of  that 
ancient  people  are  questionable.  Tytler,  in  his  Ancient  History,  says, 
"  The  Greek  philosophy,  on  the  whole,  affords  little  more  than  a  picture 
of  the  imbecility  and  caprice  of  the  human  mind."  Their  religious  no- 
tions were  formed  after  various  crotchets  of  the  philosophers,  who,  to 
become  conspicuous,  combated  with  each  other,  destroying  by  one  set 
of  opinions  the  creations  of  another. 

If  we  turn  to  Rome,  we  will  find  their  religion  consist  of  the  worship  of 
imaginary  gods,  to  whom  the  most  brutal  and  ridiculous  sacrifices  were 


336  THE    IRISH    UNDER    PAGANISM. 

offered.  Besides  this,  they  observed  a  code  of  prognostication,  founded 
on  the  manner  of  death  of  the  animals  offered  up  to  their  gods ;  thus, 
if  the  ox  died  easily  from  the  firet  stroke,  and  bled  profusely,  then  their 
battles  were  likely  to  be  successful.  If,  on  the  contrary,  he  showed 
signs  of  a  convulsive  struggle ;  if  the  animal's  heart  was  small ;  if  any  of 
the  entrails  fell  from  the  priest's  hands,  — then  the  augurs  and  soothsayers 
would  weigh  all  the  circumstances,  and  order  public  affairs  accordingly. 
A  court  of  augurs  or  interpreter  of  dreams,  omens,  and  other  accidents, 
was  established  in  Rome  ;  and  even  the  emperors  were  appointed 
presidents  of  this  wise  assembly,  the  emperor  taking  upon  him  to  judge 
of  things  divine  and  human.  A  pretty  system  of  philosophy,  indeed, 
which  sanctioned  an  emperor  and  a  grave  court  sitting  on  the  dreams 
of  all  the  young  and  old  ladies  of  Rome  ! 

Yet  Rome  is  amongst  the  studies  of  your  youth,  to  the  exclusion  of 
Ireland. 

There  were  many  most  disgusting  ceremonies  practised  in  Rome,  but 
the  state  of  morals  was  degrading  in  the  extreme ;  it  was  a  custom  for 
married  men  to  negotiate  for  what  we  would  consider  the  dishonor  of 
their  wives.  Even  the  great  Cato  was  guilty  of  this  degradation  ;  and, 
although  we  have  a  Lucretia  stabbing  herself,  in  the  presence  of  her 
husband  and  kindred,  rather  than  survive  her  dishonor,  we  have  a 
Tullia  stabbing  her  own  father,  the  king  of  Rome,  to  prepare  the  way 
for  the  usurpation  of  her  husband,  Tarquinius. 

No  such  degradino;,  debasino;  features  can  be  discovered  in  the  morals 
or  customs  of  the  pagan  Irish :  on  the  contrary,  public  virtue,  which 
grows  only  from  the  individual  virtue  of  each  unit  of  the  community, 
was  manifest  in  every  act  and  custom  of  the  ancient  Irish.  Such  was 
Ireland  before  the  meridian  Sun  of  Christianity  shed  its  refulgence  over 
her  verdant  valleys. 

We  shall  now  pursue  her  eventful  story  during  the  brilliant  ages  that 
she  was  mistress  of  the  world's  literature,  when  Greece  was  almost  for- 
gotten, when  Rome  had  crumbled  beneath  the  weight  of  her  own 
wickedness,  when  England  was  the  theatre  of  contending  barbarians  — 
Saxon  and  native  Britons:— and  when  Europe  was  trod  alone  by  the 
barbarian  Goth  and  Vandal,  then  was  Ireland  the  seat  of  science,  piety, 
and  art. 


BTUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


337 


HAS  SORROW  THY  YOUNG  DAYS  SHADED? 


BY    MOOKE. 


-^ 


Tend  EM- V, 


^=S 


W=^- 


~j      1^ — 1^ 1 — 


-^-=^v\ 


i 


]SE 


1.     Has     sor  -  row    thy    young     days   sha  -  ded,       As 


^~ 


jSJ- 


nsmr     1^ 


iEB^- 


clouds   o'er    the   morn  -  in^ 


-#- 


!        r 


I        r- 


fleet? 


I    r 


:S-#: 


Too 


3: 


fast     have  those  young      days       fa     -     ded.       That 


8± 


~g?     ~ 


~.gg 


^K=!— =1^ 


^=^==3= 


^ 


©± 


ven    in      sor  -  row     were       sweet. 


TB' 


5 


43 


f=-E 


Does 


3: 


338 


MUSIC    AND    POETRT. 


Time,   with    his       cold      wings,    with 


-     er 


^r 


^ 


Each 


'Hf— n^-^ 


h#- 


izz^ 


"15: 


:i#: 


3 


feel  -  in  Of      that      once 


was 


dear? 


Come, 


t: 


w 


=f 


weep   with   thee     tear 


-#— F 


■rH 


T' 


^-¥- 


2. 

Has  love  to  that  soul,  so  tender, 
Been  like  our  Lagenian  mine, 

Where  sparkles  of  golden  splendor 
All  over  the  surface  shine  ? 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


339 


But  if,  in  pursuit,  we  go  deeper, 
Allured  by  the  gleam  that  shone. 

Ah !   false  as  the  dream  of  the  sleeper, 
Like  love,  the  bright  ore  is  gone ! 

3. 

Has  Hope,  like  the  bird  in  the  story, 

That  flitted  from  tree  to  tree, 
With  the  talisman's  glittering  glory  — 

Has  Hope  been  that  bird  to  thee? 
In  branch  after  branch  alighting, 

The  gem  did  she  still  display, 
And,  when  nearest  and  most  inviting. 

Then  waft  the  fair  gem  away? 

4. 

If  thus  the  sweet  hours  have  fleeted. 

When  Sorrow  herself  looked  bright ; 
If  thus  the  fond  hope  has  cheated. 

That  led  thee  along  so  light ; 
If  thus  the  unkind  world  wither 

Each  feeling  that  once  was  dear. 
Come,  child  of  misfortune,  come  hither, 

I'll  weep  with  thee  tear  for  tear. 


NORAH,    THE    PRIDE    OF    KILDARE 


^ 


£ 


v=--^-''~^^ 


^ 


§E? 


1.     As      beauteous   as     Flo-ra  is      charm -ing  young 


A 


-& 


bliiD 


i 


340 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


i5_ 


^ 


fcE^i 


T 


B=j: 


No  -  rah,        The     joy      of     my  heart,    and       the 


:P: 


i 


IeeeE 


pride     of  Kil  -  dare ;     I     ne'er     can   de  -  ceive  her,        for 


_l L 


T" 


~M' 


'W 


2ii 


f^- 


:^ 


g 


3=^^jki= 


sad  -  ly     'twould  grieve  her, 


To       find    that      I 


£ 


siehed 


@ 


for    an  -  oth  -  er    less    fair. 


=it-_zz=^: 


zip 


^ 

kw 

•*               f 

■Q:      N 

1          "to                 ^ 

'          -^     J^ 

1          -^     ^         1          ^* 

m 

1          r     "•    , 

(s)  ^ 

»          r    J            1 

*        J          1 

«'       1^      •       J         ;^ 

*          '^ 

Her     heart  with  truth    teeming; 

her 

eyes  with    smiles 

/jT\. 

A 

ic,     <i^ 

r              ^ 

^ 

'                    *1 

^-^ 

1                 1     « 

1 

1                      1 

1 

Lj 

MUSIC    AND    POETRY.' 


341 


3=5^ 


15: 


^F^ 


;t=sp=: 


beam  -  ing,    What    mor 


tal   could     in 


8=: 


jure 


\ 


-9—              -                  i      — n>^- 

•      • 

« 

/ 

r        ^ 

A 

1 

^ 

1              r       • 

ff  "1 

r       1 

r 

_  #_ 

J 

1^  . 

1^         i 

^,)        i^        y*        1 

^      .       _b*»_       L. 

•r 

bios  -  som 

so 

rare, 

As       No    - 

1 

rah,     dear 

/7S\. 

1 

^• 

1 

v^* 

fi          ^ 

9 

1   ■                        ^ 

^^ 

1               1 

1 

J 

m 

« 

1 

— t^ 

^ 

• 

F=?== 


-^-r 


No 

-i- 


rah,      the         pride      of 


Kil 


dare? 


As 


?- 


^- 


No  -  rah,  dear   No  -  rah,     the      pride      of        Kil  -  dare  ? 


B 


& 


3; 


3: 


S=: 


Where'er  I  may  be,  love,  I'll  ne'er  forget  thee,  love, 
Though  beauties  may  smile,  and  try  to  ensnare; 

Yet  nothing  shall  ever  thy  heart  from  mine  sever. 
Dear  Norah,  sweet  Norah,  the  pride  of  Kildare ! 


342  DAWN   OF    CHRISTIANITY. 


SECTION    II. 

Dawn  of  Christianity  in  Ireland.  —  The  first  Missionaries.  —  Cathaldus.  —  The  Feast 
of  Easter.  —  Dima  the  Missionary.  —  Heber.  —  St.  Albe.  —  Palladius.  —  Their 
Labors.  —  St.  Patrick. — His  Captivity  and  Servitude.  —  His  Return  to  Gaul. — 
His  long  Studies  as  an  Ecclesiastic.  —  Appointed  Bishop  of  Ireland.  —  Origin  of 
the  Name  Patrick.  —  Arrives  in  Ireland.  —  His  Progress.  —  Appears  at  Tara. — 
Discusses  Christianity  before  the  King.  —  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity. — The  Sham- 
i-ock. —  Converts  the  Druids,  the  King,  and  his  Court.  —  Leaves  Tara.  —  Passes 
into  Connaught.  —  Absence  of  venomous  Reptiles  in  Ireland.  —  Arrives  in  Dub- 
lin. —  Proceeds  to  Munster.  —  Baptism  of  the  Prince.  —  Proceeds  to  Ulster.  — 
Is  attacked    by  an   Assassin. — Preserved   by  Odran.  —  Attacked   by    a  Brigand. 

—  Repentance  of  the  Brigand.  —  Attacked  by  a  Pirate.  —  Success  of  the  Apostle. 

—  Great  Number  of  Bishops  and  Priests  appointed. —  Conciliation  of  the  Druids. 

—  Erection  of  Armagh  into  an  Archbishopric.  —  Retreats  of  the  Pious.  —  Com- 
mittee of  Nine,  to  revise  the  Laws  and  History  of  Ireland. —  Destruction  of  the 
Poetry  of  the  Bards.  —  The  Trial  by  Twelve  Men.  —  The  Apostle   revisits  Rome 

—  Returns  to  Ireland.  —  His  Death.  —  His  Sepulchre. 

The  renunciation,  by  King  Cormac,  of  the  Druid  worship,  and  the 
proclamation  of  his  belief  in  the  existence  of  a  God,  a  Creator  of 
heaven  and  earth,  prepared  the  way,  in  a  considerable  degree,  for  the 
introduction  of  Christianity  into  Ireland.  The  minds  of  the  people  were 
shaken  by  the  philosophic  reasons  which  Cormac  published  for  his 
recantation  of  a  worship  which  his  progenitors  had  followed  for  so 
many  ages.  O'Halloran  goes  into  a  learned  discussion  to  prove  that 
Christianity  was  preached  in  Ireland  at  an  earlier  period  than  is  com- 
monly supposed. 

The  constant  enmity  between  the  Roman  emperors  and  the  Irish 
monarchs,  which  existed  for  the  first  four  hundred  years  of  the  Christian 
era,  prevented  any  kind  of  friendly  intercourse  between  the  two  nations. 
The  Christian  doctrine  first  came,  not  immediately  from  Rome  to  Ireland, 
but  from  the  churches  of  Asia.  Mansuetus,  an  Irishman,  the  first  bishop 
and  patron  of  Toul,  and  canonized  by  Leo  the  Ninth,  is  said  to  have 
been  a  disciple  of  St.  Peter.  "  To  me,"  continues  O'Halloran,  "  it  would 
seem  that  Mansuetus,  and  the  other  Irish  Christians,  were  rather  the 
disciples  of  St.  John  the  evangelist ;  and  I  ground  my  opinion  on  what 
the  Venerable  Bede  relates,  touching  the  famous  controversy  about  the 
(;elebration  of  Easter.  He  tells  us,  that,  in  defence  of  the  Irish  time  of 
celebrating  this  feast,  in  opposition  to  that  of  Rome,  Coleman,  the  Irish 
bishop  of  Lindisfarn,  among  other  reasons,  declared,  that  '  he  had  re- 


THE  FIRST  MISSIONARIES. CATHALDUS. FEAST  OF  EASTER.    343 

ceived  it  from  his  forefathers,  who  sent  him  to  Northumberland  as  their 
bishop  ;  and  it  was  the  same  custom  which  St.  John,  Christ's  especially 
beloved  disciple,  with  all  the  churches  under  him,  observed.' " 

In  the  reign  of  Con,  in  the  second  century,  Ireland  sent  forth  the 
famous  St.  Cathaldus,  to  preach  the  doctrine  of  Christ ;  and  he  became 
bishop  and  patron  of  Tarentum,  in  Italy.  In  the  next  age,  Christianity 
had  taken  root  in  the  minds  of  many  reflecting  men  of  Ireland,  and  it 
is  expressly  said,  in  the  Catha  Gahhra,  that  the  Irish  general  Fion 
went  to  Rome.  In  the  succeeding  age  we  read  of  an  Irish  bishop  suf- 
fering martyrdom  in  Britain  ;  and  it  is  evident,  by  the  poem  of  Torna 
Eigis,  chief  bard  to  Niall  the  Grand,  beginning  with  Dail  Catha  idir 
Core,  that  he  himself  was  a  Christian,  and  Colgan  offers  arguments  to 
prove  the  great  Niall  one  also. 

As  to  the  feast  of  Easter,  the  observance  of  which  w^as  a  source  of  so 
much  contest  between  the  western  and  eastern  churches,  I  think  this  the 
proper  place  to  introduce  the  reasoning  of  O'Halloran  and  others  on  the 
subject.  The  Jews  had  their  pascha,  or  passover,  to  commemorate  their 
escaping  unhurt  on  the  night  the  destroying  angel  killed  the  first-born  of 
man  and  beast  throughout  Egypt ;  and  the  apostles,  after  the  death  of 
our  Redeemer,  judged  that  nothing  could  be  more  expressive  of  our 
deliverance  from  sin  than  the  institution  of  a  similar  festival.  The  Jews 
were  commanded  to  celebrate  their  passover  on  the  fourteenth  day  of 
the  moon  of  the  first  month,  which  corresponded  with  our  March, 
this  being  the  time  of  the  vernal  equinox,  when  the  sun  is  in  Aries, 
the  days  and  nights  of  equal  length,  and  the  new  year  beginning  to 
spring.  The  Jews  had  put  our  Lord  to  death,  whilst  they  were  cele 
brating  the  feast  of  the  paschal  lamb.  And  this  circumstance  deter- 
mined the  Christians  to  celebrate  theirs  at  the  same  time. 

St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  after  quitting  Palestine,  judged  that  the 
keeping  this  feast  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  first  moon,  was  rather 
adopting  the  Jewish  than  forming  a  new  festival.  They  therefore  trans- 
ferred it  to  the  Sunday  after,  unless  that  Sunday  fell  on  the  fourteenth ; 
but  St.  John,  and  the  churches  of  Asia  and  Africa,  adhered  to  the  first 
institution.  It  was,  however,  a  matter  of  mere  discipline,  in  which 
Christians  might  differ  without  sin  or  schism.  St.  Poly  carp,  bishop  of 
Smyrna,  and  an  immediate  disciple  of  St.  John,  came  to  Rome,  anno 
158,  on  purpose  to  confer  with  Pope  Anacctus  on  the  subject.  The 
Asiatics,  and  all  the  churches  deriving  under  them,  continued  their  prac- 
tice of  celebrating  Easter  until  the  year  325,  when  the  Council  of 
Nice  issued  a  decree  for  observing  this  feast  every  where  on  the  Sunday 


344  ST.    ALBE. PALLADIUS. 

immediately  following  the  vernal  equinox.  After  further  discussion  be- 
tween the  bishops  of  various  nations,  this  decree  was  ultimately  obeyed 
eveiy  where. 

The  missionaries  of  Christianity  not  only  preached  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, but  founded  churches,  and  opened  schools  and  colleges,  in  Ireland. 
The  holy  Dima  founded  a  Christian  school  near  Adare,  in  the  county 
Limerick.  Heber  soon  after  founded  another  at  Beg  line,  in  Leinster, 
"  where,"  Father  Colgan  says,  "  many  persons  flocked  to  be  instructed 
in  Christianity  and  letters."  St.  Albe,  archbishop  of  Munster,  St. 
Kieran,  and  St.  Declan,  all  preceded  St.  Patrick,  and  founded  churches 
in  Ireland. 

In  the  year  427,  Pope  Celestine,  during  the  reign  of  Logaire,  mon- 
arch of  Ireland,  sent  Palladlus,  his  bosom  friend,  with  an  ecclesiastical 
staff  of  twelve  missionaries,  to  Ireland.  These  were  directed  by  the 
pope  to  "  proceed  to  the  Scots  believing  in  Christ,"  and  Palladius  was 
appointed  their  first  bishop.  Such  is  the  account  given  of  this  first  mis- 
sion by  the  Venerable  Bede,  who  was  a  saxon  ecclesiastic,  and  monk 
of  the  same  faith,  and  who  wrote,  in  the  seventh  century,  his  histories 
in  Latin,  from  which  they  were  translated  into  old  Saxon  English  by 
King  Alfred. 

The  Irish  were  unwilling  to  acknowledge  ecclesiastical  obedience  to 
Rome,  a  power  whose  arn)S  they  so  bravely  and  successfully  resisted  in 
the  field.  They  did  not  then  perceive  the  distinction  between  the  tem- 
poral power  of  the  Roman  emperors  and  the  spiritual  power  of  the 
chief  bishop  of  the  Christian  church ;  and  although,  by  the  open 
renunciation  of  the  Druidical  system  by  King  Cormac,  pagan  worship 
had  received  a  deadly  blow,  and  though  Pelagius,  and  his  disciple 
Celestus,  who  were  both  Irishmen,  did  much  to  disseminate  their  doc- 
trines of  Christianity,  yet,  before  St.  Patrick  alone  did  the  pagan  system 
melt  away.  This  all  the  historians  admit  ;  so  that,  without  entering 
farther  into  the  earlier  efforts  of  the  Christian  missionaries  to  convert  the 
Irish,  I  will  at  once  proceed  to  the  consideration  of  the  mission  of  the 
great  apostle  Patrick. 

We  have  seen,  in  the  previous  pages,  that  the  Irish  legions  harassed 
the  Roman  power  in  Britain,  and,  that  Niall  the  Grand,  battled  with 
them  in  that  country,  and  through  Gaul,  where  he  took  two  hundred 
captives.  These  he  carried  to  Ireland,  and  sold,  for  the  period  of  seven 
years,  according  to  the  custom  practised  in  those  ages,  in  reference  to 
captives  taken  in  war.  Amongst  these  captives  were  Patrick,  then  six- 
teen years  of  age,  and  his  two  sisters,  Lupida  and  Deverca. 


ST.    PATRICK. THE    BIRTHPLACE    OF    PATRICK.  345 

Historians  differ  about  the  birthplace  of  Patrick,  O'Hallaran  con- 
tending his  parents  were  Welsh  on  the  father's  side,  and  Gaulish  on  the 
mother's  side,  whilst  Moore  contends  for  his  Roman  extraction.  And 
altliough  there  have  been  written  upwards  of  sixty  separate  biographies 
of  this  remarkable  missionary,  yet  we  are  not  truly  certain  whether 
to  assign  him  a  Welsh,  a  Gaulish,  or  Roman  parentage  ;  but,  after  all, 
the  parentage  of  such  a  one  matters  not  much,  for  he  was  born  for  man- 
kind and  for  religion.  All  the  historians  agree  as  to  the  mode  of  his 
capture,  bis  conversion,  &lc. 

When  brought  to  Ireland,  the  youth  was  sold  to  one  Milcho,  living  in 
that  part  of  the  island  known  as  Antrim,  where  he  was  appointed  a  shep- 
herd. The  mountain  now  known  as  Sliohh  Miss,  or  the  "^Mountain  of 
the  Moon,"  was  the  place  of  his  meditation  and  prayer.  After  his  term 
of  seven  years  of  servitude  ended,  Patrick  returned  to  the  continent,  and 
obtained  entrance  into  the  College  of  Tours,  in  which  his  uncle  Martin 
was  a  teacher.  In  this  place  he  studied  for  four  years.  This  was  in  397. 
After  St.  Martin's  death,  in  four  or  five  years,  he  set  out  for  Rome  ; 
here  he  was  admitted  among  the  prebendaries  of  St.  John  of  Lateran, 
anno  403  :  he  was  then  thirty  years  of  age.  For  some  time  he  studied 
here.  He  afterwards  visited  several  holy  retreats  in  the  islands  of  the 
Mediterranean,  and  attached  himself  to  the  barefooted  order  of  St.  Au- 
gustine. From  these  he  went,  in  418,  to  study  with  St.  Germain  at 
Auxerre.  Here  he  prepared  himself  more  especially  for  performing  the 
important  services  to  Christianity  which  subsequently  crowned  his  life. 
Leaving  St.  Germain,  he  entered  the  monastery  of  the  Isle  of  Lerius, 
where  he  continued  for  nine  years  in  close  study.  After  his  leaving 
Lerius,  he  returned  to  Auxerre,  to  his  beloved  friend  St.  Germain. 
When  the  news  of  Palladius's  death  had  reached  them,  St.  Germain  sent 
him  to  Rome  with  instructions  upon  the  mission  to  Ireland.  He  was 
then,  anno  430,  thirty-eight  years  old. 

It  appears  from  his  own  Confessions,  a  book,  the  original  of  which, 
according  to  Colgan,  is  still  extant  in  the  library  of  St.  Vast,  in  Artoisy 
that  when  a  youth,  in  servitude,  among  the  hills  of  Ireland,  he  was  fer- 
vent in  his  prayers  to  Heaven.  "  Every  day  I  fed  the  flocks,  and  prayed 
frequently  during  the  day  ;  my  love  of  God  increased  more  and  more, 
and  my  fear  and  faith  in  him  were  augmented,  so  that  in  one  day  I 
prayed  almost  a  hundred  times,  and  as  often  in  the  night.  Whilst  I  tar- 
ried on  the  mountain  and  in  the  woods,  I  was  roused  to  pray  both  in  the 
snow,  frost,  and  rain  ;  neither  did  I  feel  any  pain  from  it,  nor  lassitude, 
as  I  think,  because  my  soul  was  then  ardent."  —  Usher,  c.  17,  p.  830. 
44 


346    ST.  Patrick's  studies.  —  appointed  bishop  of  Ireland. 

In  another  place,  Usher  quotes  the  account  of  visions  which  the  holy 
man  repeatedly  saw,  at  several  periods  of  his  life.  After  having  had  his 
interviews  with  Pope  Celestine,  then  the  incumbent  of  the  holy  see,  he 
hastened  towards  Ireland,  together  with  twenty  men,  eminent  for  their 
wisdom  and  sanctity,  appointed  by  the  pontiff  himself  to  assist  him  in 
the  mission.  In  passing,  he  visited  St.  Germanus,  his  guardian  and 
instructor :  from  him  he  received  chalices  and  sacerdotal  vestments,  a 
quantity  of  books,  and  every  other  thing  requisite  for  the  ministry  of  the 
church. 

His  baptismal  name  was  Succath  :  at  the  time  of  his  ordination  by 
St.  Germain,  it  was  changed  to  Magonias.  After  his  consecration,  and 
to  add  greater  weight  and  dignity  to  his  embassy.  Pope  Celestine  con- 
ferred on  him  the  order  of  the  patricii.  This  was  an  institution  of 
Constantine  the  Great,  the  first  Christian  emperor  of  Rome.  It  was 
more  honoi'able  than  the  ancient  Roman  order  of  the  patricii;  for  the 
Christian  order  of  patricii  ranked  next  to  the  emperors.  Thus  did  the 
apostle  Pati'ick  return  to  the  land  of  his  captivity,  bearing  all  the  honors 
which  temporal  and  spiritual  authority  could  confer.  When  Ireland  be- 
came thoroughly  Christian,  her  people,  in  reverence  towards  their 
beloved  apostle,  called  their  male  children  Patricius,  after  him.  The 
name  was  subsequently  abbreviated  to  Pat,  and  corrupted  into  Paddy ; 
but  little  do  the  great  masses  of  vulgarity,  who  use  the  term  Pat,  or 
Paddy,  as  a  medium  of  reproach  or  contempt  towards  the  expa- 
triated Irishman,  —  little  do  they  know  that  it  was  a  title  of  the  highest 
honor  which  the  Roman  emperor  could  confer  — a  title  which  was 
rendered  still  more  illustrious  by  the  apostle,  by  whom  it  was  inter- 
woven in  the  fondest  memories  of  the  Irish  —  a  name  honored  for 
fourteen  hundred  years  by  the  descendants  of  the  Milesians — a  name 
that  will  go  honored  down  to  the  remotest  posterity,  reminding  other 
ages  that  a  change  was  effected  in  the  minds  of  an  entire  nation,  by  its 
bearer,  without  resorting  to  a  single  act  of  persecution.  It  was  a 
title  which  the  nobility  of  Europe,  in  succeeding  generations,  were 
proud  to  wear ;  for  we  find  that  the  emperor  Charlemagne,  and  other 
kings  of  France,  assumed  the  title  of  patricii,  in  the  eighth  and  ninth 
centuries,  as  one  of  the  highest  honors.  The  aposde  retained  the  title 
Patricius  during  his  life,  by  which  title  alone  is  he  recognized  by 
posterity. 

There  was  a  small  ship  placed  at  his  disposal  ;  he  first  landed 
upon  Leland  at  a  place  called  Crioch  Cuallan,  on  the  eastern  part 
of  Leinster,  called  at  present  Wicklow.     This  took  place  anno  432, 


LANDS    IN    IRELAND. HIS    PROGRESS.  347 

during  the  reign  of  King  Laogare,  the  grandson  of  O'Niall  of  the 
Nine  Hostages.  After  preaching  here  for  some  time,  and  making  a 
few  converts,  he  returned  to  his  ship,  and  steered  towards  DubHn,  when 
he  touched  at  an  island  called,  after  him,  Inis  Phadruig.  Having 
rested  here,  he  again  put  to  sea,  and  steered  along  the  coast  to  the 
north  of  Ireland,  wh£re  he  made  port  in  the  Bay  of  Dundrum,  county 
Down. 

The  lords  of  the  territory,  having  heard  that  pirates  had  landed  on 
their  coast,  issued  forth,  with  their  followers,  to  drive  them  off,  but, 
being  struck  with  the  sanctified  appearance  of  the  apostle  and  his  follow- 
ers, heard  them  preach,  and  became  their  converts.  The  apostle,  being 
now  near  the  residence  of  his  old  master,  Mllcho,  undertook  to  find  and 
preach  to  him  the  tidings  of  the  Crucified.  Milcho,  too  proud  to 
receive  instruction  from  one  who  had  formerly  been  his  slave,  and 
hearing  with  indignation  that  his  son  and  two  daughters  had  embraced 
the  Christian  faith,  in  the  excess  of  his  rage,  set  fire  to  his  house,  and 
cast  himself  into  the  flames.  St.  Patrick  was  so  affected  at  this,  that  he 
remained  several  hours  without  speaking,  and  shed  tears. 

After  spending  some  time  in  this  district,  where  he  made  many  con- 
verts, he  ordained  some  priests,  and  left  behind  him  some  of  his  own 
missionaries,  whom  he  consecrated  bishops.  He  then  embarked  for 
Meath. 

He  landed  below  Drogheda,  where  the  Boyne  falls  into  the  sea,  and 
left  his  little  ship  in  care  of  Luman,  his  nephew,  and  a  few  sailors,  with 
orders  to  wait  for  him  for  forty  days,  during  which  he  would  preach  the 
gospel  in  the  interior  of  the  country.  His  intention  was  to  go  and  cele- 
brate the  festival  of  Easter  in  the  plains  of  Magh-Breagh,  where  the  city 
of  Tara  was  situated.  He  wished  to  be  within  reach  of  the  court,  at 
the  time  of  the  assembly,  composed  of  the  princes,  Druids,  and  pagan 
priests,  which  was  to  be  held  that  year  by  the  monarch ;  well  knowing 
that  whatever  impression  he  might  produce  at  court  would  necessarily 
influence  the  provinces :  with  this  view  he  armed  himself  with  zeal  to 
take  advantage  of  so  favorable  an  opportunity. 

Our  saint  having  met,  on  his  way,  with  Sesgnen,  the  lord  of  a  territory 
in  Meath,  who  invited  him  to  partake  of  his  hospitality,  he  entered  his 
house,  announcing  the  word  of  God,  and  baptized  him  with  all  his  fam- 
ily. This  lord  had  a  son,  to  whom  the  holy  bishop  gave  the  name  of 
Binen,  or  Benignus,  at  his  baptism.  The  young  convert  became  at- 
tached to  the  saint,  accompanied  him  every  where,  and  made  so  great  a 
progress  in  piety  and  virtue,  that  he  considered  him  worthy  of  being  ap- 
pointed to  the  see  of  Ardmach,  which  he  surrendered  to  him.     After 


348      ST.  PATRICK  ARRIVES  AT  TARA.  —  THE  SHAMROCK. 

leaving  the  house  of  Sesgnen,  the  apostle  proceeded  towards  Tara,  and 
arrived,  the  day  before  Easter,  at  a  place  called  Firta-Fir-Feic,  now 
Slaine,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  River  Boyne,  where  he  had  a  tent  erect- 
ed, to  prepare  for   the  ceremonies  of  the  following  day. 

When  the  monarch  convened,  or  held  the  religious  festival,  at 
Tara,  it  was  customary  to  make  a  bonfire  on  the  preceding  day :  it  was 
prohibited  to  have  one  in  any  other  place  at  the  same  time,  in  the  terri- 
tory of  Breagh.  Patrick,  who  despised  so  superstitious  a  practice, 
caused  a  large  fire  to  be  lighted  before  his  tent,  which  was  easily  seen 
from  Tara.  The  Druids,  alarmed  at  this  attempt,  carried  their  com- 
plaints before  the  monarch,  and  said  to  him  that,  if  he  had  not  that  fire 
immediately  extinguished,  he  who  had  kindled  it,  and  his  successors, 
would  hold  the  sovereignty  of  Ireland  forever ;  which  prophecy  has 
been  fulfilled  in  a  spiritual  light.  The  monarch  sent  an  order  to  the 
stranger  to  appear  before  the  assembly,  the  day  following,  in  order  to 
account  for  his  conduct,  and  he  forbade  that  any  should  rise  through 
respect  for  him.  Ere,  son  of  Dego,  was  the  first  who  disobeyed  the 
orders  of  the  monarch :  at  the  approach  of  the  saint,  that  lord  rose  up, 
offered  him  his  place,  and,  having  listened  attentively  to  the  word  of 
God,  embraced  Christianity,  and  was  afterwards  nominated  bishop  of 
Slaine,  by  the  apostle.  Patrick,  always  eager  to  do  every  thing  that 
could  tend  to  the  salvation  of  mankind,  presented  himself,  the  day  fol- 
lowing, with  two  of  his  disciples,  before  the  assembly,  whel'e  he  preached 
the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  presence  of  the  monarch  and  all  his  nobles, 
with  a  freedom  which  was  ti-uly  apostolical.  Dubtach,  arch-poet  of 
Laogare,  submitted  to  his  preaching ;  and  the  talents  which  he  had  em- 
ployed before  his  conversion,  in  celebrating  the  praises  of  the  false 
gods,  were  afterwards  turned  to  glorify  the  true  God  and  his  saints. 
Fiech,  his  disciple,  followed  his  example,  and  afterwards  became  bishop 
of  Sletty.  . 

So  convincing  were  the  arguments  of  Patrick,  that  several  Dinids 
were  converted  ;  and  then  the  monarch  exclaimed,  "  It  is  better  I  should 
believe  than  die."  The  queen,  the  monarch,  and  their  two  daughters, 
were  converted.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  St.  Patrick,  when  told 
by  the  Druids  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  was  absurd,  as  three  could 
not  exist  in  one,  stooped  down,  and,  pulling  a  shamrock,  which  has 
three  leaves  on  one  stem,  replied,  "  To  prove  the  reality  and  possibility 
of  the  existence  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  I  have  only  to 
pluck  up  this  humble  plant,  on  which  we  have  trodden,  and  convince 
you  that  truth  can  be  attested  by  the  simplest  symbol  of  illustration." 
Such  was  the  manner  in  which  the  mild  but  truly  eloquent  apostle  of 


ABSENCE    OF    VENOMOUS    REPTILES.  349 

Christianity  introduced  that  change  in  the  reUgion  of  Ireland,  which 
softened  and  refined  the  manners  of  a  chivah'ous  and  warhke  race  into  a 
nation  of  apostles  and  preachers  of  the  Christian  divinity. 

The  preaching  of  the  apostle  was  here  supported  by  many  miracles, 
mentioned  by  the  authors  of  his  life.  There  never  was,  in  reality,  a 
circumstance  in  which  signs  were  more  necessary  than  in  an  assembly 
composed  of  the  chiefs  and  learned  men  of  the  whole  nation.  St. 
Patrick,  having  completed  his  mission  at  the  court  of  Tara,  repaired  to 
Tailton,  where  the  military  games  were  celebrated  every  year.  He  did 
not  keep  the  talent  which  his  Master  endowed  him  with  unemployed  : 
he  always  sought  large  assemblies,  in  order  to  turn  it  to  advantage. 
The  season  of  those  military  exercises,  which  was  the  last  fifteen  days 
of  July,  and  the  first  fifteen  days  of  August,  being  near,  he  repaired  to 
Tailton,  where  he  preached  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ  to  Cairbre  and 
Conall,  brothers  of  Laogare,  the  monarch,  with  different  success :  the 
former  continued  obdurate  and  unchanged  ;  the  latter,  having  attended 
to  his  instructions,  was  baptized,  and  in  gratitude  he  conferred  land  on 
the  saint,  upon  which  he  built  a  church.  He  spent  the  rest  of  that  year 
in  the  territories  of  Meath  and  Leinster,  where  a  great  number  were  con- 
verted, amongst  others  the  two  princesses  Ethne  and  Fedeline,  daugh- 
ters of  Laogare,  with  the  Druids  Mael  and  Caplait. 

He  then  passed  over  to  West  Meath,  where  he  was  successful ;  for 
his  fame  now  travelled  before  him.  He  tarried  a  while  at  Brefny,  in 
the  county  Leitrim,  the  home  of  the  O'Ruarks.  Here  he  was  hospita- 
bly entertained,  and  made  many  converts.  It  was  in  this  place  he  de- 
stroyed the  idol  Crom  Cruach,  and  on  the  spot  founded  a  church. 
From  thence  he  passed  across  the  Shannon  into  Connaught.  .  He  there 
made  many  thousand  converts,  erected  several  churches,  appointed 
many  priests  and  bishops,  and  soon  proceeded  on  to  Sligo,  where  he 
founded  several  more  churches.  He  next  returned  to  the  county  Gal- 
way,  and  made  many  converts.  At  the  approach  of  Lent,  he  withdrew 
to  a  high  mountain,  called  Creagh  Phadring,  in  the  county  of  Mayo. 
Here  he  spent  forty  days  in  fasting  and  prayer.  Some  of  the  authors 
of  his  life  say  that  he  gathered  here  all  the  snakes  and  reptiles  of  the 
island,  and  drove  them  down  into  the  sea.  However  this  be,  it  is 
certain  that  the  soil  of  Ireland  is  exempt  from  venomous  reptiles. 
Solinus,  who  had  written  some  centuries  before  the  arrival  of  St. 
Patrick  in  Ireland,  makes  mention  of  this  exemption  ;  and,  after  him, 
Isidore,  bishop  of  Seville,  in  the  seventh  century,  and  Bede  in  the 
eighth,    speak    of    it    without    assigning    any  cause.     It  appears  that 


350    ST.  PATRICK    ARRIVES    IN    DUBLIN. PROCEEDS    TO    CASHELL. 

Jocelin  is  the  first  who  gave  this  account,  in  the  twelfth  century. 
The  pecuharity  may  be  supposed  to  proceed  from  the  cUmate  or  the 
nature  of  the  soil,  rather  than  from  any  supernatural  cause.  It  would 
require  very  many  books  to  give  a  detailed  account  of  the  apostle's 
labors  and  successes  through  Ireland.  What  I  have  said,  or  may  yet 
say  about  him,  is  the  most  meagre  outline  of  his  extraordinary  mission. 

Returning  towards  the  east  of  Leinster,  he  crossed  the  River  of  Fin- 
glass,  arrived  at  Bally- Ath-Cliath,  "  oppidum  super  crates,"  a  city  so 
called  from  the  hurdles  which  were  used  either  to  secure  the  founda- 
tions of  the  houses,  or  to  strengthen  the  roads  on  the  marshy  banks  of 
the  River  LifFey,  which  waters  it :  this  city  has  been  since  called  Duhh- 
Lin,  at  present  Dublin,  from  the  black  and  muddy  bottom  of  that  river. 

The  high  reputation  for  sanctity  which  St.  Patrick  had  acquired, 
added  to  the  number  of  miracles  he  wrought  every  where,  having  made 
him  known  and  respected  even  by  the  pagans,  the  inhabitants  of  Dub- 
lin went  out  in  crowds  to  meet  him.  These  appearances  were  a  happy 
omen  of  the  faith  they  were  about  to  receive  from  his  lips.  He  bap- 
tized them  all,  with  Alphin,  son  of  Eochaidh.  who  was  at  that  time 
their  king :  the  ceremony  was  performed  in  a  fountain  near  the  city, 
called,  since  that  time,  the  Fountain  of  St.  Patrick,  and  became  an  object 
of  devotion  to  the  faithful  for  many  centuries,  till  it  was  filled  up  and 
enclosed  within  a  private  dwelling  in  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  The  saint  had  a  church  built  near  this  fountain,  which  after- 
wards became  a  cathedral,  bearing  his  name. 

Having  established  Christianity  in  Leinster  on  a  solid  basis,  St.  Pa- 
trick proceeded  to  Munster,  where  there  were  already  some  Christians, 
and  a  few.  churches  founded  by  his  precursors.  He  went  directly  to- 
wards Cashell,  where  King  Aongus  at  that  time  resided.  This  prince, 
being  informed  of  the  sanctity  and  virtues  of  the  holy  apostle,  came  forth 
to  meet  him  in  the  plain  of  Femyn,  which  is  a  territory  that  surrounds 
Cashell :  he  received  him  with  every  mark  of  distinction  and  respect, 
and  brought  him  to  his  city  in  triumph,  where  he  heard  the  word  of  God, 
and  was  converted  to  the  faith,  together  with  his  whole  court. 

A  sino-ular  fact  is  related  of  the  Christian  fortitude  and  patience  of 
Aongus,  during  the  ceremony  of  his  baptism.  The  holy  bishop  having 
leaned  on  his  pastoral  staff,  which  was  pointed  with  iron,  it  pierced  the 
king's  foot,  who  suffered  the  pain  without  complaining  till  the  ceremony 
was  ended.  The  apostle,  hearing  of  the  accident,  asked  him  why  he 
had  not  complained  ;  the  king  answered  respectfully  that  he  thought  it 
formed  part  of  the  ceremony.     This  circumstance  was  finely  represented 


ATTACKED    BY    AN    ASSASSIN.  351 

on  canvass  by  the  celebrated  Irish  painter  Barry,  who  was  president  of 
the  Royal  Academy  of  London  in  the  last  century.  This  prince  was 
pious,  and  fii-mly  attached  to  the  religion  he  had  embraced:  out  of  a 
great  number  of  children  of  both  sexes,  he  devoted  one  half  to  the  ser- 
vice of  God,  and  always  supported  in  his  palace  religious  persons,  who 
served  as  his  council  in  religious  affairs. 

The  four  precursors  of  St.  Patrick,  namely,  Ailbe,  Declan,  Kieran, 
and  Ibar,  having  come  to  Cashell  to  see  the  saint,  and  to  congratulate 
their  king  upon  his  conversion,  assisted  at  the  synod  which  that  apostle 
had  convoked.  Some  difference  arose  about  the  primacy,  which  those 
saints,  who,  like  him,  had  received  their  mission  from  the  holy  see, 
would  not  acknowledge  in  St.  Patrick.  However,  their  charity  stifled 
every  sentiment  opposed  to  the  cause  of  Jesus  Christ.  They  were 
confirmed,  at  that  synod,  in  the  possession  of  the  churches  they  had 
founded.  That  of  Imleach-Jobhuir,  otherwise  Emly,  in  Tipperary, 
founded  by  St.  Ailbe,  was  made  the  metropolitan  of  the  whole  prov- 
ince :  it  was  united  to  Cashell  in  the  sixth  century.  Thai  of  Ardmore, 
in  the  territory  of  Desie,  in  the  county  of  Waterford,  was  adjudged  to 
St.  Declan,  by  whom  those  people  were  converted :  this  church  was  af- 
terwards annexed  to  Lismore.  St.  Kieran  was  confirmed  in  the  see  of 
Saigre.  Lastly,  Ibar  was  appointed  bishop  of  Beg- Erin,  that  is,  Little 
Ireland,  an  island  on  the  coast  of  Wexford.  Having  settled,  with  the 
other  bishops,  the  affairs  of  the  church  of  Cashell,  St.  Patrick  took  leave 
of  Aongus,  and  continued  his  mission  through  Muscraighe-Breogain, 
Aracliach,  and  Lumneach,  as  far  as  the  River  Shannon. 

In  the  year  455,  he  left  Munster,  to  return  to  the  north  of  the  island. 
In  passing  through  Leinster,  he  preached  the  gospel  in  the  district  of 
Hy-Failge,  which  belonged  to  the  descendants  of  Rossa-Failge,  son  of 
the  monarch  Cathoir-More. 

Our  saint  spent  six  years  in  visiting  the  churches  of  Ulster,  consoling 
and  confirming  the  new  Christians,  and  converting  those  who  had  per- 
severed in  idolatry ;  and,  the  better  to  watch  over  the  churches  in  gen- 
eral, he  resigned  the  see  of  Ardmach  to  St.  Binen,  or  Benignus,  his 
disciple  and  successor. 

On  one  occasion  a  desperate  chieftain,  instigated  by  some  of  the 
Druids,  waylaid  the  apostle,  to  take  his  life  ;  but  the  extraordinary  zeal 
of  his  charioteer,  Odran,  happily  prevented  the  accomplishment  of  the 
dreadful  design. 

The  assassin  appeared ;  but  Odran,  the  saint's  driver,  exchanged 
dress  with  his  master,  placed  himself  in  the  chariot,  whilst  the  saint  took 


352  ST.    PATRICK    SAVED    BY    ODRAN. 

the  horse's  reins,  and,  when  the  murderous  attack  was  made,  he  re- 
ceived the  spear  of  the  assassin,  and  thus  preserved,  for  some  years 
longer,  to  Christianity  a  valuable  life,  whilst  we  may  confidently  hope 
the  immolation  of  the  zealous  man's  body  obtained  the  admission  of  his 
soul  to  the  companionship  of  the  blessed.  The  faithful  Odran  was  the 
only  martyr  that  Ireland  offered  at  the  shrine  of  Christianity,  which  is 
a  boast  that  no  other  nation   can  make. 

Upon  another  occasion,  the  captain  of  a  band  of  robbers  attacked 
him  while  visiting  Lecale,  the  scene  of  his  earliest  labors ;  and  the  de- 
signs to  rob  him,  and  perhaps  take  his  life,  he  baffled  by  the  extraor- 
dinary address  he  summoned  on  the  occasion.  His  persuasive  and 
powerful  rebuke  had  such  an  effect  on  the  brigand,  that  he  fell  on  his 
knees,  implored  the  saint's  forgiveness,  and  besought  him  to  impose  such 
a  penance  on  him  as  the  saint  thought  due  to  his  iniquitous  attempt. 
Patrick  directed  him  to  place  himself  in  a  curragh,  or  small  boat,  made  of 
hurdles  and  leather,  and  put  out  to  sea,  clothed  in  a  coarse  garment,  and, 
trusting  to  the  waves  and  the  winds,  land  on  the  first  shore  he  touched, 
and  there  devote  himself  to  the  service  of  God.  The  command  was 
faithfully  obeyed,  and  Maccaldus,  the  brigand,  landed  on  the  Isle  of  Man, 
the  island  midway  between  Ireland,  Scotland,  and  England.  Here 
he  found  two  Christian  bishops,  under  whom  he  learned  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity,  and  succeeded  these  very  bishops,  on  their  death,  as  chief 
bishop  of  that  Island. 

Whilst  the  apostle  was  engaged  in  a  district  on  the  coast  of  Munster, 
where  he  had  been  baptizing  an  immense  number  of  persons,  a  pirate, 
from  the  coast  of  Wales  or  England,  named  Coroticus,  landed  and  pil- 
laged the  inhabitants,  having  murdered  some  of  those  Christians,  and 
carried  off  many  of  them,  whom  he  sold  as  captives.  Upon  this  occa- 
sion, the  holy  Patrick  pronounced  a  fiat  of  excommunication  against 
this  pirate,  which,  together  with  his  Confessions^  are  the  only  written 
documents  in  his  own  hand-writing  that  have  come  down  to  us.  It  is 
said  this  pirate  destroyed  himself  shortly  after  through  remorse. 

No  language  that  I  could  use  would  convey  an  idea  of  the  labors,  in- 
cessant zeal,  and  signal  and  miraculous  successes,  that  attended  the 
mission  of  St.  Patrick.  So  great  and  signal,  indeed,  was  this  success, 
that,  in  a  very  few  years,  the  princes  and  chief  nobility  of  the  kingdom 
became  Christians.  Not  only  this,  but  so  great  was  their  zeal,  and  so 
pure  their  intentions,  that  they  did  not  deem  it  sufficient  to  devote  a 
part  of  their  riches,  their  flocks,  and  their  corn  to  God,  but  bestowed 
also  their  sons  on  the  church.     Hence  the  amazing  number  of  devout 


GREAT    NUMBER    01'    PKIESTS    A^D    BISHOPS    APPOINTED.  353 

recluses  and  holy  bishops,  of  the  purest  blood  of  Ireland,  whose  pedigrees 
have  been  preserved  widi  great  care,  many  of  whom  passed  over,  from 
time  to  time,  to  Britain,  Gaul,  and  to  the  continent,  to  establish  the  doc- 
trine of  Christianity  by  their  precepts  and  their  example. 

It  is  recorded  of  Patrick  that,  during  his  mission  in  Ireland,  he  conse- 
crated no  less  than  three  hundred  and  sixty  bishops,  and  ordained  three 
thousand  priests,  none  of  whom  were  received  who  had  not  given  the 
clearest  evidences  of  a  holy  and  pious  life.  This  number  of  bishops 
may,  at  this  time  of  day,  surprise  some;  but  the  saint,  who  mingled 
great  tact  and  prudence  with  his  zeal  and  piety,  observing  that,  in  Ire- 
land, all  titles,  and  stations,  and  public  offices,  connected  either  with  the 
religion  or  police  of  the  kingdom,  belonged,  by  an  hereditary  tenure,  to 
certain  families,  to  which  offices  certain  lands  were  aunexed  for  their 
support,  instructed  and  appointed  the  Druid  priesthood,  who  derived 
an  hereditary  right  to  office  and  income,  to  the  duties  of  the  Christian 
religion.  The  chief  Druid,  or  Fhnnen,  enjoyed  these  incomes,  and,  to 
aid  him,  was  appointed  a  coadjutor.  These  families  were  all  con- 
ciliated towards  the  new  order  by  this  concession  to  their  family 
dignities  and  incomes ;  and  when  we  rememlaer  the  length  of  his 
mission,  being  sixty  odd  years,  the  number  of  bishops  he  consecrated 
will  cease  to  surprise  us. 

He  saw  four  of  the  archbishops,  that  he  himself  consecrated  in  the 
head  seat  of  Armagh,  die  one  after  the  other,  he  being  the  first  and  the 
sixth  archbishop.  By  the  prudence,  moderation,  and  good  sense, 
of  the  apostle,  was  the  whole  kingdom  brought  to  acknowledge  the 
doctrine  of  Christ ;  and  this  wonderful  reform  was  conducted  with  so 
much  wisdom  that  it  produced  not  the  least  disturbance,  confusion,  or 
confiscation.  The  Druids  and  their  votaries  were  unmolested,  and 
Christian  bishops  were  appointed  to  succeed  the  Druid  mch-Flamens 
from  those  families  only  whose  hereditary  titles  were  clear  and 
admitted. 

The  university  of  Tara  enjoyed,  from  the  days  of  Ollamh  Fodhla,  the 
power  of  conferring  precedences  on  the  learned  doctors.  The  apostle, 
having  built  a  great  university  at  his  favorite  residence  of  Armagh,  re- 
solved that  it  should  be  the  chief  of  all  the  Christian  seminaries.  To 
this  end  he  had  influence  enough  with  the  l^ing  and  assembly  of  the 
estates  to  obtain  a  legislative  enactment  trahsfei*ring  the  power  of 
granting  doctors'  degrees  to  Armagh,  which  rank  it  supported  till  the 
dissolution  of  the  Irish  monarchy.  Holy  abbots  at  that  time,  and  for 
centuries  after,  erected  their  retreats  in  the  most  sequestered  spots  of 
45 


354  THE    OLD    LAWS. TRIAL    BY    JURY. 

Ireland,  that  nothing  might  disturb  their  prayers  and  meditations. 
Scarce  an  island,  or  solitary  spot  of  ground,  in  Ireland,  that  spiritual 
retreats  were  not  already  made  in,  and  churches  and  abbeys  erected, 
the  remains  of  most  of  which  are  yet  visible. 

The  apostle  was  also  anxious  to  purify  the  laws  and  literature  of 
Ireland,  and  for  this  purpose  obtained  a  committee  of  nine  from  the 
assembly.  Amongst  these  were  the  king  and  some  other  of  the  provin- 
cial princes.  Here  the  saint  was  paramount,  and  with  his  own  hand 
burned  several  hundred  volumes  of  poetry  and  other  works  of  the 
Druids.  It  is  said  the  poetry  was  so  fascinating,  the  apostle  feared  the 
reading  of  it  would  cause  some  to  relapse  into  the  Druid  system  again ; 
and  this  disposition  of  Patrick  was  caught  up  and  imitated  by  all  the 
zealous  Christians  throughout  Ireland,  who  revered  Patrick  so  much 
that  a  universal  destruction  of  the  poetic  v/orks  of  the  ancient  Irish 
ensued,  which,  as  admirers  of  literature,  we  cannot  but  deplore.  In  the 
course  of  this  severe  scrutiny,  all  the  laws  of  Ireland  were  examined 
into ;  and  here,  amongst  die  brehon  accumulations,  was  discovered  that 
priceless  feature  in  your  jurisprudence  of  the  present  day,  the  "  trial  of 
the  twelve  men." 

All  disputes  about  land  were  submitted  to  the  decision  of  twelve  men  ; 
and  here  is  the  foundation  of  that  palladium  of  human  liberty,  the  trial 
by  jury,  which  was  in  action,  amongst  other  wise  laws,  in  Ireland  for 
centuries,  and  which  was  afterwards  introduced  by  Alfred  into  the  Eng- 
lish constitution.  As  some  persons,  who  have  been  accustomed  to  read 
little  else  than  British  history,  entertain  the  idea  that  King  Alfred  in- 
vented the  tribunal  of  trial  by  jury,  I  would  ask  such  to  read  the  preface 
to  Leland's  History  of  Ireland,  and  the  able  work  of  O'Halloran,  in 
which  has  been  shown  that  the  apostle  Patrick  found,  at  this  examina- 
tion of  the  Irish  laws,  the  trial  of  the  twelve  men,  as  part  of  their  breathe 
nhime,  or  celestial  judgments.  He  wisely  retained  that  feature  in  their 
jurisprudence,  and  it  was  found  in  operation  by  Alfred  when  he  received 
his  education  in  Ireland ;  where,  indeed,  all  the  Saxon  princes  and 
priests  came,  in  those  ages,  to  be  instmcted  in  philosophy,  law,  literature, 
music,  and  religion. 

No  scholar  or  jurist  will  venture  to  say  that  the  trial  by  the  jury  of 
twelve  was  known  to  the  laws  of  any  of  the  Greek  islands.  It  cannot 
be  found  among  the  laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables  of  Rome,  nor  is  it  in  the 
Pandects  of  Justinian  —  a  work  which  imbodied  the  entire  laws  of  the 
Roman  empire.  No  feature  of  trial  by  twelve  men  can  be  found  in 
the  institutions  of  the  Visigoths,  whose  kings  succeeded  those  of  Rome 


THE    APOSTLE    REVISITS    ROME.  355 

in  Italy,  and  who  introduced,  through  the  south  of  Europe,  a  new  code 
of  jurisprudence ;  nor  can  it  be  traced  in  the  laws  of  the  Ostrogoths, 
who  swarmed  round  the  Baltic ;  nor,  least  of  all,  among  the  customs  of 
the  Saxons,  the  most  ferocious  and  illiterate  of  the  barbarians  of  ancient 
Europe. 

We  have  the  evidence  of  St.  Patrick  and  his  committee  that  the  law 
of  the  twelve  men  was  the  ancient  custom  of  Ireland ;  and  when  we 
know  the  other  nations  of  Europe  cannot  produce  a  particle  of  evidence 
to  support  their  envious  claims  to  this  transcendent  legal  honor,  we  shall 
feed  our  oppressed  hearts  with  the  remembrance  of  that  glory  which  our 
forefathers  have  shed  on  us  by  their  laws,  their  arms,  their  arts,  and 
their  sanctity ;  and,  though  the  sacred  trial  by  jury  has  been  desecrated, 
in  our  days,  by  the  judges  of  the  Saxon,  yet  the  hour  of  our  vindication 
is  only  made  the  more  certain  by  that  desecration !  Our  freedom  is 
settled  by  the  negotiations  of  Heaven.  Justice  and  intelligence  will 
triumph  at  last. 

The  saint,  having  completed  the  conversion  of  Ireland,  prepared  to 
proceed  to  Rome,  to  report  to  his  holiness  the  success  which  attended 
his  labors.  To  this  end,  he  sailed  for  Liverpool,  where  he  preached 
and  converted  many  hundreds.  Liverpool  was  then  but  a  fishing 
village.  Here  was  erected  a  cross,  to  commemorate  the  event,  which 
remains  to  this  day  a  witness  of  the  labors  of  the  great  apostle.  From 
this  he  proceeded  to  the  Isle  of  Man,  where  he  placed  St.  Germain. 
From  that  he  repaired  to  Rome,  where,  some  of  the  historians  say,  he 
received  the  honorary  title  of  the  Roman  order  patricius,  but  which 
others  contend  he  received  ere  he  first  landed  in  Ireland.  On  this 
second  visit  to  Rome,  he  received  the  utmost  degree  of  honor.  He  was 
appointed  legate  or  chief  of  the  clergy  of  Ireland.  He  returns  to  the 
loved  scene  of  his  labors,  where  he  appointed  thirty  new  chief  bishops, 
and  divided  the  kingdom  into  sees,  deaneries,  rectories,  and  parishes, 
over  which  he  placed  eminent  ecclesiastics  of  learning  and  piety. 

The  sees,  parishes,  rectories,  and  deaneries,  established  by  the 
apostle,  remain  the  ecclesiastical  boundaries  of  the  English  church  in 
Ireland  to  this  day.  Towards  the  close  of  his  life,  he  retired  to  Lough 
Derg,  a  favorite  retreat  in  the  county  Donegal,  where  he  spent  the  most 
part  of  its  decline  in  pious  meditation,  presiding  occasionally  at  great 
synods  of  the  clergy. 

After  a  long  life  of  piety,  usefulness,  and  fame,  the  saint  sank  to  rest, 
at  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-six,  honored  and  revered  by 
nations.     He  sank  peaceflilly,  the  bright  luminary  of  heaven  in  the  dis- 


356  ST,    TATrJCK's    TOMB. 

lant  west,  blending  his  glory  with  the  light  of  the  gospel  sun.  No  pomp 
heralded  his  coming ;  no  mailed  armies  guarded  his  dying  bed  ;  the 
heralds  of  heaven  bore  him  to  the  presence  of  his  Creator. 

He  was  buried  in  Downpatrick,  in  the  north  of  Ireland ;  and  in  the 
same  tomb  were  subsequently  laid  the  remains  of  St.  Bridget  and  St. 
Columb  Kille.  A  splendid  shrine  was  erected  here  for  the  saint,  which 
was  adorned  with  costly  and  precious  jewels,  and  his  staff  was  laid  by 
his  side. 

The  tomb  of  Patrick  was  visited  by  Cambrensis  in  1174,  and  upon  it 
he  found  the  following  Latin  inscription  :  — 

"  Hi  tres  Duno,  tumulo  tumulaniur  in  uno, 
Brigida,  Patridus,  atque  Columba  Pius." 

"In  Down  three  saints  one  grave  do  fill, 
Bridget,  Patrick,  and  Columb  Kille." 

Here  his  sainted  bones  rested,  and  here  stood  his  shrine  and  the  offer- 
ings of  piety  that  adorned  it,  till,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  the 
fanatics  of  that  age  scattered  the  sacred  pile,  and  took  away  the  sacred 
staff  which  the  apostle  carried  when  he  performed  the  sacred  offices  of 
his  ministry.     May  Heaven  forgive  them  1 


MUSIC    AND   POETBT. 


35/ 


PATRICK'S    DAY. 


WORDS    BY    T.    MOONET. 


lES 


:6- 


9~i      ^      9~ 


'-r 


3=Ei: 


"P     f 


1,     When  Pat  -  rick  first  came     to      the        isl  -  and,  whose 


It 


-r^ 


^ 


:q5zzi!5=si=> 


9 — j 9        I 

^  9 


fame        Had    shed     a  bright    ha  -  lo   o'er      o  -  cean  and 


^'-i>- 


g^ 


£EE3 


:t 


3=E?-i- 


-#-i- 


E^Pi 


ct;= K 


Stream,    He    blessed   all    the    mountains,  the      val  -  leys  and 


^6=f 


3; 


;r 


:^ 


SIT 


?=3-g=^«=3 


fountains,    And  drove  out  the    vi  -  pers  with     scorn  -  ing ; 


■^^^^ 


E3 


■-r^ 


--^ 


358 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


F=F 


5": 


^ 


-ff 


But  Pat  -  rick     neg  -  lected,      Or     nev  -  er      ex  -  pected 


^ 


-^ 


3: 


3: 


H 


That    Ireland  would    ev  -  er       a  -  gain  be     de  -  ject  -  ed, 


9. L^. 


5 


:3: 


3: 


"5=» 


^^-5: 


Or  with  Sas  -  sa  -  nagh  vi  -  pers  or  snakes  be    in  -  fected ; 


W 


3: 


rr 


3; 


-jr 


:d: 


=13=5: 


But  thought  his  own   isl  -  and  would  e'er    be   pro  -  tected  ; 


3; 


3 


^ 


5^=3^ 


^T.^^:^^ 


By    all      oth  -  er       na  -  twns  for  -  ev  -  er     re  -  spected ; 


3EPi 


3 


£ 


3 


MUSIC   AND   POETRY. 


359 


v 

pfc,                 1^           B^              W              n 

•— »      , 

J^    K 

^      Ni     ^ 

"     1      0 

r       •     * 

r()  ^     i^ 

ti 

m 

^     «•               r  ■ 

J 

•^04 

u 

»'      U*      L     ' 

For      E  -  rin's  bright  na  -  tion    was  freedom's  own    station, 

((*\' 

gt                        m 

A                                 A 

\^'        *»i 

r            ^     r            H 

^             *^      r 

h      ' 

1                II               1 

1                  1      1 

1                    i 

1                       1 

When  he      first   saw  her  hills     in     the      mom  -  ing. 


%- 


¥-" 


^ 


it 


2. 

But  he  must  come  again  at  the  head  of  his  men, 
O'Connell  and  Matthew  the  van  proudly  leading, 
And  these  vipers  drive  out,  with  shillelahs  so  stout, 
From  the  island  that  Matthew's  reforming; 

And,  should  he  not  win, 

We  have  millions  of  men. 
That  are  ready  to  fight  o'er  the  battle  again, 
With  Saxon  or  Hessian,  in  valley  and  glen ; 
For  Erin  is  foaming  with  deep  agitation. 
And  vows  she'll  submit  to  no  foreign  dictation. 
O !   they  never  again  shall  oppress  that  brave  nation. 
On  Patrick's  day  in  the  morning. 


Come,  now,  raise  a  shout,  and  let  freemen  speak  out, 
For  the  hour  is  come  for  Erin's  redeeming; 
The  times  they  are  favoring,  the  enemy's  wavering, 
And  Ireland's  freedom  is  dawning. 
O'er  valley  and  hill. 
By  streamlet  and  rill, 
The  voice  of  young  Liberty,  echoing  shrill, 


360  MUSIC    AND   POETRY. 

Proclaims  to  the  world  the  national  will ; 
And  millions  are  swelling  in  high  exultation, 
For  the  Saxon  is  sinking  in  every  nation, 
While  Erin  takes  courage,  makes  one  declaration 
Of  freedom  on  Patrick's  morning! 

4. 

Then  who  is  there  here  that  refuses  a  cheer 
To  the  land  of  Macdonough*  and  Barry!  now  mourning; 
Or  of  Jackson  |  so  brave,  that  shed  o'er  the  wave, 
The  rays  of  his  splendor  adorning ; 

Of  Montgomery,<§>  too, 

Who,  to  freedom  so  true, 
Let  his  blood  spill  like  water,  winning  freedom  for  you ! 
His  race  now  for  liberty  fervently  sue  ; 
And  the  nation  that  gave  those  heroes  so  brave 
To  Columbia,  to  battle  on  field  and  on  wave. 
Deserves  her  old  station,  as  freedom's  own  nation, 
On  Patrick's  day  in  the  morning! 


*  Macdonough,  the  hero  of  Lake  Champlain,  was  the  son  of  Irish  parents,  born 
on  the  passage  to  America. 

+  Barry  was  a  Wexford  man.  He  left  his  country  as  a  ship-boy,  at  seventeen 
years  of  age,  and  became  a  captain  of  a  merchantman  trading  to  America.  When 
the  revolution  broke  out,  he  volunteered  to  fight  at  sea  on  the  side  of  liberty;  was 
appointed  to  the  command  of  the  first  vessel  ever  built  by  the  republic,  —  the  Lex- 
ington, of  seventeen  guns,  —  distinguished  himself  in  many  a  well-fought  action,  and 
lived  to  receive  the  applauding  thanks  of  Washington  and  liberated  America. 

X  Jackson,  like  Macdonough,  was  born  of  Irish  parents,  on  their  passage  to  the 
Canadas.  His  deeds  form  a  principal  part  of  the  history  of  the  United  States. 
His  defence  of  New  Orleans  will  last  as  long  in  the  memories  of  mankind  as  the 
defence  of  Thermopylse.  "  The  Irish  blood,  which  alone  flows  in  my  veins,  will 
never  cease,  but  with  my  life,  to  beat  in  unison  with  those  who  have  at  heart  the 
establishment  of  Irish  liberty."  —  Letter  to  the  Author,  dated  '■'■Hermitage,  May  23, 
1842." 

§  Montgomery,  an  Irishman,  brigadier-general  of  the  American  army,  fell  in  the 
midst  of  a  successful  career,  at  the  gates  of  Quebec.  He  had  driven  the  English 
before  him  for  several  hundred  miles,  and  fell  here  by  a  chain -shot,  said  to  have 
been  fired  by  a  recreant  from  the  American  side,  who  had  joined  the  British. 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


361 


O    ERIN,    MY    COUNTRY! 


1.  O     E-rin,  my  country  !     although  thy    harp  slumbers,  And 


Ta-ra's     old     hall,     With 


-H-1 


ca ca ^ 


scarce  one  kind   hand     to     a   -   wa  -  ken     its     slumbers,     Or 


•■#-■ 


» 


9 — \ — ^r — 9 


V--f^ 


w 


1^" 


of 


sound     a   lone    dirge    to     the 


son 


Fin  -  gal.       The 


'rsr 


^—^-^—W 


t 


± 


phies   of     warfare     may  hang  there   neg  -  lee  ted.      For 


fe&- 


¥ 


w± 


dead     are  the  war  -  riors   to  whom  they  were  known  ;  But  the 


■^ 


harp   of  old   E  -  rin    shall   still    be    respect  -  ed,    While  there 


-W—^r 


^ 


T 


^m 


lives     but  one    bard     to 
46 


en 


liv 


en    its     tone 


362  MUSIC    AND   POETRY. 

2. 

O  Erin,  my  country !   I  love  thy  green  bowers ; 

No  music's  to  me  like  thy  murmuring  rills; 
Thy  shamrock  to  me  is  the  fairest  of  flowers, 

And  nought  is  more  dear  than  thy  daisy-clad  hills. 
Thy  caves,  whether  used  by  the  warriors  or  sages, 

Are  still  sacred  held  in  each  Irishman's  heart; 
And  thy  ivy-crowned  turrets,  the  pride  of  past  ages, 

Though  mouldering  in  ruins,  do  grandeur  impart. 

3. 

Britannia  may  vaunt  of  her  lion  and  armor, 

And  glory  when  she  her  old  wooden  walls  views; 
Caledonia  may  boast  of  her  pibroch  and  claymore, 

And  pride  in  her  philibeg,  kilt,  and  her  hose ; 
But  where  is  the  nation  can  rival  old  Erin  ? 

Or  where  is  the  country  such  heroes  can  boast? 
In  battle  they're  brave  as  the  lion  or  tiger. 

And  bold  as  the  eagle  that  flies  round  her  coast. 

4. 

The  breezes  oft  shake  both  the  rose  and  the  thisde. 

While  Erin's  green  shamrock  lies  hushed  in  the  vale; 
In  safety  it  rests  while  the  stormy  winds  whistle, 

And  grows  undisturbed  'midst  the  moss  of  the  vale. 
Then  hail !    fairest  island  in  Neptune's  old  ocean ! 

Thou  land  of  St.  Patrick,  my  parents,  agrah ! 
Cold,  cold  must  the  heart  be,  and  void  of  emotion, 

That  loves  not  the  music  of  "  Erin  go  bragh ! " 


TAKE  BACK  THE  VIRGIN  PAGE. 

BY    MOORE. 


1.  Take  back  the  vir  -  gin  page.  White  and     un  -  writ  -  ten  still ; 


MUSIC    AND    POETBT. 


363 


^: 


^- 


pz=^: 


'S' 


Some  hand,  more  calm   and  sage,      The     leaf    must      fill. 


'9~r 


"jr-^ 


f 


^^ 


'9' 


Thoughts  come  as       pure  as  light.    Pure     as    e  -  ven  you  require ; 


i 


iE2Ea=E35 


=i=; 


-(©L 


But,     O !     each    word     I   write     Love   turns   to       fire  1 


2. 

Yet,  let  me  keep  the  book; 

Oft  shall  my  heart  renew, 
When  on  its  leaves  I  look. 

Dear  thoughts  of  you. 
Like  you,  'tis  fair  and  bright; 

Like  you,  too  bright  and  fair 
To  let  wild  passion  write 

One  wrong  wish  there. 
3. 
Haply,  when  from  those  eyes 

Far,  far  away  I  roam. 
Should  calmer  thoughts  arise 

Towards  you  and  home. 
Fancy  may  trace  some  line 

Worthy  those  eyes  to  meet; 
Thoughts  that  not  burn,  but  shine 

Pure,  calm,  and  sweet. 
4. 
And,  as  the  records  are 

Which  wandering  seamen  keep, 
Led  by  the  hidden  star 

Through  winter's  deep. 
So  may  the  words  I  write 

Tell  through  what  storms  I  stray; 
You  still  the  unseen  light 

Guiding  my  way ! 


LECTUEE    XI 


FROM   A.  D.   500   TO   800. 

Glimpse  at  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  —  State  of  Europe  in  the  fifth  Century.  — 
The  Saxons. —  Alliance  between  the  Irish  and  Saxons.  —  Saxons  obtain  a  Foot- 
ing in  England.  —  Seize  on  the  Government.  —  Battles  between  the  Saxons  and 
native  Britons.  —  Treacherous  Massacre  committed  by  the  Saxons.  —  Ancient 
Memento  of  the  Deed.  —  Battles  of  the  Saxons  with  the  native  Britons.  —  The 
Angles.  —  Origin  of  the  Term  "England." — The  Heptarchy.  —  Resumption  of 
the  Narrative.  —  Reign  of  OUiol.  —  National  Assembly  of  Tara. —  Trade  Corpo- 
rations. —  Reign  of  Lughaidh.  —  Progress  of  Christianity.  —  St.  Bridget.  —  Orna- 
mented Writing  in  her  Time.  —  Reign  of  Mortough. —  Spirit  of  the  Christian 
Ages.  —  The  Monks. — Their  Rules  of  Life. —  College  of  Lismore.  —  Seized  on 
at  the  Reformation.  —  Origin  of  the  Societies  of  holy  Men.  —  Their  Establish- 
ment on  the  Continent  by  Irish  Missionaries.  —  Christian  Spirit  of  the  Nation.  — 
Colleges. — Zeal  and  Number  of  the  Christian  Missionaries.  —  Reflections  on 
the  Influence  of  religious  Instruction.  —  Opinions  of  Sir  James  Mackintosh, 
Bede,  and  Camden.  —  Eminent  Irish  Missionaries.  —  Catalans.  —  Sedulius.  — 
Colurab  Kille.  —  His  expulsion  from  Ireland.  —  Founds  the    Monastery  of  Huy. 

—  Returns  with  a  Delegation  from  Scotia  Minor.  —  Proceedings  of  the  Delega- 
tion.—  His  Death  and  Sepulchre.  —  Columbanus. — His  Mission  in  France  and 
Germany.  —  Gall.  —  Jonas.  —  Fiacre.  —  Aidan.  —  Irish  Missionaries  teach  the 
Saxons. —  Reluctance  of  the  Scotch  and  English  to  acknowledge  it.  —  Finian. — 
Colman.  —  Fursey.  —  Maildelphus.  —  Cuthbert.  —  Kilian.  —  Sedulius.  —  Donatus. 

—  Virgilius.  —  He  discovers  the  Sphericity  of  the  Earth.  —  Clement.  —  Alba- 
nius.  —  Appointed  by  Charlemagne  over  his  Colleges. — Dungal.  —  Appointed 
Manager  of  the  Schools  of  Italy. — John  Scotus.  —  His  Reception  by  Charles 
the  Bald  of  France.  —  Appointed  by  King  Alfred  to  preside  in  the  University 
of  Oxford. —  King  Alfred  educated  in  Ireland.  —  The  English  derived  their 
Letters,  Education,  and  Laws,  from  Ireland. 

We  are  now  arrived  at  the  close  of  the  fifth  century  of  the  Christian 
era.  Ireland  had  enjoyed,  for  the  previous  eighteen  hundred  years,  an 
uninterrupted  independence  and  a  brilliant  fame.  She  witnessed, 
during  those  succeeding  centuries,  the  fall  of  Carthage,  the  rise  and  fall 
of  Greece,  the  rise,  career,  and  prostration  of  Rome.  Carthage  and 
Greece  had  fallen  the  victims  of  Roman  aggrandizement;  and  Rome 
herself  came  down  at  last,  the  victim  of  her  own  tyranny  and  vice. 
About  the  year  of  Christianity  476,  we  find  the  vast  empire  broken  up, 
and  the  Gothic  kings  seated  on  the  thrones  of  the  Caesars.  From  that 
point  back  to  the  foundation  of  the  imperial  city  by  Romulus  there 
passed  twelve  hundred  and  twenty  years.  For  five  hundred  years 
after  the  erection  of  the  city,  there  was  no  written  history  of  Rome  or 
its  people.  The  history  of  Ireland  was  commenced  by  Ambergin,  the 
Druid,  thirteen  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era,  and  eight  or 


GLIMPSE    AT    THE    GREEKS    AND    ROMANS.  365 

nine  hundred  before  that  of  the  imperial  mistress  of  the  world  was 
begun. 

Ireland  was  a  nation  ere  Rome  had  risen,  and  Ireland  was  in  the 
zenith  of  her  nationality  when  she  fell.  For  four  centuries,  the  Irish 
kept  the  arms  of  Rome  fully  employed  in  Britain,  nor  suffered  one  of 
their  soldiers  to  touch  her  holy  earth ;  and,  in  the  end,  her  heroes, 
O'Niall  and  Dathy,  drove  her  eagles  before  them  through  the  provinces 
of  Britain  and  France. 

Glorious,  glorious  Erin  !  her  antiquity  and  her  history  may  be  paraded 
against  the  grandeur  of  Rome  and  the  refinement  of  Greece.  The 
ferocity  and  bestiality  of  the  fofmer,  and  the  slavery  and  imbecility  of 
the  latter,  find  no  copyists  amongst  the  Irish.  Of  Rome  I  have  said 
much,  of  Greece  little.  We  pardon  much  to  Greece  for  her  scholars ; 
yet  their  knowledge  consisted  only  of  glimpses  at  the  history  of  by- 
gone nations :  in  architecture  and  sculpture  they  were  proficients,  but 
they  learned  from  Egypt ;  of  manufactures,  mechanics,  or  commerce, 
they  knew  httle ;  in  poetry,  eloquence,  and  logic,  they  were  masters  ; 
in  music  they  were  infants.  Their  republican  forms  of  government 
were  stained  by  the  most  odious  tyranny.  When  Greece  was  freest, 
the  slaves  formed  the  actual  majority  of  the  inhabitants.  To  these  the 
free  citizens  were  rigorous  bond-masters.  The  condition  of  the  people 
under  these  governments  was  more  servile  and  humiliating  than  any  to 
be  found  under  the  most  despotic  monarchies.  The  contraction  of 
debts  was  the  source  of  bondage  even  between  the  free.  Nor  were  the 
richer  classes  independent ;  they  generally  ranged  into  factions,  sup- 
porting rival  politicians,  and  were  influenced  by  corruption.  "The 
whole,"  says  Tytler,  "  was  a  system  of  servility  and  debasement  of 
spirit  which  left  nothing  that  could  furnish  material  for  encomium  to  a 
real  advocate  for  the  dignity  of  human  nature." 

In  the  fifth  century,  Ireland,  as  we  have  seen,  abjured  the  Druid 
worship,  and  yielded  her  intellect  to  the  doctrines  of  the  cross. 
Rome  fell  about  this  period,  and  the  unbridled  fury  of  the  northern 
nations,  just  expanding  from  the  chains  of  her  broken  power,  swept  like 
a  tornado  over  Europe.  All  that  was  valuable  in  art  or  science  was 
covered  in  the  chaos  of  eternal  night.  Art,  literature,  writings,  every 
thing,  was  buried  in  the  graves  which  desolation  peopled.  For  nearly 
a  hundred  years,  this  carnage  and  commotion  continued.  The  Latin 
tongue,  the  language  of  Rome,  and  of  some  of  her  dependencies,  was 
corrupted  by  the  jargon  of  all  the  other  nations.  Its  spelling  and 
pronunciation  were  lost   in   the  track  of  commotion.     Many  hundreds 


366  STATE    OF    EUROPE    IN    THE    FIFTH    CENTURY. 

fled  from  the  theatre  of  contending  armies  to  Ireland,  the  only  spot  ia 
Europe  that  was  found  sacred  to  literature,  —  the  sacred  island,  whose 
gallant  sons  esteemed  the  wise  and  protected  the  weak. 

The  Gothic  chiefs,  as  I  have  said,  were  seated  in  the  palaces  of  the 
Caesars,  and  the  Saxon  tribes,  about  the  same  time,  had  made  a  firm 
footing  in  Britain.  By  the  triumphant  efforts  of  our  Dathy,  Gaul  was 
delivered  from  the  Roman  yoke,  and  a  prince  of  the  ancient  Gaulish 
line  restored  to  the  throne  of  that  nation.  He  was  the  first  free  king 
of  the  ancient  race  who  reigned  in  that  country  for  four  hundred  years, 
or  during  the  supremacy  of  the  Romans.  His  name  was  Clodian ;  but, 
on  his  assumption  of  the  government,  he  was  called  Chevelu,  as  he 
wore  his  hair  in  long  curls  —  a  privilege  denied  to  any  of  the  Gaulish 
people  by  their  masters,  for  they  were  compelled  by  the  Romans  to 
cut  their  hair  short,  as  a  mark  of  their  subjection  and  slavery. 

In  Britain,  the  Saxons  began  to  be  important,  and,  as  about  this 
time  they  first  made  a  permanent  footing  in  that  country,  a  few  digres- 
sional  remarks  on  their  history  may  be  acceptable. 

Notwithstanding  that  the  power  of  Rome  was  thoroughly  subdued  in 
Britain  by  O'Niall  and  Dathy,  there  still  remained  some  mean  spirits  in 
that  country,  vv^ho,  a  little  before  her  complete  fall,  hankered  after  her 
honors,  and  tides,  and  appointments, —  who  Uved,  in  fact,  by  aiding 
her  in  subjecting  their  own  countrymen  to  her  sway.  We  could 
hardly  believe  so  badly  of  humanity,  but  that  we  see  instances  of  a 
like  degradation  in  too  many  Irishmen  of  the  present  day,  who  meanly 
live  by  aiding  or  countenancing  England  in  her  oppressive  subjuga- 
tion of  their  country.  The  Irish  monarch  Loagaire,  observing  these 
treacherous  addictions  in  the  chiefs  of  Britain,  and  seeing  the  temporary 
successes  of  the  Roman  Actius  in  Gaul,  became  alarmed  lest  a  new 
invasion  of  Britain  should  be  determined  on.  With  the  view  of  ren- 
dering his  own  dominions  the  more  secure,  he  encouraged  an  alliance, 
offensive  and  defensive,  between  the  Saxon  tribes  of  Germany,  the 
Picts,  and  himself,  for  their  mutual  protection  against  Rome,  especially 
on  British  ground.  The  Irish  monarch  had  had  the  address  to  induce 
the  most  national  of  the  old  Britons  to  invite  the  Saxons  into  their 
country,  and  to  allot  them  lands  to  colonize  and  cultivate. 

The  Saxons  thus  got  their  first  footing  in  England,  and  they,  ob- 
serving the  effeminacy  of  the  Britons,  and  the  bias  which  many  of 
them  manifested  towards  the  sway  of  their  tottering  masters,  formed  the 
design  of  seizing  on  the  government.  This  seemed  to  be  favored  by 
the  Irish  princes,  on  account  of  the  protection  it  would  afford  their  own 


SAXONS    OBTAIN    A   FOOTING    IN   ENGLAND.  367 

territories;  and  this  accordance  between  the  Irish  and  Saxons  was 
increased  on  the  defeat  of  Attila,  in  Gaul,  by  the  Roman  troops.  Their 
immediate  wisdom  was  manifest  in  this  alliance,  though,  in  after  ages, 
it  proved  the  cause  of  their  own  fall.  They  judged  that,  by  keeping 
the  Roman  arms  as  far  off  as  possible,  they  were  best  protecting  them- 
selves ;  for,  should  she  succeed  in  reconquering  England,  then  the 
full  force  of  her  wrath  would  naturally  be  directed  against  Ireland,  her 
unconquerable  enemy  in  the  west ;  and  on  this  very  point  Tacitus  had 
given  his  opinion,  three  centuries  before,  to  Agricola,  as  I  have  already 
quoted. 

O'Halloran  says,  this  accounts  for,  and  explains,  the  constant  predi- 
lection which  the  Irish  then  had  for  the  Saxons ;  the  care  they  took  to 
reform  their  rude  manners ;  to  instruct  tliem  in  the  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  in  letters ;  to  ordain  bishops  and  priests  on  purpose  for  the 
Saxon  mission  ;  to  found  schools  and  seminaries  for  them  in  different 
parts  of  the  kingdom ;  all  which  the  Venerable  Bede,  a  Saxon  born, 
fully  proclaims  by  a  variety  of  passages  in  his  Ecclesiastical  History  of 
Britain. 

When  the  Romans  abandoned  South  Britain,  the  native  Britons 
elected  a  king,  whom  they  soon  after  dethroned.  They  proceeded  to 
elect  other  kings,  whom  they  successively  dethrone  or  murder.  At 
length,  they  fix  on  Vortigcm,  a  prince  of  the  Dumnonii,  or  inhabitants 
of  Devon  and  Cornwall. 

The  first  body  of  Saxons,  at  the  invitation  of  Vortigern,  landed,  in 
the  year  449,  at  the  Isle  of  Thanet,  in  three  galleys,  from  the 
north-west  of  Germany,  under  the  leadership  of  two  brothers,  Hengist 
and  Horsa ;  they  engaged  in  the  service  of  Vortigern,  and  agreed  to 
fight  against  his  enemies  for  pay ;  they  were  kindly  received,  and,  in 
a  short  time,  they  sent  for  further  reenforcements,  which  soon  after 
arrived.  In  this  second  expedition  there  came  Danes  and  Angles, 
and  also  the  handsome  Rotvena,  niece  of  Hengist,  with  whom  the 
British  prince  became  smitten,  and  to  whom  he  was  soon  after 
wedded.  This  marriage  brought  about  an  alliance  between  the  reigning 
prince  and  his  hired  auxiliaries,  of  a  very  close  and  apparently  friendly 
character ;  but  the  new-comers  assuming  more  authority  than  the  old 
inhabitants  deemed  legitimate  or  safe,  the  latter  expressed  aloud  their 
dissatisfaction,  and  finally  called  for  their  dismissal  from  the  service 
of  their  prince,  and  their  return  to  their  own  country.  The  Saxoas 
refused  to  accede  to  this,  and  the  unfortunate  Britons,  who  had  but  just 
got  rid  of  one  set  of  tyrants,  had  now  to  fight  for  existence  against 
another. 


368      SAXONS    SEIZE    ON   THE    GOVERNMENT.  SAXON    MASSACRE. 

A  battle  ensued  between  the  Saxons  and  the  native  Britons  in  Kent, 
and,  though  the  former  liad  not  the  victory,  yet  Hengist,  having,  with 
his  own  hand,  killed  the  brother  of  the  prince,  took  upon  himself  the 
title  of  king  of  Kent.  Two  years  after  this,  another  great  battle  was 
fought  between  the  Saxons  and  native  Britons,  in  which  the  former 
were  victorious,  when  Hengist  ravaged  the  country  in  a  merciless 
manner,  and  the  unfortunate  inhabitants  fled  for  safety  to  the  distant 
woods  and  mountains.  The  Britons  then  applied  to  the  king  of  Brit- 
tany, in  France,  for  succor.  He  sent  them  Ambrosius,  at  the  head  of 
ten  thousand  men ;  but,  through  the  jealousy  of  the  local  chiefs  of  the 
old  Britons,   this  force  was  rendered  nugatory. 

In  466,  the  war  between  the  Saxons  and  Britons  was  again  renewed. 
It  was  in  this  war  that  the  celebrated  Prince  Arthur,  of  Cornwall, 
made  his  appearance  at  fourteen  years  of  age.  This  war  did  not 
change  the  features  of  the  struggle. 

Hengist,  the  chief  of  the  Saxons,  now  meditated  the  blackest  and 
most  atrocious  deed  that  stains  the  page  of  history.  Perhaps,  in  the 
whole  annals  of  the  collected  perfidy  of  mankind,  there  is  nothing  so 
diabolical  to  be  found. 

On  l!;e  first  arrival  of  the  Saxons  in  Britain,  Voriigem,  the  British 
prince,  fell  in  love  with,  and  married,  Roioena,  the  handsome  niece 
of  Hengist.  By  him  she  had  a  daughter,  who,  when  grown  to 
maturity,  was  given  in  marriage  to  Vortimer,  the  general-in-chief  of 
the  old  Britons.  Hengist  entered  into  a  conspiracy  with  Rowena 
to  destroy  this  general,  who  was  her  own  son-in-law,  which  she 
accomplished  by  administering  poison  to  him  at  an  entertainment. 
The  conspiracy  between  this  unnatural  woman  and  her  fiendish 
uncle  extended  afterwards  to  the  destruction "  of  her  own  husband, 
and  three  hundred,  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Britons,  under  the  fol- 
lowing circumstances :  Hengist  gave  a  great  entertainment,  to 
which,  under  pretence  of  agreeing  to  certain  amicable  conditions  for 
the  peaceable  settlement  of  the  country,  then  under  negotiation,  Prince 
Vortigern  and  three  hundred  of  his  chiefs  were  invited,  who  were 
the  heads  of  the  noblest  families  in  Britain.  At  the  urgent 
suggestion  of  this  wicked  woman,  her  husband  and  his  chiefs  and 
captains  accepted  the  invitation.  In  the  midst  of  the  banquet,  the 
prince  and  his  three  hundred  chiefs  were  surrounded  by  a  host  of  armed 
Saxons,  and  all  of  them  were  foully  butchered,  one  only  escaping. 
This  occurred  on  the  frst  of  May,  476,  which  was  noted  for  ages 
after  as  the  day  of  Saxon  treachery ;  and,  to  mark  the  deed  to  the 
execration  of  all  posterity,  Ambrosius  erected  a  cromleagh,  in  Wiltshire. 


THE    HEPTARCHY.  ORIGIN    OF    "  ENGLAND."  369 

Such  were  the  means  by  which  the  Saxons  first  obtained  power  in 
Britain  ;  such  were  the  means  by  which  they  preserved  that  power 
through  succeeding  ages  ;  such  were  the  means  by  which  they  obtained 
power  and  preserved  it  in  unfortunate  Ireland ;  and  such  the  means 
by  which  they  would  have  power  every  where. 

Hengist,  after  the  butchery  of  the  prince  and  all  his  chiefs,  was  so 
detested  and  feared  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  he  had  thus  got 
possession  of,  that  they  fled  from  it,  leaving  tracts  of  land  totally  unin- 
habited. Other  Saxon  hordes  were  invited  over,  who,  however,  had  to 
fight  their  way  inch  by  inch  to  the  possessions  they  sought.  In  488, 
Hengist  died,  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine,  thirty-nine  years  of  which  he 
reigned  the  king  of  Kent. 

Other  Saxon  leaders  appeared  ;  and  in  those  times  the  celebrated 
Prince  Arthur  defeated  them  in  several  battles  ;  and  at  Baden  Hilt, 
near  Bath,  Arthur  gained  an  important  victory,  where  he  killed,  it  is 
said,  four  hundred  Saxons  with  his  own  hand. 

In  542,  a  decisive  battle  was  fought  near  Camelford,  between 
Arthur,  at  the  head  of  the  old  Britons,  and  the  Saxons.  In  this  battle, 
the  valiant  Arthur  was  killed :  and,  though  the  commander  of  the 
Saxons  fell  on  the  same  field,  the  death  of  Arthur  so  discouraged  the 
Britons,  that  a  panic  seized  them,  their  hopes  fell,  and,  with  their  brave 
commander,  their  cause  sank  forever.  Arthur  was  buried  in  Glaston- 
bury, at  the  age  of  ninety,  seventy -six  of  which  he  was  in  the  field, 
tr}nng  to  rid  his  country  of  her  oppressors. 

Multitudes  of  the  Angles  now  appeared,  and  landed  on  the  eastern 
coast  of  Britain  ;  and  finally  the  Saxons  and  Angles  became  so  numer- 
ous, that,  in  the  year  585,  they  agreed  to  divide  the  kingdom  into  seven 
principalities,  to  be  called  England,  over  each  of  which  a  supreme 
king  was  appointed  ;  and  this  was  called  the  Heptarchy,  which  con- 
tinued from  this  period  to  the  year  827,  when  another  organic  change 
took  place  by  the  invasion  of  the  Scandinavians,  or  Danes.  The 
ancient  inhabitants  were  driven  among  the  barren  mountains  of  Wales, 
which  was  called  Cambria  :  they  were  ever,  and  are  still,  a  distinct 
race  from  the  Angles  and  Saxons  —  distinct  in  blood,  customs,  and 
language. 

Anno  458  We  now  return  to  the  direct  history  of  the  Milesian  race, 
which  I  resume  at  the  year  458.  The  estates  of  Tara  had  been 
called  together  to  elect  a  successor  to  Laogaire,  who,  after  reigning 
thirty  years,  was  killed  by  lightning.  Oilioll  Molt,  the  son  of  the 
hero  Dathy,  was,  by  a  plurality  of  voices,  declared  monarch.  He 
47 


370         NATIONAL    ASSEMBLY    OF    TARA. TRADE    CORPORATIONS. 

was  a  Christian  prince,  and  so  were  almost  all  the  princes  and  nobility 
of  the  kingdom  at  the  time. 

It  was  decreed,  at  that  sitting,  that  the  Christian  bishops  should 
fill  those  seats  in  the  national  assembly  formerly  occupied  by  the 
Druid  Flamens,  and  that  three  bishops  should  always  compose  a 
part  of  the  committee  for  inspecting  the  different  provincial  histories? 
instead  of  the  three  arch-Druids.  This  committee  was  more  regu- 
larly appointed  after  St.  Patrick's  preaching  than  previously.  It 
was  composed  of  three  bishops,  three  bards,  and  three  antiquarians. 
The  monarch,  or  his  delegate,  was  the  president  of  this  commonwealth. 
All  the  records  of  the  kingdom  were  subjected  to  the  severest  criticism 
and  inquiry. 

Besides  the  general  assembly  of  Tara,  there  were  the  provincial 
assemblies  regularly  convened  at  Cruachan  in  Connaught,  and  Emania 
in  Ulster,  for  the  close  inspection  of  trade,  commerce,  and  the 
mechanic  arts.  These  provincial  assemblies  met,  by  proclamation  of 
the  monarch,  to  make  their  reports  on  those  matters  so  connected  with 
the  happiness  of  the  people.  Sixty  of  the  best-informed  were  com- 
missioned to  disperse  themselves  into  the  chief  cities  and  manufac- 
turing towns,  to  see  if  the  exclusive  privileges  granted  to  them  were  in 
any  manner  abused,  or  if  any  article  was  made  so  inferior  as  to  defraud 
the  purchaser,  or  damage  the  national  character. 

Such  were  the  wise  methods  by  which  our  great  ancestors  preserved 
their  country  free  and  happy,  whilst  other  nations  of  Europe  were 
reduced  to  the  greatest  distress  and  confusion,  owing  to  the  absence  of 
sound  legislation.  How  different  are  her  affairs  conducted  in  modern 
times !  Though  Scotland  has  her  board  of  trade,  established  no  earlier 
than  1715;  though  England  has  her  board  of  trade,  established  no 
earlier  than  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  ;  though  France,  Belgium,  Holland, 
and  all  the  European  nations,  have  their  boards  of  trade,  —  Ireland  alone 
had  no  board  of  trade  since  the  "Union,"  until  the  humble  individual 
who  writes  this  record  established  one^  under  the  auspices  of  the  Very 
Reverend  Dr.  Flanagan,  in  1840,  based  on  the  voluntary  subscriptions 
of  the  citizens  of  Dublin.  That  board  is  still  continued  by  the  Liber- 
ator and  the  patriotic  repealers  of  Ireland.  It  worked  wonders  in 
awaking  attention  to  the  neglected  manufactures  of  Ireland,  some  fabrics 
of  which,  in  beauty  and  durability,  are  not  to  be  excelled  in  Europe. 

Anno  478.  In  this  year,  Lughaidh,  the  son  of  Laogaire,  became 
monarch  of  Ireland.  His  reign  was  one  of  troubles.  Though  the  in^ 
fluence  of  Christianity  softened  the  combatants,  yet  history  is  grieved  to 


REIGN    OF    LUGHAIDH. PROGRESS    OF    CHRISTIANITY.  371 

record  the  shedding  of  much  blood  by  rival  factions.  The  Christian  reli- 
gion had  now  made  great  progress  in  Ireland.  During  St.  Patrick's 
mission,  upwards  of  seven  hundred  religious  houses  were  built  and  con- 
secrated. Besides  these,  the  celebrated  St.  Bridget  founded  her  famous 
monastery  in  Kildare,  anno  480,  for  which  she  formed  particular  rules. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  Dubhtach,  a  Leinster  captain  ;  was  born  45.3  ; 
took  the  veil,  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  from  the  hands  of  St.  M' Caile. 
She  lived  to  seventy  yeare  of  age ;  and,  from  the  day  of  her  vow  to 
the  day  of  her  death,  she  was  daily  gaining  in  spiritual  perfection.  She 
was  not  only  canonized  after  death,  but  declared  perpetual  patroness 
of  Leinster.  The  fame  of  her  sanctity  spread  over  Europe,  and  at 
Seville  in  Spain,  at  Lisbon,  at  Placentia  in  Italy,  at  Tours,  Cologne, 
and  even  in  London,  the  Christians  dedicated  churches  to  her.  Parents 
were  anxious  to  give  her  name  to  their  children  ;  and  every  where 
her  life  was  imitated  by  the  pious  virgins,  who  dedicated  themselves  to 
a  retired  communion  with  their  Maker.  She  wrote  several  books 
on  various  subjects ;  amongst  these,  Rules  for  the  Nuns  of  her  own 
Foundation  ;  a  Poem  to  St.  Patrick ;  also  the  Life  of  St.  Patrick. 
She  founded  the  convent,  monastery,  and  the  cathedral  of  Kildare,  a 
round  tower  near  which  is  yet  standing. 

On  the  right  and  left  sides  of  the  old  cathedral  of  Kildare  were 
placed  monuments  and  statues  of  St.  Bridget  and  St.  Conlaith,  highly 
finished,  and  ornamented  with  precious  stones,  gold,  and  silver.  From 
the  old  descriptions  of  this  cathedral,  there  is  evidence  of  a  very  high 
excellence  in  the  science  of  architecture.  And  Cambrensis,  the  un- 
friendly historian  of  Ireland,  confesses  to  have  examined,  with  astonish- 
ment, amongst  other  relics  and  curiosities  of  the  church,  a  Concordance 
of  the  four  Gospels,  written  for  the  use  of  St.  Bridget,  the  margin  of 
which  was  ornamented  with  mystic  pictures,  most  wonderfully  and 
animatingly  finished  ;  the  writing,  but  particularly  the  capital  letters, 
so  highly  ornamented,  that,  says  he,  "  neither  the  pencil  of  Apelles, 
nor  the  chisel  of  a  Lysippus,  ever  formed  the  like;  in  a  word,  they  seem 
to  have  been  formed  by  something  more  than  a  mortal  hand." 

Anno  503,  Mortough,  of  the  house  of  Niall,  was  chosen  monarch 
of  Ireland.  He  was  an  excellent  Christian,  and  his  queen,  Sabina, 
led  so  exemplary  a  life  as  to  be  ranked  amongst  the  saints  of  Ireland. 
Several  kings  succeeded  each  other  in  Ireland  ;  but,  as  their  reigns 
furnish  nothing  beyond  the  average  course  of  events,  I  will  pass  them 
over. 

In    the  fifth,    sixth,   seventh,    and   eighth    centuries,   the   attention, 


372  SPIRIT    OF    THE    IRISH    CHRISTIANS. LISMORE. 

labors,  and  enthusiasm,  of  the  nation,  seem  to  have  been  exclusively 
directed  to  the  erection  of  churches,  monasteries,  and  colleges.  In 
these  monasteries  large  numbers  of  religious  men  assembled.  They 
were  governed  by  different  local  rules  established  by  their  founders. 
Prayer,  labor,  and  the  instruction  of  the  ignorant,  seem  to  have  been 
their  exclusive  occupation.  Their  times  for  prayer  were  frequent  both 
by  night  and  by  day.  In  all  the  monasteries,  they  rose  twice  or  thrice 
in  the  night  to  pray  and  sing.  In  the  daytime,  they  labored  in  their 
fields,  having  none  but  themselves  to  cultivate  their  lands  and  raise 
provisions.  They  returned  frequently  fram  their  fields  to  their  churches 
to  offer  prayer.  Some  of  those  pious  men,  better  fitted  with  patience 
and  knowledge  than  the  others,  were  the  teachers  of  youtb.  Instruc- 
tion was  universally  communicated,  free  of  charge,  to  the  agricultural 
population  surrounding  those  monasteries.  In  all  probability,  the  youth, 
thu^  gratuitously  taught,  were. grateful  to  their  kind-hearted  preceptors, 
and  did  them,  in  return,  many  generous  offices  in  their  building  oper- 
ations and  harvest-work.  A  relationship  of  a  most  endearing  nature 
grew  up  between  the  inhabitants  of  those  peaceful  tenements  and  the 
surrounding  country,  and  a  sanctified  happiness  seems  to  have  pervaded 
the  entire  nation. 

There  were  many  of  those  societies  whose  rules  were  more  rigid  than 
the  others  ;  some  permitted  no  woman  to  enter  their  gates  ;  others  lived 
altogether  on  herbs,  and  drank  nought  but  water.  There  seemed  to  be 
an  emulation  between  these  several  communities  towards  purity  and 
holiness,  which  stamped  on  the  })eople  that  character  of  sanctity  which 
contemporary  nations  so  much  admired  and   applauded. 

"  Lismore  is  a  holy  city,  into  the  half  of  which,  there  being  an 
asylum,  no  woman  dare  enter ;  it  w.as  filled  with  cells  and  holy  mon- 
asteries, and  a  number  of  holy  men  are  always  in  it.  The  religious 
fiow  to  it  from  every  part  of  Ireland,  England,  and  Britain,  anxious  to 
emigrate  to  Christ ;  and  the  city  itself  is  situate  on  the  southern  bank 
of  the  river,  formerly  called  Ne7n,  lately  called  Aben-Mor,  i.  e.,  a  great 
river  in  the  district  of  Nandesus."  — Allemand's  Monastic  History  of 
Ireland. 

This  famous  seat  of  learning  was  celebrated,  even  in  pagan  times,  for 
its  literary  fame.  It  is  situated  in  the  south  of  Ireland,  on  the  banks  of 
the  River  Blackwater,  which  runs  into  the  Atlantic  at  Youghal. 
Perhaps,  through  all  creation,  there  is  not  a  more  lovely  spot.  It 
was  a  famous  seat  of  literature  long  previous  to  the  times  of  St.  Patrick. 
It  was  here  Cataldus  studied  and  King  Cormac  w^as  educated  ;  here  St. 


ABSENTEES. ORIGIX    OF    THE    SOCIETIES    OF    HOLY    MEN.        373 

Donat  taught,  and  Cormac  of  Cashell  was  entombed.  It  was  the 
sepulchre  of  sages  and  kings  for  many  ages ;  and,  when  the  cross  was 
raised  upon  its  time-honored  towers,  the  pious  of  the  European  nations 
came  thither  to  worship  and  be  instructed.  The  College  of  Lismore 
educated  more  students,  during  the  ages  of  its  Christian  fame,  than 
have  Oxford  and  Cambridge  together,  since   their  foundation. 

Lismore,  as  a  Christian  university,  was  liberally  endowed  with  lands 
for  its  maintenance.  The  produce  of  these  lands  was  spent  amongst 
the  people  that  raised  it,  brightening  their  intellects  and  nourishing 
their  persons.     Education  was  offered  to  every   body  free  of  charge. 

During  the  reformation,  in  tlie  sixteenth  century,  Lismore  and  its  lands 
were  seized  on  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  given  to  Boyle,  the  ancestor  of 
the  present  Duke  of  Devonshire.  He  was  a  soldier  of  fortune,  who 
came  to  Ireland  with  nothing  but  his  sword  and  a  patent  to  rob  from 
the  virgin  queen.  The  pious  and  learned  inhabitants  of  Lismore  were 
put  to  the  sword  ;  their  lands  and  effects  were  seized  ;  the  light  of 
education  was  extinguished,  and  the  open  hand  of  hospitality  was  closed 
forever.  The  ■'  noble  "  proprietor  and  his  successors  became  absentees. 
These  lands  were  put  into  the  hands  of  an  agent.  The  rich  produce, 
the  herds,  and  flocks,  and  grain,  and  provisions,  raised  by  the  poor 
people  who  inhabit  them,  were  thenceforward  carried  over  to  England 
to  feed  a  race  tliat  despise  them.  The  Duke  of  Devonshire  is  con- 
tinually absent ;  he  spends  all  this  substance  in  the  gayest  parts  of 
Europe,  and  his  tenants  are  considered  well  off,  if  the  able-bodied 
men  get  sixpence  a  day  for  their  labor.  The  case  of  Lismore 
is  the  case  of  all  Ireland. 

Whether  the  institutions  of  holy  brotherhoods  of  monks  had  their  origin 
in  Ireland  or  elsewhere,  we  have  no  very  distinct  means  of  ascertaining. 
It  is  certain  that,  on  St.  Patrick's  arrival  in  the  country,  he  found 
more  than  one  society  existing.  The  monks  of  St.  Ailhe,  and  those 
of  St.  Dedan  and  St.  Kievan,  were  established  in  Ireland  long  be- 
fore his  time."  Before  the  establishment  of  the  two  great  societies  by 
St.  Benedict  and  St.  Augustine,  there  were  established  in  Ireland  thir- 
teen distinct  orders,  viz.,  those  of  St.  Ailbe,  St.  Declan,  St.  Kievan, 
St.  Patrick,  St.  Columb,  St.  Carthach,  St.  Molua,  St.  Moctee,  St. 
Colnan,  St.  Finian,  St.  Columbanus,  St.  Brendan,  and  the  order 
instituted  by  St.  Bridget  for  females.  All  these  orders  differed  one 
from  the  other,  not  only  in  their  dress,  tonsure,  food,  and  retirement, 
but  likewise  in  the  names  of  those  who  had  been  their  founders. 
The   abbeys   and   monasteries  connected  with   each   order  were  dis- 


374  ACKNOWLEDSMENT    OF    THE    GERMANS. 

tinct  in  name,  possessions,  and  rules ;  and  these  rules  were  totally 
independent  of  those  of  any  other  brotherhood  on  the  continent. 
Indeed,  there  are  but  a  few  faint  records  of  the  monkish  orders  in 
any  part  of  the  continent,  till  the  times  of  St.  Augustine  and  St. 
Benedict,  the  former  of  whom  flourished  in  the  fourth  and  the  latter 
in  the  seventh  century.  These  two  societies  endeavored  to  blend 
all  the  existing  orders  with  their  own.  But  it  appears  that  one 
only  of  the  thirteen  Irish  orders  joined  them  at  first,  namely,  that  of 
Columbanus.  In  the  course  of  time,  however,  the  remainder  became 
blended  with  one  or  other  of  these  extensive  orders. 

Before  this  junction,  the  Irish  missionaries  had  already  established 
their  orders  in  France  and  Germany.  St.  Columbanus  and  St.  Gall 
had  travelled  from  Ireland,  in  the  close  of  the  sixth  century,  through 
France,  Italy,  Switzerland,  and  many  parts  of  Germany,  and  had  built 
several  monasteries  and  churches  in  all  those  countries,  some  of  which 
exist  to  this  day. 

The  order  of  monks,  or  holy  brotherhoods,  was  thus  introduced  into 
some  parts  of  Europe  by  Irish  missionaries ;  and  the  rules  and  church 
music  of  Ireland  were  introduced  at  the  same  time.  Whether  any  such 
orders  existed  in  Europe  previous  to  their  first  establishment  in  Ireland, 
we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining.  It  is  said,  traditionally,  there  were 
some  orders  in  the  isles  of  the  Mediterranean  and  in  Alexandria  ;  but 
there  is  no  very  distinct  record  of  their  existence. 

The  Germans  of  the  present  day  honorably  acknowledge  their 
Christian  and  literary  indebtedness  to  Ireland.  In  the  present  year,  an 
address  of  sympathy  has  been  drawn  up  by  some  of  the  heads  of  the 
German  colleges,  directed  to  Daniel  O'Connell,  in  which  ancient  Ire- 
land is  thus  spoken  of:  — 

"  It  would,  indeed,  be  divesting  ourselves  [the  people  of  Germany] 
of  all  human  sentiments,  if  we  were  not  to  entertain  the  deepest  and 
sincerest  sympathy  for  the  ill-treated  people  of  your  isle,  sighing  under 
>the  yoke,  and  still  reeking  from  the  streams  of  shed  blood.  But  want 
of  sympathy  on  our  part  would,  moreover,  involve  the  blackest  ingrati- 
tude. We  never  can  forget  to  look  upon  your  beloved  country  as  our 
mother  in  religion,  that  already,  at  the  remotest  periods  of  the  Chris- 
tian era,  commiserated  our  people,  and  readily  sent  forth  her  spiritual 
sons  to  rescue  our  pagan  ancestor's  from  idolatry,  at  the  sacrifice  of  her 
own  property  and  blood,  and  to  entail  upon  them  the  blessings  of  the 
Christian  faith.  They  thus  have  made  us  their,  and  their  nation's, 
spiritual  children,  and  laid  up  a  store  of  merits  for  the  people  of  Ireland, 


RELIGIOUS    SPIRIT    OF    THE    IRISH. 


375 


which  only  base  indifference  and  want  of  all  good  feeling  could  be 
unmindful  of,  and  which  just  now  presents  itself  the  more  vividly  to  our 
memory,  the  more  ive  behold  the  native  land  of  those  faithful  apostles 
delivered  over  to  undeserved  misfortune  by  hijustice."  —  German 
Address  to  Daniel  O' Connell,  dated  April,  1844. 

This  combined  expression  of  sympathy  and  gratitude,  from  a  people 
so  enlightened  as  the  Germans,  is  peculiarly  .cheering  to  the  oppressed 
Irishman,  and  is  animating  beyond  measure,  at  this  moment,  to  the  Irish 
exile. 

So  numerous  were  the  literary  and  religious  foundations  established 
by  those  people,  that  the  island,  says  the  Abbe  M'Geoghegan,  "  was 
called,  by  way  of  preeminence,  from  the  number  of  saints  it  had 
produced,  Insula  Sanctorum,  the  '  Island  of  Saints.'  "  The  number, 
indeed,  was  so  great,  that  Colgan  observed,  not  without  reason,  in  the 
preface  to  his  life  of  the  Irish  saints,  that  "  what  is  at  present  said  of 
them  is  scarcely  credible." 

"Besides,  Ireland  can,  in  comparison  with  the  rest  of  Europe,  boast 
of  having  been  at  that  time  a  seminary  of  sanctity,  whither  the  Chris- 
tians of  other  nations  came  in  crowds,  to  learn  the  practice  of  Christian 
virtue,  and  from  whence  a  considerable  number  of  saints  went  forth 
daily,  and  dispersed  themselves  throughout  the  different  parts  of  Europe, 
where  they  founded  famous  abbeys,  the  monuments  of  which  are  still 
to  be  seen,  so  that  Ireland  might  be  called,  in  that  golden  age,  '  in 
aureis  illis  seminatce  Fidei  primordiis,^  the  Thebaid  of  the  west.  It 
even  appears,  says  Allemand,  that,  at  that  time,  it  was  sufBcient  to  be 
an  Irishman,  or  to  have  been  in  Ireland,  to  be  considered  holy,  and 
become  the  immediate  founder  of  some  abbey.  Whilst  the  rest  of 
Europe  was  a  prey  to  the  most  dreadful  catastrophes  and  astonishing 
revolutions,  Divine  Providence  bestowed  upon  this  peaceful  island 
graces  and  blessings  which  strangers  went  thither  to  be  partakers  of." 

A  mere  catalogue  of  the  religious  and  literary  institutions  which  they 
erected  would  fill  a  score  of  pages,  that  might  not,  after  all,  be  so  inter- 
BStino-  to  the  general  American  reader  as  other  matter  presented  in  Irish 
history.  It  may  be  sufficient  to  say,  that,  in  every  district  of  five 
square  miles  in  Ireland,  institutions  of  this  kind  were  established.  In 
these  were  deposited  all  the  books  and  literary  remains  of  former  ages. 
[n  the  abbey  of  Fathan,  near  Inisowen,  there  was  found  a  large 
book  of  chronology,  filled  with  many  historical  passages  concerning 
other  nations,  from  which  the  antiquarian  frequently  quoted.  Colgan 
said,  that,  in  his  time,  there  were  still  some  fragments  of  it  remaining, 
which  had  escaped  the  fury  of  the  reformers  of  later  ages.. 


376    REFLECTIONS    ON    THE    INFLUENCE    OF    RELIGIOUS    INSTRUCTION 

In  Armagh,  Usher  found  those  precious  tomes  of  antiquity,  which  he 
wrought,  with  so  much  genius,  to  his  own  advantage  and  renown. 
Cashell,  Tuam,  St.  Finbars,  and  other  such  pious  depositories,  yielded 
their  rich  literary  and  chronological  treasures  to  the  modern  historian. 
The  rich  library  of  Lismore,  seized  on  by  Boyle,  afforded  his  son, 
the  Earl  of  Orrery,  that  immense  store  of  knowledge  of  science  and 
astronomy  which  shone  out  through  him  as  original  conceptions. 

;S'^.  Fachanus  founded  an  academy  at  Ross,  in  the  county  of  Cork, 
which  soon  grew  into  a  city,  and  which  is  ranked  by  Ware  as  one  of 
the  principal  academies  of  this  age.  The  university  of  Clonard,  next  to 
that  of  Benchoir,  was  greatly  celebrated.  In  it,  under  St.  Finian,  were 
no  less  a  number  than  three  thousand  scholars  at  one  time ;  in  that  of 
Armagh,  there  were  seven   thousand. 

The  great  St.  Bernard,  an  Italian  writer  of  the  twelfth  century,  says 
that,  "  in  the  sixth  century,  under  St.  ComhgiU,  the  monastery  of 
Benchoire  was  a  most  noble  one,  containing  many  thousand  monks, 
and  itself  the  chief  of  many  monasteries.  So  fruitful  was  it  of  holy 
men,  and  multiplying  so  greatly  to  the  Lord,  that  Luanus  alone,  a 
subject  of  this  house,  founded  no  less  than  one  hundred  monasteries. 

"  This  T  mention,"  continues  he,  "  that  the  reader  may  form  an  idea 
of  the  number  of  religious  that  existed  in  these  days  in  Ireland." 

The  zeal  and  piety  of  these  holy  monks,  he  tells  us,  were  not  con- 
6ned  to  Ireland,  but,  like  an  inundation,  their  saints  spread  piety  and 
virtue  over  all  Europe. 

A  list  of  the  religious,  literary,  and  scientific  books,  written  in  this 
age,  has  been  furnished  by  the  historians,  but  they  form  quite  a  cata- 
logue. It  is  true  that  the  majority  of  these  works  consist  of  the  lives 
of  saints,  and  are  occupied  with  other  pious  subjects,  and  may  not  be 
highly  appreciated  by  the  Uluminaii  of  the  present  age.  There  are 
some,  however,  of  the  pious  descendants  of  the  great  race  of  which 
those  men  were  part,  who  appreciate  their  worth,  and  still  would  imitate 
their  pious  examples.  One  of  the  great  objects  these  despised  men  ever 
had  in  view  was,  to  improve  the  human  heart,  and  call  forth  from  its 
recesses  charity,  philanthropism,  hospitality,  and  a  thorough  contempt  of 
riclies,  —  to  subdue  or  root  out  that  curse  of  the  human  mind,  covetous- 
ness,  a  vice  from  which  the  majority  of  the  troubles  of  families  and  of 
nations  has  proceeded.  That  besetting  sin  begins  in  infancy:  the 
child,  covetous  of  toys  and  coppers,  grows  to  manhood,  and  becomes 
covetous  of  wealth.  It  is  the  business  of  religion  to  purge  this  and 
other  deteriorating  passions  from  the  human   mind. 


IN   FORMING   THE    GOOD    CITIZEN.  377 

But  where  religion  forms  not  the  good  citizen,  neither  can  the  law. 
The  purity  and  force  of  the  law  proceeds  from  that  purity,  integrity, 
and  innate  love  of  justice,  which  religion  only  can  engender  and  pre- 
serve in  the  human  heart.  Without  religion,  the  general  is  susceptible 
of  treachery,  the  judge  of  partiality,  the  public  magistrate  of  bribery, 
and  the  public  officer  of  'peculation. 

The  order  of  Heaven  is  equality,  and  a  common  participation,  here 
and  hereafter,  in  its  blessings.  Any  serious  deviation  from  this  order 
produces  misery  in  the  community  in  which  it  arises.  We  all  come 
into  the  world  and  go  out  of  it  on  a  perfect  equality.  The  baby  of  the 
monarch  or  the  president,  and  the  baby  of  the  humblest  in  society, 
are  equally  helpless,  equally  pleased  or  grieved  by  the  self-same  causes, 
and  experience  the  self-same  sensations  of  pleasure  or  pain.  The 
differences  that  arise  between  us  in  after  life  proceed  from  a  variety  of 
subsequent  circumstances,  including  the  gifts  of  a  sound,  capacious 
mind,  derived  most  frequently  from  a  serene,  religious,  and  healthy 
parentage,  —  or  a  mind  of  an  opposite  nature,  derived  from  an  opposite 
source.  A  mind  derived  from  the  former  source,  if  instructed  by  the 
genius  o^  religion  and  charity,  expands  into  a  most  perfect  human  being. 

Heaven  points  its  finger  of  scorn  at  the  accumulations  of  the  cov- 
etous, and  the  tinsel  dignity  of  the  worldly  great,  by  blessing  poor  and 
lowly  parents  with  children  who  become  the  very  lords  of  intellect. 

When  the  mind  expands  without  the  governing  power  of  religion, 
the  worst  kind  of  human  passions  grow  and  increase,  and  in  pro- 
portion to  the  capacity  with  which  the  individual  is  endowed,  so  in 
that  degree  does  he  become  more  and  more  mischievous  to  mankind. 

Sir  James  Mackintosh  remarks,  on  the  tendency  of  the  old  Irish 
writers  to  celebrate  the  most  learned,  virtuous,  and  pious  of  men, 
instead  of  the  most  warlike,  "  The  vast  collections  of  the  lives  of 
saints  often  throw  light  on  public  events,  and  open  glimpses  into  the 
habits  of  men  in  those  times.  *  *  *  The  whole  force  of  this  noble 
attempt  to  exalt  human  nature  was  at  this  period  spent  on  the  lives  of 
saints  —  a  sort  of  moral  heroes,  or  demigods,  without  some  acquaint- 
ance with  whom  it  is  hard  to  comprehend  an  age  when  the  com- 
memoration of  the  virtues  then  most  venerated,  as  imbodied  in  those 
holy  men,  was  the  principal  theme  of  the  genius  of  Christendom." 

The  degree  of  eminence,  in  literature  and  science,  to  which  the  Irish 

nation  attained,  is  hardly  to  be  credited,  and  would  not  be  admitted  on 

the  authority  of  their  own  historians,  whose  partiality  for  their  country, 

or  whose  vanity,  might  be  supposed   to  influence   their   descriptions, 

48 


378     OPINIONS    OF    BEDE    AND    CAMDEN. LABORS    OF    CATALDUS. 

But  the  united  testimony  of  a  crowd  of  foreign  authors,  ancient  and 
modern,  from  Bade  to  Monsieur  Michelet,  suppHes  proofs  that  must 
remove  all  doubt  about  the  facts. 

-  "  Besides  the  number  of  monasteries  that  had  been  founded  in  Ire- 
land, and  which  were  peopled  with  saints  and  learned  monks  not  inferior 
to  the  fathers  of  the  deserts  for  the  austerity  of  their  lives  and  total 
abandonment  of  the  world,  Ireland  supplied  all  Europe,  during  these 
a^es,  with  swarms  of  zealous  missionaries,  who  announced  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ  amongst  some  nations,  and  among  others  caused  it  to 
revive."  —  Bede. 

The  English  Camden  remarks,  "  The  disciples  of  Patrick  made  so 
great  a  progress  in  Christianity,  that,  in  the  following  age,  Ireland  was 
called  the  Island  of  Saints;  and  none  could  be  more  holy  and  learned 
than  the  Irish  monks,  both  in  their  own  country  and  Britain,  who  sent 
swarms  of  most  holy  men  iiito  all  Europe.  To  them,  Luxovium  in 
Burgundy,  Bohiense  in  Italy,  Hornipolis  in  Franconia,  St.  Gallus  in 
Helvetia,  Malmesburia  in  Lindefarn,  and  many  other  monasteries  in 
Britain,  owe  their  origin.  The  following  saints  were  from  Ireland  : 
Celius  Sedulius,  (presbyter,)  Columba,  Columbanus,  Colmanus,  Aidanus, 
Gallus,  Kilianus,  Maidulphus,  Brendanus,  and  many  others,  who  were 
renowned  for  their  sanctity  and  learning." 

The  eminent  Cataldus  deserves  the  attention  of  the  historian  and  the 
reader.  Born  in  Ireland,  he  made  his  studies  in  the  celebrated  College 
of  Lismore.  Here,  according  to  Usher,  he  was  the  delight  of  the  foreign 
students,  who  flocked  to  that  celebrated  seat  of  literature  for  knowledge : 
"  A  youth,  endowed  with  a  hberal  discipline,  soon  attained  to  that  ex- 
cellence in  instructions,  that  the  Gauls,  English,  Teutones,  Scotch,  and 
other  neighboring  people,  who  came  to  Lismore,  flocked  to  hear  him." 
Having  performed  the  functions  of  bishop  of  Rathheny,  in  Ireland,  some 
years,  he  undertook  a  voyage  to  Jerusalem,  to  visit  the  holy  sepulchre, 
and,  returning  through  Italy,  he  re'cstahlished  the  Christian  religion 
amongst  the  Tarentines,  who  had  already  abandoned  it,  and  returned  to 
the  impious  worship  of  idols.  The  inhabitants  of  Tarentum  adopted 
him  as  their  patron  saint,  and  on  his  death  erected  a  silver  monument 
over  his  tomb.  It  is  said  by  Usher  and  Ware,  that  he  foretold  the 
destruction  of  Naples.  He  preached  in  the  fifth  century.  Usher  con- 
cludes his  notice  of  him  in  these  remarkable  words  :  "  Rejoice,  O  happy 
Ireland,  for  being  the  country  of  so  fair  an  offspring ;  but  thou,  Taren- 
tum, rejoice  still  more,  which  encloses  (within  a  tomb)  so  great  a  treas- 
ure!" 


SEDULIUS. FRIDOLINTJS.  379 

Sedulius,  a  native  of  Hibernia,  according  to  Usher,  was  a  most 
eminent  scholar,  who  travelled  through  Europe,  studied  and  lectured 
at  Rome,  wrote  several  works  in  prose  and  verse,  some  of  them  theo- 
logical, some  historical,  some  biographical :  he  also  wrote  some  hymns, 
which  were  adopted  by  the  council  of  the  church  at  Rome.  The 
works  of  Sedulius  were  highly  esteemed  by  the  ancients ;  to  which  a 
council,  composed  of  seventy  bishops,  assembled  at  Rome  during  the 
pontificate  of  Gelasius,  bears  a  favorable  testimony.  "  We  think  highly,^' 
said  the  fathers  of  the  council,  ''of  the  paschal  work,  written  in  heroic 
verse,  by  the  venerable  Sedulius/'  Moore  has  the  following,  in  reference 
to  this  learned  man  :  "  A  far  loftier  flight  of  sacred  song  was  at  the  same 
time  [fifth  century]  ventured  by  an  Irish  writer  abroad,  the  poet  Shell ; 
in  Irish,  Seidhuil,  Latinized  Sedulius.  Among  other  writings  of 
acknowledged  merit,  he  was  the  author  of  a  spirited  poem  in  iambics, 
upon  the  life  of  Christ.  From  this  poem  the  Catholic  church  has 
selected  some  of  her  most  beautiful  hymns.''  Sedulius  wrote  in  448, 
more  than  a  century  before  the  time  of  Pope  St.  Gregory.  Hilde- 
phonsus,  archbishop  of  Toledo,  says  of  our  author,  that  he  was  an 
evangelical  poet,  an  eloquent  orator,  and  a  Catholic  writer  —  "bonus 
ille  Sedulius,  poeta  evangelicus,  orator  facundus,  scriptor  Catholicus." 
Lastly,  the  church  inserted  "  A  soUs  ortus  cardine/'  and  "  Hostis 
Herodes  impie,"  (taken  from  the  writings  of  Sedulius,)  in  the  breviary 
of  hymns,  the  first  at  the  nativity  of  our  Savior,  and  the  last  at  the 
Epiphany,  with  the  "  Salve,  sancta  parens,  enixa  puei'pera  Regem," 
which  is  used  as  an  introit  at  the  masses  of  the  blessed  Virgin. 

St.  Fridolinus,  son  of  an  Irish  king,  having  embraced  a  monastic  life, 
left  his  country,  and  travelled  through  several  parts  of  Germany  and 
France,  about  the  end  of  the  fifth  century,  and  in  the  time  of  Clovis, 
fii'st  Christian  king  of  the  Franks  ;  on  which  account  he  was  called 
"  Fridolinus  the  traveller,"  by  Judocus,  Coccius,  Possevin,  and  others. 
After  preaching  the  gospel  in  different  parts  of  Gaul,  he  withdrew  for 
some  time  to  the  monastery  of  St.  Hilary,  at  Poitiers,  of  which  he  was 
created  superior.  He  afterwards  founded  several  religious  houses  in 
Thuringia,  Alsace,  Strasburg,  and  on  the  fi'ontiers  of  Switzerland ; 
Colgan  reckons  eight,  six  of  which  were  dedicated  to  St.  Hilary,  for 
whom  this  saint  had  a  particular  devotion.  Lastly,  he  founded  a  mon- 
astery for  females  in  an  island  in  the  Rhine,  called  Seeking  or  Secane, 
where  he  was  interred  in  514.  According  to  Baleus,  he  wrote  some 
works  of  piety  which  have  been  lost.     The  Scotch  writers  claim  this 


380  '  St.    COLUMB    EILLE. 

great  man  for  their  country ;  but  M'Geoghegan,  from  whom  I  take  the 
above,  brings  up  a  crowd  of  foreign  authorities  who  confound  the  idea. 
One  or  two  only  of  his  foreign  authors  shall  I  here  quote.  "  The  con- 
vent of  Seeking  was  commenced  by  St.  Fridolinus,  who  was  son  of  a 
king  of  the  Scots;  he  was  eminent  for  his  studies  in  philosophy."  — 
Bruschius  on  German  Monasteries,  — "  Old  historians  are  agreed  in 
this,  that' Fridolinus  was  of  royal  descent,  that  he  was  born  in  Lower 
Scotia,  which  is  called  Ireland."  —  Peter  Canisius,  Life  of  St.  Frido- 
linus. 

St.  Columb  Kille  was  born  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century :  he 
lived  to  the  age  of  seventy-seven,  thirty-three  years  of  which  were  spent 
in  North  Britain,  conducting  the  light  of  the  gospel  to  the  Picts  and 
Scots.  He  was  educated  in  Ireland,  under  St.  Fridian,  who  be- 
came afterwards  bishop  of  Lucca,  in  Italy.  He  acquired  a  com- 
plete knowledge  of  the  learned  languages  and  divinity,  in  the  College 
of  Clonard,  where  there  were,  at  that  time,  three  thousand  students. 
After  this,  he  became  abbot  of  a  monastery  in  Deny. 

It  was  the  law  of  the  Tara  Jies,  or  parliament,  that  any  man  who 
should  raise  up  the  hand  to  strike,  much  less  to  kill,  during  its  legislati\e 
deliberations,  should  be  deemed  guilty  of  death,  out  of  the  power  of  lire 
monarch  to  pardon.  In  the  year  549,  there  took  place  at  Tara  a  fatal 
quarrel  between  Cuornane  M^Aodh  and  another  member  of  the  great 
assembly,  in  which  the  latter  was  killed.  As  the  crime  was  death, 
the  offender  flew  to  his  friends  Daniel  and  Fergus,  princes  of  great 
power;  but  they  durst  not  harbor  him,  and  advised  him  to  go  to 
their  cousin,  St.  Columba,  and,  by  imploring  his  protection,  he  might 
afford  him  an  asylum  in  his  monastery;  for,  in  those  days,  the 
criminal  who  became  penitent,  and  remained  within  the  walls  of  a 
monastery,  was  held  harmless  from  the  process  or  punishment  of  the 
law.  Cuornane,  accordingly,  applied  to  Columba,  and  was  admitted 
to  his  monastery  in  Derry.  But  a  national  outrage  of  this  sort  was 
not  to  go  unpunished ;  and  Dermod,  the  king,  had  the  offender 
dragged  out  of  the  monastery,  and  put  to  death,  notwithstanding  the 
prayers  and  protests  of  the  brothers  to  the  contrary. 

Columba  deemed  the  violation  of  his  asylum  the  cause  of  God. 
High  in  blood,  he  could  not  brook  this  insult :  he  therefore  applies  to 
his  relations,  the  northern  Clana  Neill;  and  Fergus  and  Domhnal,  at 
the  head  of  a  mighty  army,  are  in  the  field,  to  vindicate  the  insulted 
abbot.     A  terrible  battle  is  fought  at  Cuildreimhne,  between  the  pro- 


COLUMBA  FOUNDS  THE  MONASTERY  AND  COLLEGE  OF  BY.       381 

vincials  and  the  chief  monarch's  army,  in  which  the  abbot's  party 
gain  the  day.  The  vanquished  party  recruit  their  strength,  and  in  turn 
make  war  upon  the  abbot. 

He  is  requested  by  his  bishop  to  abstain  from  all  interference  in  such 
terrible  affairs.  Disregarding  the  admonition,  a  synod  of  the  clergy  is 
held,  before  which  Columba  is  cited  to  appear.  He  submits  to  their 
decision  in  his  regard,  and  their  decision  is,  that  he  shall  quit  Ireland, 
and  never  see  her  again.  To  this  he  submits,  with  a  truly  repentant 
spirit.  His  public  reprehension,  and  his  penitentiary  exile,  do  great 
honor  to  the  clerical  order  and   discipline  of  those  days. 

On  his  arrival  in  Albion,  with  a  goodly  number  of  brothers,  he  was 
kindly  received  by  Conall,  prince  of  the  Dal  Rhida,  who  bestowed 
on  him  the  Isle  of  Huy,  or  Hy.  Here  he  established  his  chief  monas- 
tery ;  and  from  thence,  with  his  followers,  he  entered  the  country  of  the 
Picts,  and  by  his  zeal,  his  preaching,  his  precept  and  example,  con- 
verted the  whole  country. 

In  the  year  574,  when  Aodh  was  monarch  of  Ireland,  a  special  par- 
liament was  called  in  Tara,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  some  decided  steps 
to  collect  in  the  yearly  tribute,  due  by  Albania  to  the  Irish  crown  ; 
also,  to  enact  some  regulations  as  to  colleges.  At  this  great  assembly 
the  Albanians  were  represented,  and  amongst  others,  who  came  upon 
this  memorable  occasion,  was  Columba,  attended  by  twenty  bishops, 
forty  priests,  and  fifty  deacons.  As  part  of  the  sentence  imposed  upon 
Columba,  on  quitting  Ireland,  was,  that  he  should  never  more  see  the 
country,  he  complied  literally  with  this  penance,  for  he  had  his  eyes 
bound  up  from  the  time  of  quitting  Scotland  to  his  return  home. 

He  was  received  with  great  ceremony  and  respect  in  Ireland,  and  the 
grand  assembly,  in  which  mingled  his  voice  and  wisdom,  abolished  many 
abuses  that  existed  in  schools,  and  in  other  departments  of  state. 

St.  Columba  composed  several  works  in  prose  and  verse ;  amongst 
others,  a  Rule  for  Monks,  which  still  exists,  the  Life  of  St.  Patrick,  and 
a  Hymn  to  St.  Kieran.  These  I  have  already  noticed  in  the  section  on 
music.  There  were  many  works  of  piety  and  prophecy  written  by  this 
eminent  man.  He  was  entombed,  at  his  death,  amongst  the  great 
chiefs  of  Scotland,  in  the  abbey  of  Hy,  in  597  ;  but  part  of  his  remains 
were  removed,  in  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century,  to  the  monastery 
of  Down,  where  they  were  deposited  with  those  of  St.  Patrick  and  St. 
Bridget,  as  already  noticed. 

Rich  as  have  been  the  annals  of  Ireland  in  names  of  samtly  renown, 
for  none  has  she  cherished,  in  all  ages,  a  greater  reverence  than  for  her 


382  COLUMBANDS. 

great  Columb  Kille.  That  isle  of  the  waves  (Hy)  with  which  his  name 
is  connected,  and  which,  through  his  ministry,  became  the  "  Luminary 
of  the  Caledonia  Regions,  has  far  less  reason,"  says  Moore,  "  to  boast 
of  her  tombs  of  kings,  than  of  those  heaps  of  votive  pebbles,  cast  by 
pilgrims  along  the  path  which  took  them  to  the  honored  shrine  of  her 
saint.  From  this  immemorial  custom,  the  island  was  denominated 
lona.  There  is  a  splendid  copy  of  the  Four  Gospels,  in  the  hand- 
writing of  Columb  Kille,  now  deposited  in  Trinity  College,  Dublin. 
Usher,  O'Flaherty,  and  other  antiquarians,  have  authenticated  it. 
It  is  indeed  amongst  the  most  precious  relics  of  the  early  Christians. 
Speaking  of  lona,  Dr.  Johnson  writes :  "  We  are  now  treading  that 
illustrious  island,  which  was  once  the  luminary  of  the  Caledonia  regions. 
That  man  is  litde  to  be  envied  whose  patriotism  would  not  gain  force 
upon  the  plain  of  Marathon,  or  whose  piety  would  not  grow  warmer 
upon  the  ruins  of  lona."  —  Journey  to  the  Western  Islands. 

The  eminent  Columbanus  performed  a  distinguished  part  in  his  time. 
He  was  a  native  of  Leinster,  in  Ireland.  In  his  youth  he  had  been  a 
diligent  student  of  grammar  and  languages.  Early  in  life,  he  was  a  per- 
fect master  of  his  own  tongue,  as  well  as  those  of  Greece,  Rome,  Spain, 
and  other  nations.  He  wrote  several  commentaries  on  the  Scriptures, 
Psalms,  and  other  religious  subjects,  which  were  the  chief  topics  of  the 
scholars  of  the  age.  He  studied  under  very  eminent  men  in  the  Irish 
colleges,  and  finally  placed  himself  under  the  instruction  of  the  chief  of 
the  abbey  of  Benchoir,  from  whence  he  subsequently  departed,  with 
twelve  disciples,  to  go  to  Britain,  and  from  thence  to  Burgundy.  In 
the  latter  country  he  was  received  by  the  king,  Sigebert,  with  every 
possible  mark  of  respect ;  for  bis  fame  had  travelled  before  him.  This 
prince  offered  him  lands  for  a  settlement  in  any  part  of  his  dominions. 
Columbanus  fixed  on  Luxeu,  in  the  desert,  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains 
of  Vosge,  where  he  founded  a  celebrated  monastery,  in  which  he  estab- 
lished his  order,  and  the  perpetual  psalmody,  by  different  choirs,  who 
relieved  each  other  day  and  night.  He  was  the  first  who  established 
the  monastic  order  among  the  French.  The  order  of  St.  Columbanus 
was  then  considered  the  model  of  a  retired  life,  and  Luxeu  as  the  centre 
of  perfection.  The  number  of  persons,  of  every  rank  and  condition, 
who  wished  to  submit  to  the  law  of  St.  Columbanus,  was  so  great,  that, 
in  order  to  lighten  the  burden  on  the  house  of  Luxeu,  he  was  obliged  to 
found  another  at  Fontaine,  in  the  same  country. 

Columbanus  had  been,  for  nearly  twenty  years,  at  the  head  of  the 
monastery  of  Luxeu,  when  he  was  expelled  through  the  influence  of 


COLUMBANUS'S    MISSION    IN   FRANCE    AND    ITALT.  383 

Brunehaut.  This  ambitious  queen  shared  the  government  of  Burgundy 
with  her  grandson  Thierry  the  Second,  who  was  king.  Fearing  that 
the  marriage  of  this  prince  would  diminish  her  authority,  she  endeavored 
to  dissuade  him  from  it,  by  procuring  him  illicit  pleasures,  which  ex- 
cited the  zeal  of  St.  Columbanus,  who  reproached  him  severely  for  the 
shameful  life  he  led.  The  prince,  who  had  a  high  opinion  of  the  sanctity 
of  St.  Columbanus,  heard  him  patiently  ;  but  the  intrigues  of  Brunehaut, 
who  had  prejudiced  all  the  nobles  of  the  kingdom  against  him,  forced 
him  to  yield  to  the  storm,  by  leaving  his  monastery  at  Luxeu.  Not- 
withstanding this,  our  saint  was  favorably  received  by  Clothaire  the 
Second,  king  of  Suissons,  to  whom  he  foretold  that  in  three  years 
the  French  monarchy  would  be  united  in  his  person,  which  prophecy 
was  afterwards  accomplished. 

St.  Columbanus,  having  preached  the  word  of  God  in  several  prov- 
inces in  France,  and  confirmed  his  doctrine  by  miracles  too  numerous  to 
be  introduced  here,  went  to  Italy,  where,  with  the  approbation  of  Aigi- 
lulph,  king  of  the  Lombards,  he  founded  the  abbey  of  Bobbio,  in  Milan, 
over  which  he  presided  but  one  year,  having  died  there  on  the  21st  of 
November,  615,  and  was  succeeded  by  a  native  of  Burgundy,  called 
Atala. 

The  Augustine  monks  affirm  that  St.  Columbanus  was  of  their  order ; 
but  Reyner  says  that  he  was  a  Benedictine. 

St.  Columbanus  wrote  many  works  in  Latin,  which  are  quoted  by 
Ware  and  others ;  namely,  a  book  of  commentaries  on  the  Psalter ;  a 
work  against  the  Arians,  which  Jonas  calls  "  a  work  of  flowery  eru- 
dition ; "  and  thirteen  homilies. 

"  The  writings  of  this  eminent  man,"  says  Moore,  "  that  have  come 
down  to  us,  display  an  extensive  and  varied  acquaintance,  not  merely 
with  ecclesiastical,  but  with  classical  literature.  He  was  acquainted 
both  with  Greek  and  Hebrew,  as  well  as  Latin  and  that  of  his  own 
country,  [the  English  language  did  not  then  exist ;]  and  when  it  is  recol- 
lected that  he  did  not  leave  Ireland  till  he  was  nearly  fifty  years  of  age, 
and  that  his  life  afterwards  was  one  of  constant  activity  and  adventure, 
the  conclusion  is  obvious,  that  all  this  knowledge  of  elegant  literature 
must  have  been  acquired  in  the  schools  of  his  own  country.  The  vari- 
ous countries  and  places  with  which  the  name  of  this  great  saint  is  con- 
nected, have  multiplied  his  lasting  titles  to  fame.  While  Ireland  boasts 
of  his  birth,  France  remembers  him  by  her  ancient  abbeys  of  Luxeuil  and 
Fontaine;  and  his  fame  in  Italy  still  lives,  not  only  in  the  cheiished 
relics  at  Bobbio ;  in  the  coffin,  the  chalice,  the  holy  staff  of  the  founder; 


384  GALL. JONAS. FIACRE. 

and  the  strange  sight  of  a  Missal  in  the  Irish  language,  in  a  foreign  land, 
but  in  the  every-day  remembrance  of  his  name,  which  lives  in  the  beau- 
tiful town  of  San  Columbano,  in  the  territory  of  Lodi." 

St.  Gall,  who  accompanied  Columbanus,  was  born,  of  noble  parents, 
in  Ireland ;  was  placed,  at  an  early  age,  according  to  his  life,  written  by 
Wailafridus  Straboj  under  the  guidance  of  St.  Columbanus,  with  whom 
he  made  considerable  progress  in  the  study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  the 
liberal  arts,  grammar,  and  poetry,  and  in  the  practice  of  regular  discipline. 
He  passed  through  a  variety  of  adventures  and  sufferings,  in  his  efforts 
to  spread  the  religion  of  the  cross.  He  finally  died  near  his  holy  cell, 
near  which  the  monastery  called  after  him  was  erected,  and  round 
which  the  populous  town  of  St.  Gall,  in  Switzerland,  now  stands.  There 
are  some  manuscripts  deposited  in  this  celebrated  abbey  in  the  hand- 
writing of  St.  Gall,  and  his  preceptor,  St.  Columbanus.  They  are 
probably  amongst  the  oldest  in  Europe. 

The  immediate  companions  and  disciples  of  these  two  learned  and 
holy  men  founded  several  abbeys  in  Italy,  Germany,  Switzerland,  and 
France.  I  compress  from  M'Geoghegan,  Moore,  and  O'Halloran,  some 
particulars  of  a  few  only  of  the  Irish  missionaries  of  that  age. 

Dichuill  (in  Latin,  DlchuUus  and  Deicola)  was  half  brother  of  St. 
Gall,  and,  like  him,  a  disciple  of  St.  Columbanus.  He  obtained  per- 
mission to  remain  in  Burgundy,  where  he  founded,  at  a  few  leagues 
from  Luxeu,  the  celebrated  monastery  of  Lure,  (in  Latin,  Lutra,  or 
"  Lutrense  monasterium.")  Theodore,  a  monk  of  St.  Campden,  who 
had  accompanied  St.  Gall  from  Ireland,  of  which  he  was  a  native, 
shared  with  him  the  labors  of  the  apostleship.  After  the  death  of  St. 
Gall,  he  founded  two  cells  in  Germany,  one  at  Campden,  or  Campi- 
dana,  the  government  of  which  he  confided  to  his  colleague  Theodore, 
and  the  other  at  Fuessen,  (in  Latin,  "  ad  Fauces,")  at  the  foot  of 
the  Alps.  Those  cells,  having  been  richly  endowed  by  King  Pepin, 
became  afterwards  celebrated  abbeys. 

Among  the  disciples  of  St.  Columbanus  may  be  reckoned  Jonas, 
abbot  of  Luxeu  before  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century. 

Jonas  wrote,  in  Latin,  the  life  of  St.  Columbanus,  to  which  he  had 
been  an  eye-witness ;  he  also  wrote  the  Uves  of  Atala  and  Eustachius, 
both  disciples  and  successors  of  St.  Columbanus ;  the  former  at  Bobbio, 
the  latter  at  Luxeu. 

Fiacre,  born  of  noble  parents  in  Ireland,  being  desirous  of  devoting 
himself  to  God  in  solitude,  left  his  country,  and  went  to  France,  accom- 
panied by  some  disciples.     He  addressed  himself  to  Faron,  bishop  of 


AIDAN.  385 

Meaux,  who  received  him  with  kindness,  and  gave  him  the  forest  of 
Brodole,  which  belonged  to  him,  with  permission  to  settle  there. 

Bede  has  the  following  passage  in  reference  to  St.  Fiacre :  — 

"  Ireland  is  dignified  by  the  lustre  of  a  new  lamp  ;  that  island  glitters 
to  the  Meldi,  by  the  presence  of  so  great  a  light.  The  former  sent 
Fiacrius  ;  Meaux  received  the  ray  which  was  sent.  The  joy  of  both  is 
in  common  :  the  latter  possesses  a  father,  tHe  former  a  son."  —  Bede's 
History  of  the  Church. 

St.  Aidan  was  a  monk  of  the  abbey  of  Hy,  the  members  of  which 
were  Scots  from  Ireland,  the  Picts  having  given  that  island  to  St.  Col- 
umb  Kille,  and  to  the  Scotic  monks  who  had  preached  the  faith  of  Jesus 
Christ  amongst  them,  as  appears  from  Bede.  From  that  abbey,  there- 
fore, were  the  twelve  disciples  who  had  accompanied  this  apostle  to 
Britain,  as  is  remarked  in  his  life,  besides  some  others  who  had  after- 
wards followed  him  from  Ireland.  The  connection,  says  Moore,  of  the 
venerable  Irishman  St.  Aidan  with  the  Anglo-Saxon  King  Oswald, 
singularly  illustrates  the  mutual  relations  of  their  respective  countries 
at  this  period.  During  the  reign  of  his  uncle  Edwin,  the  young  Oswald 
had  lived  an  exile  in  Ireland  ;  and,  having  been  instructed,  while  there,  in 
the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  resolved,  on  his  accession  to  the  throne,  to 
disseminate  the  same  blessing  among  his  subjects.  With  this  view  he  ap- 
plied to  the  elders  of  the  Scots  among  whom  he  had  himself  been  taught, 
desiring  that  they  would  furnish  him  with  a  bishop,  through  whose  in- 
struction and  ministry  the  English  nation,  which  he  had  been  called 
upon  to  gpvern,  might  receive  the  Christian  faith.  In  compliance  with 
the  royal  desire,  a  monk  of  Hy,  named  Aidan,  was  sent,  to  whom,  on 
his  arrival,  the  king  gave  the  small  island  of  Lindisfarn  as  the  seat  of 
his  see.     This  island  has  since  been  called  the  Holy  Isle. 

In  the  spiritual  labors  of  the  saint's  mission  the  pious  King  Oswald 
took  constandy  a  share,  and  "  it  was  often,"  says  Bede,  "  a  delightflil 
spectacle  to  witness,  that,  when  the  bishop,  who  knew  but  imperfectly 
the  English  tongue,  preached  the  truths  of  the  gospel,  the  king  himself, 
who  had  become  master  of  the  Scottish  language  during  his  long  banish- 
ment in  Ireland,  acted  as  interpreter  of  the  word  of  God  to  his  com- 
manders and  ministers.  From  that  time,"  continues  the  same  authority, 
"  numbers  of  Scottish  or  Irish  poured  daily  into  Britain,  preaching  the 
faith,  and  administering  baptism  through  all  the  provinces  over  which 
King  Oswald  reigned.  In  every  direction  churches  were  erected,  to 
which  the  people  flocked  with  joy  to  hear  the  word.  Possessions  were 
granted  by  royal  bounty  for  the  endowment  of  monasteries  and  schools, 
49 


386  IRISH    MISSIONARIES    AMONGST    THE    SAXONS. 

and  the  English,  old  and  young,  were  instructed  by  their  Irish  teachers." 
Though  St.  Augustine  is  reported  the  patron  saint  of  England,  arriving 
in  that  country,  597,  with  forty  rnissionaiies,  to  complete  the  conversion 
of  England,  yet,  says  O'Halloran,  the  honor  of  converting  England 
should  be  by  no  means  ascribed  alone  to  him.  Some  of  the  Scottish 
writers,  of  latter  times,  will  have  it,  that  all  these  instructors  came  from 
Scotland,  because  the  term  "Scots"  had  been,  a  thousand  years  ago, 
applied  to  natives  of  Ireland  and  Albania  indifferently.  But  how  will 
they  get  rid  of  the  great  fact  that  their  own  nation  owed  its  direct  con- 
version and  evangelical  light  to  the  apostolic  labors  of  the  Irish  saint 
Columb  Kille  and  his  pious  brethren  ? 

We  must  own  that  it  is  hard  upon  wealthy,  inflated  people,  like  the 
English  and  Scotch  of  the  present  day,  to  acknowledge  their  great  in- 
debtedness, for  literature,  laws,  religion,  music,  and  letters,  to  so  poor 
and  so  oppressed  a  people  as  the  Irish — those  Irish  that  are  seen  daily 
in  the  streets  of  Glasgow  and  of  London,  carrying  hods  and  coal-bags 
on  their  shoulders.  It  is  hard,  it  must  be  confessed,  for  the  gold-lace 
gentry,  that  swarm  round  the  Horse  Guards,  to  acknowledge  that  their 
forefathers  were  educated  by  the  forefathers  of  these  abject  serfs,  who 
now,  by  the  decree  of  fate,  toil  as  their  bond-slaves.  Few  of  their 
writers  can  bring  themselves  to  admit  it ;  and  even  Dr.  Lingard,  the 
Catholic  historian  of  England,  exhibits  his  mean  unwillingness  to  do 
poor  Ireland  justice.  Speaking  of  this  very  circumstance,  —  St.  Aidan's 
labors,  and  those  who  cooperated  with  him,  —  he  describes  them,  with 
remarkable  brevity,  as  "  Scottish  monks,"  without  further  comment, 
which  Moore  thus  eloquently  reproves  :  "  It  was  hardly  worthy  of  Dr. 
Lingard's  character  to  follow  so  far  the  example  of  Dempster,  and  other 
such  writers,  as  to  call  our  eminent  Irish  missionaries  at  this  period  by 
the  ambiguous  name  of  Scottish  monks,  without,  at  the  same  time,  in- 
forming his  readers  that  these  distinguished  men  were  Scots  of  Ireland. 
The  care  with  which  the  ecclesiastical  historians  of  France  and  Italy 
have,  in  general,  marked  this  distinction,  is  creditable  alike  to  their  fair- 
ness and  their  accuracy."  Lloyd  states  that  the  auxiliaries  of  Aidan 
"came  out  of  Ireland,"  and  Cardinal  Fleury  calls  them  " missionaires 
Irlandois." 

St.  Finian,  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  a  monk  of  the  abbey  of  Hy,  suc- 
ceeded St.  Aidan  in  the  episcopal  see  of  Lindisfarn,  and  in  the  mission 
of  the  kingdom  of  Northumberland.  He  caused  to  be  built  in  the  Isle 
of  Lindisfarn,  says  Bede,  a  church  suitable  for  an  episcopal  see,  not  of 
stone,  but  of  oak,  after  the  manner  of  the  Scots ;  he  labored  perseveringly 


FINIAN. COLMAN. FDRSET.  387 

for  the  conversion  of  souls ;  he  baptized  Pcncla,  "king  of  the  interior 
provinces,  and  Sigebert,  Icing  of  the  East  Angles,  with  the  lords  of 
their  retinue,   and  sent  priests  to  instruct  and  baptize  their  subjects. 

St.  Colnian,  a  native  also  of  Ireland,  succeeded  St.  Finian  in  the 
bishopric  of  Lindisfarn.  Those  three  prelates  were  celebrated  for  the 
sanctity  and  purity  of  their  morals,  their  zeal  for  the  propagation  of  the 
faith,  and  the  exercise  of  every  virtue ;  it  can  be  affirmed  that  the 
Saxons  of  the  northern  provinces  were  indebted  to  them  for  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  true  God. 

St.  Fursey,  having  labored  in  the  conversion  of  souls  in  Ireland  for 
the  space  of  twelve  years,  went,  about  the  year  637,  with  some  disci- 
ples, to  England,  where  he  was  kindly  received  by  Sigebert,  king  of  the 
East  Saxons :  this  saint,  having  rescued  some  of  the  Picts  and  Saxons, 
who  had  escaped  the  zeal  of  the  preceding  missionaries,  from  the  super- 
stitions of  idolatry,  and  brought  them  to  the  worship  of  the  true  God, 
founded  the  abbey  of  Cnobersburgh,  now  Burgh  Castle,  in  the  county 
of  Suffolk,  on  some  land  which  the  king  had  given  him  ;  he  afterwards 
induced  this  pious  prince  to  abdicate  the  throne,  and  become  a  monk. 

Subsequently,  St.  Fursey  availed  himself  of  the  offer  of  Clovis  the 
Second  of  France,  and  settled  at  Latiniacum,  (Lagny,)  on  the  River 
Marne,  six  leagues  from  Paris,  where  he  caused  three  chapels  to  be  built, 
the  first  of  which  he  dedicated  to  our  Savior,  the  second  to  St.  Peter, 
and  the  third  was  called,  when  he  died,  after  his  own  name,  through  the 
devotion  of  the  faithful.  Being  afterwards  joined  by  several  monks,  his 
disciples,  who  had  followed  him  from  Ireland,  —  amongst  others,  ^milia- 
nus,  Euloquius,  Mombulus,  &;c.,  —  and  seconded  by  the  liberality  of  the 
king  and  lords  of  the  country,  he  founded  a  monastery  which  he  himself 
governed. 

So  amazingly  great  were  the  number  of  the  Irish  saints  in  the  Isles  of 
Arau,  for  instance,  that  the  writers  were  obliged  to  class  their  names 
thus  :  there  were  four  Colga7is,  ten  Gobhans,  twelve  Dichulls,  twelve 
Maidoes,  twelve  Adrands,  thirteen  Camans,  thirteen  Dimins,  fourteen 
Brendens,  fourteen  Finians,  fourteen  Ronans,  fifteen  Conalls,  fifteen 
Dermods,  fifteen  Lugads,  sixteen  Lassare,  seventeen  Serrani,  eighteen 
Erneni,  eighteen  Folbei,  eighteen  Cominei,  nineteen  Foilani,  nineteen 
Sulani,  twenty  Kierani,  twenty  TJltinai,  twenty-two  Cilliani,  twenty- 
three  Aidi,  twenty-four  Columbce,  twenty-five  Senani,  twenty-eight 
Aidani,  thirty  Cronans,  thirty-seven  Moluani,  forty-three  Lazreani, 
thirty-four  Mochunni,  fifty-eight  Mochuani,  fifty-five  Fintani,  sixty 
Cormacs,  and  two  hundred  Colemans.  Most  of  the  above  are  Irish 
names  Latinized. 


388  MAILDULPHUS. CUTEBERT. GERTRUDE. KILIAN. 

Maildulphus,  an  Irish  monk,  and  very  learned  man,  went  to  England 
in  676.     Of  him  the  English  Camden  has  the  following  notice :  — 

"  Nor  was  it  known  by  any  other  name,  for  a  long  time,  than  Ingcl- 
born,  till  Maildulphus,  a  certain  Hibernian  Scot,  a  man  of  the  soundest 
erudition,  and  a  peculiar  sanctity  of  life,  being  taken  by  the  delicious- 
ness  of  the  grove,  after  his  opening  a  school,  and  devoting  himself,  with 
his  congregation,  to  a  monastic  life,  built  a  monastery  in  it :  from  hence 
it  began  to  be  called  by  Maildulphus,  instead  of  Ingleborne,  by  Bede, 
the  '  city  of  Maildulphus,'  and  afterwards  contracted  into  Malmsbury. 
Among  the  disciples  of  Maildulphus,  Aldelmus,  who  had  been  appointed 
his  successor,  was  particularly  noted ;  for  he  was  the  first  of  the  Eng- 
lish people  who  wrote  in  Latin,  and  was  the  first  who  taught  the 
English  to  compose  Latin  verse.^^  —  Camden,  p.  176. 

St.  Cuthbert,  son  of  an  Irish  prince,  was  born  at  Kenanuse,  otherwise 
Kells,  in  Meath,  and  became  a  monk,  and  was  summoned  to  Lindisfarn^ 
by  Eata,  bishop  of  that  see ;  from  thence  he  went  to  an  island  called 
Fame,  some  leagues  in  the  sea,  where  he  lived  as  a  hermit,  till  he  was 
appointed  bishop  of  Lindisfarn :  with  reluctance  he  accepted  that  dig- 
nity, but  was  constrained  to  yield  to  the  solicitations  of  King  Eg- 
frid,  and  some  bishops  whom  he  had  assembled  in  synod  for  that 
purpose. 

St.  Gertrude,  having  become,  on  the  death  of  her  mother  Itte,  abbess 
of  ]Nivelle,  in  Brabant,  sent  to  Rome  for  relics  of  the  holy  martyrs,  and 
for  books  of  piety ;  she  also  sent  to  Ireland  for  learned  men,  to  expound 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  instract  the  nuns  in  them,  and  to  preach  the 
word  of  God  in  the  country  around. 

'•  Rome,  at  that  time,  took  care  to  have  the  relics  of  the  saints  and 
holy  books  brought  to  her  ;  she  sent  to  Ireland  for  learned  men  to  ex- 
pound to  herself  and  to  her  people  the  canticles  of  the  holy  law,  which 
the  Irish  had  almost  by  heart.  The  monastery  of  Vossuensis  was  built 
on  the  banks  of  the  Sambre  for  receiving  the  saints  FuUanus  and  Ul- 
tanus,  brothers  of  St.  Furseus." — Breviary  of  Paris. 

St.  !^ilian  left  Ireland,  with  two  companions  called  Colonat  and  Tot- 
nan,  the  one  a  priest  and  the  other  a  deacon.  Being  desirous  to  visit 
the  church  of  Rome,  he  took  his  route  through  Flanders  and  Germany. 
On  his  arrival  in  Rome,  having  been  presented  to  Pope  Conon,  the 
holy  father  found  him  to  be  possessed  of  so  much  wisdom,  and  so 
perfect  in  his  knowledge  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  that  he  ordained  and 
appointed  him  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  infidels  of  Franconia,  where 


SEDULIUS. DONATUS.  389 

having  converted  Duke  Gosbert,  and  a  great  number  of  his  subjects,  he 
fixed  his  see  at  Wirtzburg,  of  which  he  was  the  first  bishop,  and  was 
afterwards  honored  as  a  martyr, 

"  St.  Kilianus,  an  Irish  monk,  preached  in  these  times  the  evangelical 
doctrine  to  the  eastern  Franks,  and  is  called  their  apostle."  —  Chronicles 
of  Cardinal  BeUarmini. 

"  In  a  district  of  Austria,  where  stood  a  castle  of  New  France,  nay,  a 
city,  as,  in  the  Teutonic  dialect,  Wirtzburg,  situate  near  the  River  Meuse. 
signifies,  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Kilianus,  the  first  bishop  of  that  city,  and 
that  of  his  two  disciples,  Colonatus,  a  presbyter,  and  Totnanus,  a  dea- 
con, took  place.  They  came  from  Ireland,  the  island  of  the  Scots,  and, 
after  receiving  the  authority  of  the  apostolical  see,  they  preached 
the  name  of  Christ  to  that  city  and  district."  —  Martyrology  of 
NotJcer. 

Gosbert,  whilst  he  was  a  pagan,  married  Gielana,  his  brother's  wife ; 
but,  being  converted  to  Christianity,  St.  Kilian,  like  another  John  the 
Baptist,  reproached  him,  with  truly  apostolical  freedom,  for  this  incestu- 
ous marriage,  and  advised  him  to  separate  from  her ;  Gielana,  exasperated 
at  the  holy  prelate's  reproof,  caused  him  and  his  companions  to  be  as- 
sassinated on  the  8th  of  July,  689,  the  day  on  which  they  are  honored 
by  the  church  as  martyrs. 

Sedulius,  surnamed  the  younger,  to  distinguish  him  from  the  great 
Sedulius,  of  whom  we  have  spoken,  in  the  fifth  century,  went  from 
Ireland  to  Rome,  where  he  assisted  at  a  council  held  against  illicit 
marriages,  the  5th  of  April,  721,  under  the  pontificate  of  Gregory  the 
Second.  He  left  to  posterity  compilations  on  the  Gospel  of  St. 
Matthew,  which  are  still  to  be  seen  in  manuscript  in  some  of  the 
libraries  in  Paris.  There  are  other  manuscripts  in  existence  at- 
tributed to  him. 

St.  Donatus  left  Ireland  with  his  companion  Andrew,  and,  after  trav- 
elling through  France  and  Italy,  setded  in  Etruria,  now  Tuscany,  where 
he  led  the  life  of  a  hermit  for  some  time,  after  which  he  was  nominated 
bishop  of  Fiesole.  He  remained  for  a  considerable  time  at  the  head  of 
that  church,  and  became  celebrated  for  the  brilliancy  of  his  virtues.  It 
is  affirmed  that  the  Dominicans  at  Rome  have  his  life  in  manuscript ; 
he  wrote  his  travels,  the  office  of  his  church,  and  commentaries  on  the 
Holy  Scriptures ;  he  gave  also  a  description  of  Ireland  in  hexameter  and 
pentameter  verse,  some  fragments  of  which  are  quoted  by  Colgan.  The 
following  is  a  translation  of  his  description  of  Ireland :  — 


390       VIRGILIUS    DISCOVERS    THE    SPHERICITY    OF    THE    EARTH. 

"  Far  westward  lies  an  isle  of  ancient  fame, 
By  nature  blessed,  and  Scotia  is  her  name, 
Enrolled  in  books  ;  exhaustless  in  her  store 
Of  veiny  silver  and  of  golden  ore ; 
Her  fruitful  soil  forever  teems  with  wealtli, 
With  gems  her  waters,*  and  her  air  with  healdi ; 
Her  verdant  fields  with  milk  and  honey  flow ; 
Her  woolly  fleeces  vie  with  virgin  snow; 
Her  waving  furrows  float  witli  bended  corn, 
And  arms  and  arts  her  envied  sons  adorn ; 
No  poison  there  infects,  no  scaly  snake 
Creeps  through  the  grass,  or  settles  in  the  lake  — 
A  nation  wortliy  of  its  pious  race. 
In  war  triumphant,  and  unmatched  in  peace  " 

In  the  eighth  century,  the  high  scholastic  reputation  of  the  Irish, 
had  become  established  throughout  Europe.  That  mode  of  applying 
the  learning  and  subtilty  of  the  schools  to  the  illustration  of  theology, 
which  assumed,  at  a  later  period,  a  more  systematic  form,  under  the  name 
of  the  scholastic  philosophy,  is  allowed  to  have  originated  among  the 
eminent  divines  whom  the  monasteries  of  Ireland  in  this  century  poured 
forth.  Amongst  the  lights,  that  shed  their  brilliant  rays,  at  this  time,  not 
only  on  their  own  country,  but  on  Europe,  was  the  eminent  Virgilius, 
whose  real  name  was  Feargal.  Arriving  in  France,  anno  746,  on  the 
Christian  mission,  he  attracted,  by  his  preaching  and  writings,  the  notice 
of  the  monarch  Pepin,  the  father  of  Charlemagne.  He  became  an  inmate 
of  his  princely  residence  on  the  Oise ;  from  thence,  after  a  stay  of  two 
years,  he  proceeded  to  Bavaria,  bearing  letters  of  introduction  from  the 
monarch  to  the  duke  of  that  province.  A  theological  discussion  grew 
up  between  Virgilius  and  Boniface,  the  great  missionary  of  Ger- 
many, on  the  mode  of  administering  baptism ;  and,  though  the  pope 
(^Zachary)  decided  in  his  favor,  yet,  the  pride  of  Boniface  having  been 
wounded,  he  was  not  restrained  from  preferring  charges  of  heresy  against 
the  Irish  divine,  alleging,  among  other  things,  that  Virgilius  taught  there 
was  another  world,  and  other  men,  under  the  earth. 

Virgilius  had,  by  the  lights  of  the  astronomical  and  geographical 
studies  of  the  Irish  colleges,  become  convinced  of  the  sphericity 

*  A  writer  in  The  Philosophical  Transactions,  vol.  xviii.,  says,  "  I  myself  saw  one 
pearl,  found  in  the  Lake  of  Killarney,  bought  for  fifty  shillings,  that  was  valued 
at  forty  pounds.  A  miller  took  out  a  pearl,  which  he  sold  for  ten  pounds  to  one 
who  sold  it  to  the  late  Lady  Glenanly  for  thirty  pounds,  with  whom  I  saw  it  in 
a  necklace.     She  refused  eighty  pounds  for  it  from  the  late  Duchess  of  Ormond." 


CLEiMENT. ALBINUS.  391 

OF  THE  EARTH,    AND    THE    EXISTENCE    OF    ANTIPODES.       The    idea    thuS 

broached  by  the  Irish  ecclesiastic,  creating  a  supposition  that  there  was 
a  world  and  a  race  whom  Christ  did  not  die  to  save,  brought  upon  his 
head  the  suspicions  of  the  holy  see.  An  inquiry  was  ordered,  from 
which  there  grew  considerable  excitement ;  but  Virgilius  found  means  to 
avert  the  condemnation  of  the  holy  fathers,  by  either  qualifying  or  with- 
drawing his  theory ;  for  as  yet  the  most  learned  of  the  Latins  had  not 
mastered,  to  the  same  degree  which  the  Irish  had,  the  wonderful  mech- 
anism, of  the  heavens. 

Fools  have  attempted,  on  this  slight  foundation,  to  raise  a  charge 
against  the  tyranny  of  Pope  Zachary  ;  but,  as  Moore  observes,  were  it 
even  certain  that  this  pope  was  slow  to  believe  in  the  existence  of 
antipodes,  he  would  at  least  have  erred  in  good  company,  as  already 
the  poet  Lucretius  had  pronounced  this  belief  to  be  inconsistent  with 
reason  ;  and  St.  Augustine  had  denounced  it  as  contrary  to  the  Scrip- 
tures. Let  Ireland  have  the  credit  of  having  given  birth  and  educa- 
tion to  a  man  who  comprehended  and  disclosed  much  of  the  mechanism 
of  the  heavens,  and  also  the  sphericity  of  the  earth,  eight  hundred 
years  before  the  sublime  truths  ivere  understood  and  admitted  by  the 
learned  of  Europe. 

When  Virgilius  left  Ireland,  he  was  accompanied  by  a  Greek  bishop, 
named  Dubda.  Usher  states  that  there  was  established  a  Greek  col- 
lege and  church  in  Trim,  which  was  called,  in  his  time,  the  Greek 
school.  The  fame  of  her  schools  and  churches  had  attracted  several 
Greek  ecclesiastics  to  Ireland,  and  it  is  a  very  remarkable  fact  that 
her  own  scholars  were  eminent  and  fluent  masters  of  the  Greek  lan- 
guage in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries. 

The  accession  of  Charlemagne  to  the  throne  of  France  was  the  com- 
mencement of  a  new  era  in  European  civilization.  That  extraordinary 
man  not  only  look  the  field  against  the  ambitious  Mahometans,  but 
struggled  also  most  successfully  against  the  prevailing  ignorance  of  Eu- 
rope. He  encouraged,  in  the  most  comprehensive  sense,  the  scholars 
of  every  nation,  who  flocked  to  his  court  as  to  the  best  market  for  the 
products  of  their  intellect.  Amongst  the  crowd  of  learned  men  which 
such  temptation  drew  around  him,  the  scholars  of  Ireland  were  dis- 
tinguished. Conspicuous  among  the  latter  were  the  learned  Irishmen 
Clement  and  Alhinus.  When  the  talents  of  these  eminent  men  be- 
came known  to  the  emperor,  he  assigned  them  distinguished  positions. 
Clement  was  placed  chief  professor  over  the  university  of  Paris,  which 
he  had  just  commenced,  and  Albinus  was  sent  to  found  and  preside 


392  ITALIAN    TESTIMONY. THE    BIKETRUM    AND    RING. 

over  a  similar  university  in  Pavia,  which  was  to  reenlighten  Italy 
The  Italian  historian  Denina,  remarking  on  the  fallen  state  of  Italy  at 
this  moment,  when  she  was  compelled  to  look  to  the  north  and  the  ex- 
treme west  for  instructors,  adds,  as  a  proof  of  her  reduced  condition,  that 
Irish  monks  were  placed  by  Charlemagne  at  the  head  of  her  schools. 
Tiie  following  passage  is  comprehensive :  "  Ma  ben  maggior  maravi- 
glia  ci  dovrd  parere,  die  Vltalia  non  solamente  allora  abbia  dovuto 
riconoscere  da  barbari  boreali  il  rinnovamento  delta  milizia,  ma  abbia 
da  loro  dovuto  apprendere  in  quello  stesso  tempo  le  scienze  piu  necet- 
sarie ;  e  che  bisognasse  d.agli  ultimi  confini  d'occidente  et  delnordfar 
venire  in  Italia  i  maestri  ad  insegnarci,  non  che  altro,  la  lingua  Latina. 
Carlomagno  nel  781  avea  preposto  alle  scuole  d^Italia  e  di  Francia 
DUE  MONACHi  Irelandesi."  —  Dtlh  Rivoluzioni  d^ Italia,  lib.  viii. 
cap.   12. 

["  Bat  how  much  more  marvellous  must  it  appear  that  Italy,  at  that 
time,  not  only  owed  the  reestablishment  of  the  militia  to  the  northern 
barbarians,  but  had  to  learn  of  them  the  most  necessary  sciences,  and 
was  obliged  to  cause  masters,  from  the  uttermost  confines  of  the  west 
and  north,  to  come  to  Italy  to  teach  them  even  the  Latin  language. 
Charlemagne,  in  781,  had  placed  in  the  schools  of  Italy  and 
OF  France  two  Irish  monks!"] 

The  Italian  historian,  in  speaking  of  the  northern  barbarians,  alluded 
to  the  military  skill  of  the  Goths ;  his  reference  to  the  teachers  of  the 
sciences  and  the  Latin  tongue  clearly  applies  to  Ireland,  for  the 
northern  nations  were  unacquainted  with  the  Latin  language,  and 
their  knowledge  of  science  was  trifling. 

In  Selden's  Titles  there  is  preserved  a  copy  of  a  diploma  for  a 
doctorship,  at  Rome,  in  physic  and  philosophy,  in  which,  amongst  other 
insignia  of  this  office,  a  biretrum  was  placed  on  the  candidate's  head, 
and  a  ring  on  his  finger.  Now,  the  word  biretrum  is  not  Latin,  but 
Irish  ;  and  the  cardinal's  cap  is,  to  this  day,  known  by  no  other  name 
than  biretrum ;  so  that  the  ring  and  cap,  placed  on  the  finger  and  head 
of  the  higher  ecclesiastics  in  the  Catholic  ordination,  are  insignia  bor- 
rowed from  Ireland  ;  for  they  are  the  very  insignia  worn  by  our  ancient 
doctors  in  different  sciences ;  and,  as  the  first  universities  of  Europe 
were  regulated  and  established  by  Irishmen,  it  is  most  easy  to  account 
for  the  transfer  of  the  customs,  honors,  and  degrees  which  existed  in  the 
colleges  of  their  native  land. 


DUNGAL.  393 

"  In  the  latter  part  of  this  century,"  says  Moore,  "  we  find  another 
native  of  Ireland,  named  Dungal,  honored,  in  like  manner,  by  the 
patronage  of  the  imperial  chief  of  France.  This  learned  Scot  addressed 
a  letter  to  Charlemagne  on  the  two  solar  eclipses,  which  proves  that  he 
was  well  acquainted  with  all  the  ancients  had  written  on  the  subject, 
while,  both  in  his  admission  that  two  solar  eclipses  might  take  place 
within  the  year,  and  his  doubt  that  such  a  rare  incident  had  occurred  in 
810,  he  is  equally  coiTect.  While  on  this  topic,  I  may  mention  that 
the  Irish  historians  have  most  accurately  recorded  the  solar  eclipse 
which  happened  in  the  month  of  May,  664  —  an  evidence  at  once 
of  their  historical  accuracy,  and  of  the  authenticity  of  their  writings." 

It  was  at  this  period  that  a  great  plague  happened  in  England,  which 
Bede  alludes  to  most  feelingly,  wherein  he  acknowledges  that  his  cmin- 
trymen,  both  "  noble  and  of  lower  rank,  had  retired  to  Ireland  to  pursue 
a  course  of  studies,  and  to  lead  a  stricter  life;"  and  the  historian  adds 
the  creditable  fact,  that  the  Irish  most  cheerfully  received  all  these  stran- 
gers, and  supplied  them  gratuitously  with  food,  with  books,  and 
INSTRUCTION  ;  on  which  Ledwich  remarks,  "  So  zealous  and  disinterest- 
ed a  love  of  learning  is  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  the  world." 

The  very  circumstance  that  Charlemagne,  after  he  retired  to  a 
monastery,  consulted  Dungal,  as  one  of  the  few  European  scholars 
worthy  of  being  consulted  on  profound  questions,  proves  the  high 
estimation  in  v/hich  he  had  been  held.  The  authors  of  the  Histoire 
Litteraire  de  la  France  say,  "  Ce  qui  paroit  appuye  tant  sur  son 
nom,  que  l'Hibernie  fournit  alors  plusieurs  autre  grands  hommes 
a  la  France,'^  —  ["which  appears  grounded  as  much  upon  his  name 
as  upon  Hibernia's  giving,  at  that  time,  many  other  great 
MEN  to  France."] 

We  find  Dungal,  in  some  time  after,  placed  Over  the  great  university 
of  Pavia,  and  invested  with  the  supreme  management  of  the  public 
schools  established  through  Italy.  How  high  was  the  position  of  the 
Irish  scholar  may  be  estimated  from  the  first  sentence  of  the  capitular  of 
Lothaire  the  First,  in  reference  to  education  :  "  Primum  in  papia  conve- 
niant  ad  Dungallum  de  mediolano,  de  laude  de  Bergamo,  de  Novaria,^' 
&c.  No  rhention  is  made  of  any  other  professor  —  Dungal  alone  is  made 
special  in  this  law.  Dungal  bequeathed  to  the  monastery  of  Bobbio,  in 
honor  of  his  great  countryman,  Columbanus,  a  valuable  collection  of 
books,  "  the  greater  part  of  which,"  says  Moore,  "  are  now  at  Milan, 
having  been  removed  to  the  Ambrosian  library  by  Cardinal  Frederic 
Borromeo."  Indeed,  several  of  the  French  writers  of  the  eighth  and 
dO 


394  LABORS    OF    THE    IRISH    MISSIONARIES. 

ninth  centuries  bear  testimony  to  the  learning  of  the  scholars  of  Ireland, 
as  well  as  to  that  disinterested  zeal  which  prompted  them  to  travel  from 
their  native  land  through  so  many  strange  countries.  "  What  shall  I 
say  of  Ireland,"  exclaimed  Eric  of  Auxerre,  "  who,  despising  the  dan- 
gers of  the  deep,  is  migrating,  with  almost  her  whole  train  of  philoso- 
phers, to  our  coasts  ? " 

The  French  historian  Mezeray  mentions  with  astonishment  the  num- 
ber of  Irish  who  entered  Gaul,  to  instmct  the  people.  He  highly  extols 
their  piety  and  learning,  and  proclaims  the  new  face  the  country  as- 
sumed by  the  very  labor  of  their  hands.  Hear  his  own  words :  "  It 
must  be  acknowledged  that  these  crowds  of  holy  men  were  highly  use- 
ful to  France,  considered  merely  in  a  temporal  light,  —  for,  the  long 
incursions  of  the  barbarians  having  quite  desolated  the  country,  it 
was  still,  in  many  places,  covered  with  woods  and  thickets,  and  the  low 
grounds  with  marshes.  And  these  pious,  religious  men,  who  devoted 
themselves  to  the  service  of  God,  not  to  a  life  of  indolence,  labored  with 
their  own  hands  to  grub  up,  to  reclaim,  to  till,  to  plant,  and  to  build,  — 
not  so  much  for  themselves,  who  lived  with  great  frugality,  but  to  feed 
and  cherish  the  poor,  —  insomuch  that  uncultivated  and  frightful  des- 
erts soon  became  agreeable  and  fruitful  dwellings ;  the  heavens  seemed 
to  favor  the  soil,  reclaimed  and  cultivated  by  hands  so  pure  and  disin- 
terested." "  /  shall  say  nothing,^'  he  adds,  "  of  their  having  preserved 
almost  all  that  remains  of  the  history  of  those  times." 

The  frii^htful  wastes  of  Italy  and  Germany  were  alike  reclaimed  by 
those  missionaries,  and  instruction  spread  around,  like  a  rich  and  plenti- 
ful banquet. 

During  the  troubles  occasioned  by  the  Danish  invasions  of  Ireland, 
about  A.  D.  800,  many  pious  and  learned  ecclesiastics  fled  to  France. 
Wherever  they  settled,  they  established  houses  of  learning  and  hospitali- 
ty, such  as  they  were  accustomed  to  in  their  own  country.  In  the 
council  of  Meaujc,  in  France,  held  in  845,  amongst  other  acts,  there 
passed,  is  the  following :  "  That  complaint  shall  be  made  to  the  king, 
of  the  ruin  of  hospitable  houses,  but  particularly  of  those  of  the  Irish 
nation,  founded  by  charitable  natives  of  that  country."  And  the  ord- 
nance goes  on  to  describe  the  offensive  acts  of  the  intruders,  against 
whom  it  was  directed.  It  continues,  "  Not  only  have  these  intruders 
refused  to  receive  or  entertain  such  as  present  themselves  for  relief,  but 
they  have  even  ejected  these  religious  persons,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
relieve  the  sick,  the  distressed,  and  the  stranger."  This  is  extracted 
from  Fleury's  Ecclesiastical  History  of  France. 


TRIBUTE    OF    BIICHELET.  395 

They  built  their  cells  in  woods  and  desert  places,  living  on  an 
antediluvian  diet,  and  making  it  a  part  of  their  vows  to  reclaim  and 
cultivate  deserts,  not  for  their  own,  but  the  emolument  of  the  poor. 
From  this  it  is  that  the  old  abbeys  had  around  them  so  much  land 
called  "  commons,"  or  land  free  to  all.  This  ground,  originally  waste, 
was  claimed  by  no  one,  and  was  given  for  the  use  of  the  poor  after  the 
necessaries  of  the  abbeys  were  provided. 

Many  such  facts  are  scattered  through  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
histories  of  France.  A  vivid  recollection  of  the  services  rendered  to 
French  literature  by  Irishmen,  prompted  the  eminent  historian,  Mon- 
sieur Michelet,  the  chief  of  the  historical  section  in  the  Archives  du 
Royaume,  in  his  able  History  of  France,  published  1840,  speaking 
of  the  social  condition  of  the  Celtic  tribes  in  ancient  France,  to  exclaim, 
"  A  strange  destiny  that  of  the  Celtic  world  1  Of  its  two  divisions, 
one,  though  the  least  unfortunate  of  the  two,  perishes,  wastes  away,  or 
loses  its  language,  its  costume,  and  its  distinctive  character  —  I  mean 
the  Highlanders  of  Scotland,  with  the  populations  of  Wales,  Cornwall, 
and  Brittany.  These,  forming  the  serious  and  the  moral  element  of  the 
race,  seem  to  be  dying  away,  and  threaten  to  become  extinct.  The 
other  part,  full  of  life,  multiplies  and  increases  in  spite  of  every  thing  — 
I  speak  of  Ireland. 

"  Ireland  !  the  eldest  of  the  Celtic  race,  so  far  away  from  France,  her 
sister,  who  is  unable  to  defend  her,  except  across  the  waves !  the 
Isle  of  Saints !  the  Emerald  of  the  Seas  !  all-fertile  Ireland,  whose  men 
shoot  up  like  blades  of  grass,  and  frighten  England  with  the  ominous 
sound  that  daily  rings  in  her  ears,  '  There  is  a  million  more  of  them ! ' 
the  land  of  poets,  of  men  of  daring  thoughts  —  of  John  Scotus  Erigena, 
of  Berkeley,  of  Toland,  of  Moore,  and  of  O'Connell !  People  of  the 
brilliant  word  and  the  swift  sword !  people  that  in  this,  the  decrepitude 
of  the  world,  still  retain  the  gift  of  song!  Let  England  smile,  if  she 
will,  \\  hen,  in  some  obscure  and  wretched  corner  of  her  crowded  cities, 
the  Irish  widow  is  heard  raising  the  coronach  over  her  husband's  corpse. 
Weep  on,  unhappy  Ireland !  France,  weep  thou  too !  weep  that  thou 
seest  in  thy  capital,  over  the  door  of  the  House  of  Learning,  still 
open  to  the  children  of  Ireland,  the  harp  that  in  vain  demands  thine 
aid !  Let  us  weep  that  we  cannot  give  back  to  her  the  blood  that  she 
has  spilt  for  us !  But  must  we  not  speak  our  grief?  Is  it  to  be  in  vain 
that,  within  less  than  two  centuries,  four  hundred  thousand  Irishmen 
have  combated  in  our  armies  ?  And  are  we  to  witness  the  sufferings 
of  Ireland  without  uttering  a  word  ? " 


396  JOHN    SCOTUS. 

But  the  most  extraordinary,  perhaps,  of  all  the  scholars  of  Ireland, 
and  the  most  distinguished  certainly  of  the  middle  ages,  was  John  Sco- 
Tus,  who  bore  the  distinctive  tide  of  Erigena.  All  the  historians  are 
loud  in  their  praises  of  him.  He  was  a  very  learned  man  indeed,  — 
probably  the  most  profoundly  learned  that  appeared  in  Europe  from  the 
dawn  of  Christianity  to  his  own  time.  Although  he  belonged  to  no 
ecclesiastical  order,  he  studied  much  in  solitude,  and  seems  to  have  made 
every  science  and  every  art,  by  turns,  the  object  of  his  investigation. 
It  would  seem,  too,  from  his  life,  that  the  object  of  it  was  to  gather  the 
flowers  of  knowledge  through  the  valleys  of  his  native  land,  only  to  scat- 
ter them  on  those  of  other  nations.  We  find  him  in  France,  about  the 
year  845,  enjoying  not  only  the  patronage,  but  the  friendship  of  the 
monarch  of  that  country,  Charles  the  Bald,  and  employed  by  him  to 
translate  from  the  Greek  the  mystic  treatises  on  theology  ascribed  to 
Dionysius  of  Alexandria  —  a  book  that  effected  a  wonderful  sensation 
in  the  literary  world,  not  only  by  the  original  principles  of  the  author, 
but  from  the  profound  conception  and  commentaries  of  the  translator, 
who  was  the  first  lay  Christian  of  Europe  that  dared  to  dive  into  the 
ocean  of  theology,  bringing  with  him,  through  his  course,  the  principles 
of  philosophy  —  illustrating  the  truths  of  the  one  by  the  demonstrations 
of  the  other. 

As  this  work  was  filled  with  metaphysical  and  obscure  questions  on 
the  divine  nature  and  attributes,  Pope  Nicholas  the  First  wrote  a  letter 
to  Charles,  in  which  he  observed,  that  John,  one  of  the  nation  of 
the  Scots,  had  translated  into  Latin  the  worlcs  of  Denis  the  Areopagite, 
concerning  the  names  of  God,  and  the  celestial  hierarchy,  which  book 
should  have  been  sent  to  him  for  his  approxal,  particularly  as  John, 
though  in  other  respects  a  man  of  profound  learning,  was  suspected  of 
an  error  of  faith ;  he  consequently  begged  of  him  to  send  the  book  and 
its  author  to  Rome,  or  to  expel  him  from  the  Paris  university.  The 
king,  being  desirous  to  keep  in  with  the  pope,  without  giving  umbrage  to 
John  Erigena,  advised  him  to  return  to  his  own  country,  in  order  to 
avoid  the  storm.  In  obedience  to  the  king's  desire,  John  returned  to 
Ireland.  According  to  Ware,  he  subsequently  came  to  England 
at  the  solicitation  of  King  Alfred,  who  employed  him  some  time 
afterwards  in  reestablishing  the  schools  at  Oxford.  He  adds,  "  Isaac 
Wake  informs  us,  that  the  Statutes  of  Alfred  and  Erigena,  a  Gothic 
work,  were  preserved  there  in  his  time,  as  monuments  of  antiquity." 
Mr.  Moore,  without  producing  any  authority,  says  John  Erigena  died 
b  France  j  but  when  we  have,  against  this  assertion,  Leland,  the  Eng- 


SAXON    GENTRY    EDUCATED    IN    IRELAND.  397 

lish  antiquarian,  Isaac  Wake,  Ware,  and  the  Abbe  M'Geoghegan,  I 
must  respectfully  differ  from  him.  Leland,  who,  during  the  reign  of 
Henry  the  Eighth,  spent  several  years  examining  the  literary  contents 
of  the  monasteries,  takes  care  to  distinguish  the  Irish  John  from  a  Saxon 
scholar  of  the  same  name,  who  distinguished  himself,  about  the  same 
time,  in  the  court  of  Alfred.     See  Leland's  Commentaries,  cap.  115. 

The  reader,  who  has  patiently  perused  the  previous  part  of  this  book, 
who  has  weighed  the  unimpeachable  authorities  arrayed  in  favor  of  Ire- 
land's claims  to  be  the  school  of  Europe,  during  the  early  and  middle 
ages  of  Christianity,  will  not  be  surprised  to  read  that  King  Alfred 
himself,  like  the  rest  of  his  Saxon  countrymen,  received  his  education  in 
Ireland.  There  are  Englishmen,  and  Scotchmen  too,  who  will  take  up 
the  Gospels  and  swear  upon  them  that  this  is  false.  It  is  useless  to  quote 
the  Venerable  Bede,  the  Saxon  writer  of  the  seventh  century,  and  vari- 
ous eminent  men  of  that  nation,  down  to  Dr.  Johnson,  Warner,  and  Sir 
James  Mackintosh,  who  honorably  acknowledge  it.  Such  sentiments 
as  the  following  find  little  credence  with  those  who  contribute  to  keep 
Ireland  in  slavery.  "This  country  [the  Danes]  pressed  upon  Ireland 
likewise  with  the  like  carnage.  There  were  in  it,  at  that  time,  many 
nobles  and  gentry  from  among  the  English,  who,  in  the  time  of  Bishops 
Finanus  and  Colmanus,  having  withdrawn  themselves  thither,  for  either 
the  sake  of  divine  study  or  to  lead  more  chaste  lives, — some  gave  them- 
selves up  to  a  monastic  life,  and  others  attended  in  the  monasteries  to 
hear  the  professors.  All  of  them  the  Scots  most  freely  admitted,  and 
sujjylied  them  gratis  xvith  daily  sustenance,  with  books,  and  masters." 
—  Bede''s  Church  Hist.  b.  3,  c.  27.  Macpherson  says,  "  To  the  fifth, 
sixth,  and  seventh  centuiies,  religion  and  learning  flourished  in  Ireland 
to  such  a  degree,  that  it  was  commonly  styled  the  mother  country  of 
saints,  and  reputed  the  kingdom  of  arts  and  sciences.  The  Saxons  and 
Angles  sent  thither  many  of  their  princes  and  princesses,  to  have  the 
benefit  of  a  pious  and  learned  education.  It  ought  likewise  to  be  ac- 
knowledged that  some  of  the  most  eminent  teachers  of  North  Britain 
received  their  instruction  at  the  Irish  seminaries  of  literature  and  religion." 
In  fact  there  was  a  college  dedicated,  in  Mayo,  to  the  exclusive  educa- 
tion of  the  Saxons:  it  was  called  Maigh-Coan-Sasson,  or  Mayo  of 
the  English.  Bede  says  that,  in  the  time  of  Adamnar,  there  were 
one  hundred  Saxon  saints  in  that  college.  The  Benedictine  monks  of 
St.  Gall,  in  Switzerland,  mention,  in  the  ninth  century,  that  they  derived 
the  principal  part  of  their  books  from  Ireland.  "  Our  Anglo-Saxons," 
says  Camden,   "went,  in  those  times,  to  Ireland  as  if  to  a  fair,  to 


398  ENGLISH  DERIVE  LETTERS,  LAWS,  AND  EDUCATION,  FROM  IRELAND 

'purchase  "knowledge ;  and  we  often  find,  in  our  authors,  that,  if  a  person 
were  absent,  it  was  generally  said,  of  him,  by  way  of  a  proverb,  that  he 
was  sent  to  Ireland  to  receive  his  education;  it  even  appears  that  our 
ancestors,  the  ancient  Anglo-Saxons,  had  learned  the  use  of  characters 
in  Ireland ;  and  from  the  Irish,  our  ancient  English  ancestors  appear 
to  have  received  their  method  of  forming  letters,  and  obvious- 
ly MADE  use  of  the   SAME  CHARACTERS  WHICH    THE    IrISH    NOW  MAKE 

USE  OF." —  Camden,  British  edition,  p.  730.  Camden  wrote  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  and  meant,  of  course,  the  old  Irish  character  of  the 
Irish  language,  which,  in  fact,  is,  for  the  most  part,  substantially  the 
self-same  letter  that  all,  who  write  the  English  in  the  present  day,  use 
in  their  manuscript  characters. 

Notwithstanding  all  that  we  can  prove,  when  we  claim  the  honor 
of  originating  those  jural  and  political  institutions,  which  Alfred  estab- 
lished in  Britain,  our  claim  is  denied.  Let  those,  then,  who  deny  our 
claims,  show  where  Alfred  obtained  his  education.  Is  it  likely  he  would 
be  sent  to  the  secondaiy  or  inferior  schools  of  Europe,  while  those  of 
L'eland, which  stood  at  the  head  of  all,  were  open  ?  M'Geoghegan  says, 
"  Alfred  went  also  to  Ireland  to  perfect  himself  in  the  study  of  philoso- 
phy and  the  sciences  —  In  Hibernia  magno  otio  litteris  imbutes  omni 
philosophia  composuerat  animumJ'  p.  198.  Where,  if  not  in  Ireland, 
did  he  learn  to  play  on  the  harp  ?  Where,  if  not  in  Ireland,  did  he  find 
the  trial  of  the  twelve  men  1  Where,  at  that  time,  if  not  in  Ireland,  did 
he  find  an  assembly  legislating  for  the  government  of  the  people  ? 
Where,  if  not  in  Ireland,  did  he  observe  the  use  of  a  national  record,  of 
legal  maxims  and  public  events,  like  the  Psalter  of  Tara,  of  which  the 
celebrated  English  Doomsday  Book  is  evidently  an  imitation  ?  When 
they  show  us  any  other  people  than  the  Irish,  who  can,  in  those  ages, 
claim  these  distinguished  attributes  of  nationality,  we  may  then  listen 
patiently  to  their  denial  of  Alfred's  Irish  education.  But  when  I  come 
to  treat  of  his  exploits  against  the  Danes,  I  will  adduce  proof  of  this 
fact  which  no  honest  man  can  doubt. 


MUSIC   AND   POETRY. 


399 


THOUGH    THE    LAST    GLIMPSE    OF    ERIN, 


BY    MOORE. 


Fi=e= 


-&r 


'^ 


^0^ 


^ 


1»T- 


:^=zqzs=^: 


i?-    -  —    — "-^ 

1.     The'    the        last  glimpse  of  E   -  rin       with 


^^^^ 


±A 


^3: 


?=t 


"F' 


p^EgEEg 


,4 


-~9 — #~^~l 


I      rzr 


sor  -  row       I  see,  Yet  wher    -    ev 


:;^^^=i: 


-fH: 


:i± 


'9hw: 


~-^ 


:tz4 


,^fc£E^ 


1^=3^ 


t?1--» 


r  n    #       I  — I — n: 


-^- 


Jr 


^^i 


lis 


£3 


licrciE: 


er      thou       art       shall     seem       E     -     rin        to 


tri 


'-^-i 


i^ 


5^ 


tj||g^z^£ 


:P5: 


ng — ry 


"6^^ — ^iT" 
In         ex  -  lie       thy  bo    -    som    shall 


7=^ 


^ 


"I 1 r 


400 


MUSIC   AND  POETRT 


Still     be        my  home,         And  thine    eyes  .  . 


i-HfeE^ 


i 


1± 


at^e 


±=i 


make  my     cli  -  mate    wher  -  ev    -   er    we 


roamo 


M 


EEEE 


«f — 0 


~^L 


1 


2. 

To  the  gloom  of  some  desert,  or  cold,  rocky  shore. 
Where  the  eye  of  the  stranger  can  haunt  us  no  more, 
I  will  fly  with  my  Coulin,  and  think  the  rough  wind 
Less  rude  than  the  foes  we  leave  frowning;  behind. 


And  I'll  gaze  on  thy  gold  hair,  as  graceful  it  wreathes, 
And  hang  o'er  thy  soft  harp,  as  wildly  it  breathes ; 
Nor  dread  that  the  cold-hearted  Saxon  will  tear 
One  chord  from  that  harp,  or  one  lock  from  that  hair.* 


*  "  In  the  twenty -eighth  year  of  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  an  act  was  made 
respecting  the  habits,  and  dress  in  general,  of  the  Irish,  whereby  all  persons  were 
restrained  from  being  shorn  or  shaven  above  the  ears ;  or  from  wearing  glibbes  or 
Coulins  (long  locks)  on  their  heads,  or  hair  on  the  upper  lip,  called  Crommeal. 
On  this  occasion  a  song  was  written  by  one  of  our  bards,  in  which  an  Irish  virgin 
is  made  to  give  the  preference  to  her  dear  Coulin  (or  the  youth  with  the  flowing 
locks)  to  all  strangers,  by  which  the  English  were  meant,  or  those  who  wore  their 
habits.  Of  this  song  the  air  alone  has  reached  us,  and  is  universally  admired." — 
Walker's  Historical  Memoirs  of  Irish  Bards.  Mr.  Walker  informs  us,  also,  that 
about  the  same  period  were  some  harsh  measures  taken  agaiast  the  Irish  minstrels. 


MUSIC    AND   POETRr. 


401 


KATHLEEN  MAVOURNEEN. 


mf 


mf 


l^z:^ 


mf 


jS?" 


r--f- 


^  ^       d—^: 


JO=^ 


Kath  -  leen  Ma  -  vour  -  neen,  the     gray     dawn  is 


«±*=' 


:s?r 


i^iHt:^ 


I^E 


"SJr 


rfczd^iq^i 


_i. 


3? 


&~^ 


5 


jj^^-^=ir--<si 


-^- 


break  -  ing ;         The  horn      of    the      hunt  -  er 


m 


'SSi — '' 


-^ 


-fiT 


iSS? 


> 


MEJ-.i=M 


3; 


151 


heard        on   the      hill 


The      lark      from  her 


fczid— E 


:5± 


'sr 


'&r 


s^ltL^EzzE^: 


^— y 


-f~ 


=«=3== 


light   wing  the       bright       dew    is      sha 


king; 


:l±: 


-^ 


_-si 


51 


^:^ 


"S? 


402 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


'\^. 


^-^mm^ 


-i-T^" 


Kath  -  leen 


Mavour  -  neen !      what,  slum  -  bering 


E-fe 


i£ 


-SI 


,SE3 


sE 


still  ? 


'^fj_ > 

ig  jm        _  ^ 


:p-^^^ — 


O !      hast      thou     for  -  got  -  ten       how 


~s>~ 


±^±3 


£ 


-^ 


^- 


> 

\ 

Wl/ 

^R^"  s 

-q^^        ^  ^   "" 

_ 

^H-^- 

-^^- 

-f-- 

"^        J     - 

1 

1 n^    -5_ 

- 

\M/                                          1                 j^ 

*       e 

# 

^1           in 

soon 

we 

must   sev  -  er? 

O! 

has 

3t      thou    for  - 

/Pi'   1 

V    •     L> 

1 

S   I     "^ 

• 

€J 

• 

l^  L> 

O 

_ 

_^ 


-&1 


3=5 


-s?~- 


got  -  ten        this      day         we   must     part  ? 


"~1" 


~W 
It 


fet-- 


M 


~gy~ 


n      I" 


■=^ 


if'-fc 


:^ 


-Si- 


-P 


may 

I 
•~p — g?~ 


be   for      years,     and     it         may   be 


for 


e:^ 


-«'- 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


403 


ev  -  er ! 


&fe 


Efc 


'^ 


jPt^^g 


Ol 


< 


ZZ^ 


■=^=^=fe3E 


:i=i 


why  art  thou    si   -   lent,     thou 


^ 


i^fc 


s^ 


^^^ 


^ 


voice  of        my      heart?       It 


may 


be      for 


&fe 


— ^b-*^ 


3=5 


:^[ 


^^ 


_> 


)EfczfL: 


==^: 


years,    and        it      may     be        for    -    ev  -  er !       Then 


^_rJ 


"^C 


\ 


S 


"S^ 


art  thou   si  -  lent,    Kathleen    Ma  -  vourneen  ? 


iE=^E:^3:zH: 


zt" 


mf 


.^/j 


:^=i: 


-s?'- 


mf 


"H" 


I 


Kath  -  leen   Ma  -  vour  -  neen,    a  -  wake       from  thy 


-z^±zi^ 


"sr 


"sr 


404 


MUSIC    AND   POETRY. 


5^±^EE^EEiEi 


slum  -  bers  ;      The    blue     mountains  glow  in 


the 


-<sy 


-^ 


-G>^ 


-^: 


sun's      gold  -  en       light ;      Ah !      where      is      the 


"ST 


tz?t 


-«SL 


.^J^]:^©----^--^ 


1^ T^ri — g ^'^ W 


IZ^tl 


:t^= 


W 


spell     that  once    hung  on       my      numbers! 


b     S?f — ^ 


I— b-tr-^F 


-sT 


A    - 


~tr"~g? 


:t± 


in     thy       beau  -  ty,       thou     star      of 


my 


-^tr-^— -T= 


MUSIC    AND   POETRY. 


405 


t 


'^} 


^T-i 


^^^^ 


mf 


s?" 


:p_: 


star 


of       my     night.      Ma  -  vour  -  neen, 


Ma 


B;^- 


zz^Jzn? 


EES: 


"S?" 


&~S=^M^- 


/ 


.fefeE 


vour  -  neen,      my       sad     tears      are      fall  -  ing, 


±^ 


To 


5i 


=s 


-©L 


m/* 


< 


.^ <^ 


mf 


'&_ 


^= 


'n"^~i- 


==S=s: 


think     that     from    E    -    rin     and      thee      I 


must 


^ 


'Gf— 


'GT' 


afe==^=^ 


:^ 


-^r 


part 


& 


It 


^ 


:]5ii: 


may        be      for         years,     and      it 


:^r 


H— g^ 


'ST 


b=*: 


^^ 


^  r 

'I — r 


^ , 


F-- 


EEEEEi 


may     be         for   -   ev  -  er !       Then     why       art   thou 


"^ 


-S>'- 


-iS^- 


406 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


'^- 


3=3- 

0    «        9' 


si   -  lent,      thou    voice      of         my     heart? 


©;£ 


^-tr— g^ 


"ST 


It 


mf 


mf 


^. 


?=^ 


^Nl*^/ 


5±f3=;=3=i-=?^ 


:F 


E 


may 


©^ 


be     for  years,  and        it     may    be 


for 


-jj — sy 


m/ 


;^l 


^-_ 


3^ 


ev  -  er !      Then      why 


art     thou     si   -    lent. 


IZ.H_ 


irizsp 


~^^~ 


"ST 


—Gf- 


> 


> 


< 


^ 


^_ 


& 


5 


Kath  -  leen 


SJP 


Ma 

— ^_ 


vour  -  neen 


"sr 


=-^ 


1 


MUSIC  AND  POETRY. 


407 


THE  HARP  THAT  ONCE  THRO'  TARA'S  HALLS, 


BY     MOORE. 


SLOtr. 


'^ 


\^^-i7-e-H^ 


i»- 


£ 


L    The    Harp,     that  once  thro'  Ta  -  ra's  halls     The 


©^t 


soul     of    mu  -  sic    shed,       Now  hangs     as    mute   on 


-»-•- 


"I    I    I    r 


t 


"1    I    r 


? — 'i — -  I    -  f       I'*' 


fcfezb= 


Ta  -  ra's  walls     As      if      that    soul  were   fled.         So 
#  ^     ^ »^0 


&£E^^^ 


I       r 


sleeps   the  pride  of   former  days ;    So     glo-ry's   thrill    is 


e^b 


lit 


:£ 


1 


408 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


^^^1^^^ 


o'er  ;       And  hearts,  that  once  beat  high     for  praise,  Now 


{^=^^ 


x—- 


-m 


5 


3; 


W^ 


feel    that      throb      no       more. 


tfc 


S»" 


No  more,  to  chiefs  and  ladies  bright. 

The  Harp  of  Tara  swells  ; 
The  chord,  alone,  that  breaks  at  night, 

Its  tale  of  ruin  tells. 
Thus  Freedom  now  so  seldom  wakes,— 

The  only  throb  she  gives 
Is  when  some  heart  indignant  breaks, 

To  show  that  still  she  lives. 


The  following  admirable  soiig,  from  the   Dublin  Nation^  may  he  sung  to  the  same 
tune,  —  which  is  the  very  ancient  air  of  "Mollv  Asthore." 

Look  down  on  Erin's  verdant  vales,  —  so  rich,  so  gay,  so  green, — 
And  tell  me,  can  a  bosom  throb,  not  loving  Ocean's  queen  ? 
Look  round  on  Erin's  mossy  moors,  her  meads  and  mountains  high, 
And  tell  me,  does  a  dastard  live,  who'd  not  for  Erin  die  ? 

No,  no ;  in  Erin  lives  not  now  a  traitor  to  her  cause,  — 
The  thundering  voice  a  Nation  speaks,  each  traitor  overawes! 
A  beaming  light  is  burning  bright,  on  mountain,  rock,  and  sea; 
And,  by  the  mighty  march  of  mind,  our  land  will  soon  be  free ! 

Then  strike  the  Harp,  old  Erin's  Harp,  with  fearless  force  and  hold; 
It  breathes  not  for  a  timorous  hand,  nor  for  a  heart  that's  cold ; 
It  loves  tlie  open,  generous  soul,  —  tlie  bold,  tiie  brave,  tlie  free ; 
But  for  tlie  craven,  crouching  slave,  it  has  no  melody. 

You're  men  !  —  as  such  should  know  your  rights,  and  knowing  should  defend ; 
Who  would  be  free,  themselves  must  dare  the  tyrant's  chain  to  rend; 
O,  fruitless  is  tlie  grief  that  springs  above  a  nation's  fears ; 
One  firm  resolve  of  migJity  men  is  worth  a  tide  of  tears. 


LECTURE    XII. 


PROM  A.  D.   800   TO    1016 


Close  of  the  eighth  Century. —  Names  of  fifty-nine  Kings  of  Ireland.  —  Inva- 
sions. —  Glimpse  of  European  Affairs.  —  The  Franks.  —  The  Building  of  Paris. 
—  Charlemagne.  —  His  Laws.  —  Mahomet.  —  The  Venetians.  —  Trade  and  Com- 
merce. —  The  Danes.  —  Their  Invasions  of  France,  Germany,  England,  Hol- 
land, and  Ireland.  —  Turgesius,  their  Chief.  —  His  Devastations.  —  Death  of 
Niall.  —  Accession  of  Malachy.  —  His  many  Battles  with  the  Danes.  —  Danes 
triumph.  —  Danish  and  English  Oppression  alike. —  Atrocities  of  the  Danes. — 
Designs  of  the  Chief  Turgesius.  —  Frustrated,  and  the  Danes  destroyed.  —  Re- 
establishment  of  the  Kingdom.  —  Death  of  Malachy. —  Accession  of  Hugh  the 
Seventh.  —  Further  Attempts  of  the  Danes.  —  Plots  to  foment  Dissensions.  — 
Attacks  of  the  Danes.  —  Renewal  of  the  Wars.  —  Retreat  of  the  Danes  on 
Wales.  —  Effects  of  Peace  in  Ireland.  —  Reign  of  Niall  the  Fourth.  —  Renewed 
Dissensions.  —  Danes  renew  their  Invasions.  —  Various  Battles.  —  Victories  of 
Cealachan.  —  Stratagem  to  destroy  him. —  Southern  Expedition  of  Sea  and 
Land  Forces. —  Sea  Fight  of  Dundalk.  —  Glorious  Conduct  of  the  Irish. — 
Defeat  of  the  Danes.  —  Reign  of  Congulash.  —  New  Danish  Invasions.  —  Brien 
Boroimhe.  —  Routs  the  Danes  in  various  Battles. —  Storms  Limerick. —  Settle- 
ment of  Munster. —  Hospitality  and  Magnificence  of  Brien. — A  Virgin  walks 
alone  through  Munster. —  Malachy  the  Second.  —  The  Collar  of  Gold.  —  Lough 
Neagh.  —  War  between  Malachy  and  Brien.  —  Brien  comes  to  the  Throne.  — 
Solemn  Coronation.  —  Assembly  of  the  Estates  of  Tara.  —  Law  relating  to  Sur- 
names. —  O's  and  Macs.  —  English  Titles.  —  Revival  of  Literature.  —  Irish 
Teachers  sought  after  by  King  Alfred.  —  Glance  at  English  Affairs.  —  King 
Alfred.  —  Introduces  the  Irish  Laws.  —  Calls  an  Assembly  of  the  Estates  like 
that  of  Tara.  —  Death  of  King  Alfred. —  Danes  reestablish  their  Power  in 
England.  —  Dissensions  in  Ireland. —  Danes  take  Advantage.  —  Again  invade 
Ireland. —  Preparations  of  Brien.  —  Clontarf.  —  Morning  of  the  Battle.  —  Brian's 
Address  to  his  Army. — His  Son  Murrough  takes  the  Command.  —  The  Battle. — 
Murrough  waves  the  "Sunburst,"  and  leads  the  decisive  Charge. —  Victory!  — 
Murrough  killed.  —  Death  of  Brien.  —  The  Danes  completely  subdued.  —  In- 
glorious Attacks  of  the  Prince  of  Ossory  on  the  Munster  Troops.  —  Bravery  of 
the  wounded  Men. 

A.  D.  800.     Anxious  to  follow  up  the  deeply-interesting  sketch  of 
our  literary  and  Christian  missionaries,  who  appeared  from  the  time  of 
52 


410  CLOSE    OF    THE    EIGHTH    CENTURY. 

St.  Patrick  to  the  close  of  the  eighth  century,  and  to  fix  in  the  reader's 
mind  a  distinct  image  of  their  extraordinary  labors,  I  avoided  intruding 
upon  his  attention  the  civil  or  kingly  affairs  of  the  country  during  the 
three  hundred  years  over  which  I  have  ranged  from  the  reign  of  King 
Laogaire,  in  the  middle  of  the  fifth  to  the  close  of  the  eighth  century. 

The  historians  of  those  times  have  left  us  little  material  connected 
with  kings.  The  genius  of  the  educated,  and  the  labors  of  the  people, 
seem  to  have  been  exclusively  directed  to  the  spread  of  religion  and 
literature  over  Europe.  The  kings  who  reigned,  and  the  battles  they 
fought,  are  passed  over  with  unusual  brevity.  As  these  battles  were 
generally  fought  between  Irishmen  on  their  native  land,  it  is  a  matter 
of  less  consequence  that  the  Christian  historians  of  the  middle  ages 
should  have  given  them  so  little  of  their  space.  I,  for  one,  do  not 
regret  this  ;  for  it  is  with  the  utmost  reluctance  that  I  record  for  publi- 
cation any  of  those  senseless  sanguinary  battles  fought  by  Irishmen 
against  Irishmen  on  their  common  birthplace.  I  am  occasionally 
compelled  to  record  them,  in  obedience  to  the  order  and  demands  of 
history. 

Not  all  the  virtues  of  the  Irish  are  sufficient  to  hide  the  stains  which 
those  wars  with  each  other  have  left  upon  their  fame,  nor  all  their 
bravery  sufficient  to  avert  the  frequent  calamities  of  invasions  and 
persecutions  which  those  well-known  divisions  have  for  a  thousand 
years  invited.  Their  proneness  to  contend  with  each  other  is  the  most 
senseless,  as  well  as  the  most  mischievous  and  fatal,  trait  in  their 
national  character.  They  have  latterly  become  somewhat  sensible  of 
this,  and  it  is  hoped  that,  under  the  wise  and  enlightened  counsels  of 
their  present  chief  men,  it  will  totally  disappear.  Let  those  among 
them  who  are  most  patriotic,  suffer  injury  from  their  countrymen  with- 
out retaliation  ;  and  let  those  who  are  most  in  the  right  be  the  most 
patient  and   forbearing,  for  the  sake  of  union. 

From  the  fifth  year  of  the  Christian  era  to  the  time  of  Laogaire, 
there  reigned  twenty-eight  kings.  From  the  accession  of  Laogaire,  the 
first  Christian  monarch  of  Ireland,  about  430,  to  that  of  Aodh  the 
Sixth,  in  the  close  of  the  eighth  century,  there  reigned  thirty-one 
kings ;  that  is,  fifty-nine  kings  in  eight  hundred  years,  which  give  an 
average  of  thirteen  and  a  half  years  to  each  reign.  Some  of  these 
monarchs,  for  the  sake  of  union,  reigned  two  at  one  time.  Some  of 
them,  also,  retired  to  monasteries  in  the  prime  of  manhood.  If,  ac- 
cording to  Newton,  an  average  kingly  reign  of  fifteen  years  be  an 
undoubted  evidence  of  a  high  degree  of  civilization  in  a  people,  then 


NAMES    OF    FIFTY-NINE    KINGS.  411 

the  average  offered  by  two  thousand  years  of  the  Milesian  dynasty 
in  Ireland,  which  comes  up  to  thirteen  or  fourteen  years,  as  the  dura- 
tion of  each  king's  reign,  is  an  unerring  index  of  national  civilization. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  fifty-nine  kings :  —  Conaire, 
Lughaidh,  Connor  and  Criompthon,  Cairbre,  Fiachadhjion,  Mini, 
Tuathal,  Mai,  Feidhlim,  Cathoir  More,  Con,  Conaire,  Art,  MCon, 
Feargus,  Cormac,  Carbrie,  Feacha  and  Colla,  joint  kings,  Muiried- 
hach,  Eochaidth,  Criompthon,  Niall^  Dathy,  Laogaire,  Olioll, 
Lugha,  Murtough,  Tuathal,  Dermod,  Feargus  and  Daniel,  joint 
kings.  Achy,  Carbra  Croman,  Hugh,  Hugh  Slaine  and  Colman, 
joint  kings,  Naradnach,  Clearach,  Daniel,  Claon  and  Ceallach,  joint 
kings,  Dermod  and  Bleathmac,  joint  kings,  Fionachte,  Loingseach, 
Congell,  Fearghall,  Togartach,  Aaodth  Ollah,  Daniel  HI.,  Niall  IL, 
Dunchaid,  Niall  UL,  Aodth. 

I  will  not  go  farther  into  the  civil  affairs  of  the  last  three  centuries 
than  to  glance  at  one  or  two  invasions,  which  the  Northumbrian  king, 
and,  after  him,  the  Picts,  attempted  on  Ireland. 

"  In  the  year  of  the  incarnation  of  our  Lord  684,"  says  Bede, 
"  Ecgfrid,  king  of  the  Northumbrians,  having  sent  General  Berte  with  an 
army  to  Ireland,  plundered  that  unoffending  people,  (who  had  been 
always  friendly  and  well-disposed  towards  the  English,)  without  sparing 
either  churches  or  monasteries  ;  however,  the  Irish  used  all  their  efforts, 
and  repelled  force  by  force.  Thus  this  attack  of  the  Saxons  was 
attended  by  no  other  result  than  the  pillaging  of  some  villages  on  the 
coasts  of  the  island." 

M'Geoghegan  says,  "  In  the  reign  of  Loingsheach,  (anno  700,)  the 
Britons  and  Saxons  made  an  attempt  upon  Ireland  ;  they  laid  waste 
the  plain  of  Muii'theimne,  at  present  the  county  of  Louth  ;  but  they 
were  repulsed  by  Loingsheach,  and  forced  to  abandon  their  enterprise. 
They  were  afterwards  totally  defeated  by  the  Ulster  troops,  at  Moigh- 
Cuillin,  or  Ire-Connaught,  in  the  county  of  Galway.  They  again  landed, 
for  the  sake  of  plunder,  arrived  during  the  reign  of  Feargall,  (712,)  in 
Ulster,  where,  after  a  bloody  engagement  fought  at  Cloch-Mionuire, 
they  were  entirely  routed  by  the  Dalriads  and  other  tribes  of  Ulster." 

In  the  long  and  peaceful  reign  of  Daniel,  (Domhnall,)  A.  D.  743, 
the  Picts  made  sudden  incursions  into  Leinster.  They  were,  however, 
totally  defeated  by  the  Leinster  troops,  in  the  district  of  Ossory,  where 
their  king  and  leader,  Cabasach,  was  slain. 

It  may  be  well  to  turn  aside  here  from  our  direct  study  of  Irish 
history,  for  the  purpose  of  glancing  at  the  general  state  of  Europe, 
at  this  era. 


412  GLIMPSE    OF    EUROPEAN    AFFAIRS. CHARLEMAGNE. 

Among  the  most  conspicuous  of  the  European  nations  about 
this  time  was  the  empire  of  the  Franks.  The  Fraiiks  were  a 
German  race,  that  rushed  into  Gaul  on  the  breaking  up  of  the 
Roman  empire.  They  were  freemen,  attached  to  the  Roman  repubhc, 
and  took  the  name  of  Franks,  or  French,  from  that  term.  They 
began  the  city  of  Paris  in  the  close  of  the  fifth  century.  Pepin 
and  his  grandson  Le  Bref  were  their  distinguished  rulers.  They 
were  the  guardians  of  the  throne,  or  grand  regents,  and  were  called 
mayors;  but  their  power  in  the  field  becoming  considerable,  Le 
Bref  assumed  the  monarchy,  and  bequeathed  it  to  his  son,  the  cele- 
brated Charlemagne.  This  great  man  added  considerably  to  the 
dominion  of  the  French ;  he  attracted  around  him  the  ablest  officers 
and  the  most  learned  men  in  Europe.  Many  eminent  men  from 
Ireland  found,  in  his  court,  hearty  encouragement,  as  already  shown. 
He  divided  the  kingdom  into  counties  and  provinces,  after  the 
Irish  customs.  Indeed,  he  adopted  many  of  the  laws  of  Ireland ; 
amongst  the  rest,  the  law  of  eric,  or  fine,  for  crime.  Charlemagne 
began  a  Book  of  Maxims  and  Laws,  after  the  model  of  the  Psalter 
of  Tara,  which  was  lost  after  his  death,  but  found  again  in  the  fifteenth 
century.  He  drove  the  Lombards  out  of  Italy,  and  gave  the 
holy  see  a  considerable  inheritance  ;  he  met  the  Saracens  in  several 
battles,  and  confined  their  dominion  to  the  east  of  Europe.  His  char- 
acter was  simple,  but  brilliant ;  his  reign  and  government  just  and 
glorious.  He  died  814.  Having  divided  the  empire  which  he  ac- 
quired, consisting  of  France,  Germany,  Italy,  and  some  lesser  terri- 
tories, amongst  his  sons,  they  quarrelled  after  his  death,  and  embroiled 
France  in  years  of  civil  war.  Germany,  which  was  given  entire  to 
one  of  his  sons,  assumed  a  separate  government  from  the  rest  of 
Europe.  The  revenues  of  a  great  part  of  Italy  were  placed  by  Char- 
lemagne at  the  disposal  of  the  holy  see,  in  which  state  they  have 
continued  nearly  ever  since. 

A  large  portion  of  the  east  of  Europe,  and  of  Asia  and  Africa,  was 
subjected  to  the  sway  of  a  new  conqueror,  who  mingled  a  new  religious 
system  with  the  prowess  of  his  sword  ;  this  was  Mahomet,  a  native  of 
Mecca  in  Arabia,  of  mean  extraction,  but  of  great  learning  and  acquire- 
ments. He  flourished  about  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century. 
He  pretended  to  the  gifts  of  prophecy  and  revelations  from  Heaven. 
His  countrymen,  for  infinite  ages,  had  worshipped  the  sun  and  stars ; 
but  he  taught  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  God,  denying  that  Jesus 
Christ  was  divine,  but  admitting  his  doctrine  to  be  good,  and  his  mission, 


PROGRESS    OF    THE    SARACENS. MAHOMET.  413 

like  his  own,  that  of  a  prophet.  Mahomet  had  studied  the  Jewish 
and  Christian  Scriptures,  and  formed  on  their  basis  a  testament  of  his  own, 
which  he  called  the  Koran.  It  was  beautifully  written,  in  detached 
pieces,  and  during  certain  retreats  to  mountains  and  woods,  to  which  he 
retired  at  intervals,  after  the  manner  of  Moses,  to  commune  with  God. 
When  any  part  of  his  doctrines  was  disputed,  he  generally  retired, 
under  pretence  of  laying  the  objections  before  the  Most  High,  and,  after 
a  due  interval  of  absence  and  communion,  he  returned  with  a  further 
piece  of  the  Koran,  which  either  silenced  or  satisfied  his  adversaries. 
He  pretended  that  these  detached  pieces  were  brought  to  him,  in  his 
retreats,  by  the  angel  Gabriel.  Its  florid  composition,  and  its  splendid 
Arabic  language,  imposed  on  the  vulgar.  The  Koran  was  thus  compiled 
as  a  rule  of  faith  and  morals,  and  whenever  its  inspired  character 
was  questioned,  the  prophet  boldly  defied  his  opponents  to  write 
one  chapter  like  it. 

Mahomet,  though  persecuted  for  his  preaching,  gained  an  extraordi- 
nary ascendency  over  his  followers.  The  persecutions  which  he  and 
they  encountered  prompted  them  to  combine  for  defence,  and  ultimately 
they  became  offensive.  Mahomet  finally  assumed  the  title  of  king, 
with  that  of  prophet,  arrayed  a  numerous  army,  attacked  and  robbed  all 
those  who  refused  to  believe  his  creed.  The  plunder  which  followed 
his  conquests  attracted  vast  armies  to  his  standard.  His  religious  tenets, 
embraced  in  Islamism,  admitted  the  utmost  libertinism  to  his  followers; 
each  man  was  allowed  four  wives,  besides  concubines,  but  was  forbidden 
all  intoxicating  liquors  under  pain  of  death.  He  laid  under  his  dominion 
an  incalculable  extent  of  territory  in  the  East.  He  died  at  the  age 
of  sixty-three ;  and  then,  his  armies  ranging  under  his  principles,  their 
command  was  assumed  by  his  father-in-law,  Abu  BcJcr.  The  Christians 
opposed  these  armies  in  many  very  great  battles,  at  one  of  which,  Yer- 
mouth,  in  Syria,  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  Christian  soldiei-s  were 
slain.  The  Mahometans  then  conquered  Egypt,  Persia,  Armenia, 
Mesopotamia,  and  the  north  of  Africa.  In  the  course  of  seventy  years, 
this  Mahometan,  or  Saracen,  empire  was  extended  from  India  to 
Siberia,  and  from  Samarcand  to  the  Atlantic.  Their  African  soldiers, 
called  Moors,  vanquished  the  Visigoth  kings  who  reigned  in  Spain  and 
Portugal.  They  invaded  Italy,  and  besieged  Rome.  Here  they  were 
met  by  the  French  forces  under  Louis  It  Debonnaire,  and  driven 
back  towards  their  stronghold  in  Spain.  After  this  they  kept  at  a 
distance  from  the  western  Christian  states.  Spain  was  for  a  long 
period  subject  to  their  power,  and  the  Christians  of  the  Holy  Land, 


414  THE    WARS    OF    THE    CRUSADES. 

around  Jerusalem,  seem  to  have  been  the  peculiar  object  of  their 
vengeance.  Their  cruelties  towards  the  Christians  were  shocking,  and 
extended  to  such  a  degree,  that  the  Christian  kings  of  Europe,  about 
the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  at  the  instigation  of  Peter  the  Her- 
mit, raised  a  million  of  soldiers,  at  the  head  of  whom  they  marched  to 
the  Holy  Land,  to  avenge  on  the  Saracens  the  outrages  they  had 
committed  on  their  fellow-believers.  These  wars  were  called  the 
"wars  of  the  crusades,"  and  they  engaged,  it  may  be  said,  the 
physical  strength  of  the  greater  part  of  the  world  for  more  than  a 
century.  Millions  of  human  beings  fell  victims  on  both  sides;  the 
flow  of  blood  was  at  length  temporarily  stopped  by  the  victorious 
Saracen,  Saladin,  who,  after  overthrowing  an  army  of  three  hundred 
thousand  Christian  soldiers  at  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  in  1187,  pro- 
claimed liberty  of  conscience  to  the  Christians. 

These  wars  were,  however,  again  renewed,  in  the  succeeding  century, 
by  several  European  kings,  under  pretence  of  protecting  Christianity, 
but  really  to  extend  dominion.  They  were  the  cause  of  unprece- 
dented carnage.  The  cross  was  hoisted  again  on  the  flag  of  the  Chris- 
tian warriors ;  the  crescent  on  that  of  the  Saracens.  From  the 
beginning  to  the  close  of  those  wars,  upwards  of  forty  millions  of 
human  beings  were  slain  — a  dreadful  carnage.  Yet  Christianity  might 
have  had  to  contend  for  freedom  to  this  day  with  the  followers  of 
Mahomet,  had  not  this  vigorous  resistance  been  offered  to  their  arms  by 
the  Christians ;  though,  doubtless,  the  ambition  of  the  Christian  kings 
and  knights  led  them  to  exceed  the  limits  of  their  first  design,  which 
extended  only  to  the  protection   of  fellow-Christians. 

Next  in  importance  was  the  rise  of  the  republic  of  Venice.  The 
great  monarchs  of  Christendom  concerned  themselves,  for  many  cen- 
turies, only  in  the  afl^airs  of  war.  Trade  and  manufactures  were  left  to 
be  minded  by  the  petty  states  and  towns  of  Europe,  which  were  not 
of  consideration  enough  to  be  consulted  in  the  great  affairs  of  the 
world.  Some  of  these  came  to  grow  rich  and  powerful,  and  some  of 
the  others  became  poor  by  war  and  luxury.  The  first  amongst  the  states 
which  grew  into  opulence  and  power,  was  the  little  republic  of  Venice. 
It  held  the  mastery  of  the  commerce  of  the  world  for  better  than  a 
thousand  years.  This  singular  city  was  begun,  in  the  fifth  century,  by  a 
few  fugitives  from  Rome,  who  settled  upon  one  of  the  marshy  islands 
at  the  head  of  the  Adriatic  Sea.  Some  say  they  fled  from  the  cruelty 
of  Attila  the  Hun  ;  but  I  rather  think  they  were  persecuted  Christians, 
for,  soon  after  their  settlement,  they  erected,  on  the  Island  of  the  Rialto, 


RISE    AND    FALL    OF    THE    VENETIAN    REPUBLIC. THE    DANES.    415 

a  church  to  St.  James,  which  was  to  be  seen,  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
in  the  midst  of  the  most  opulent  part  of  the  city. 

These  refugees  increased ;  they  hved  by  fishing  and  hunting 
There  were  seventy-two  islands  in  the  Adriatic  cluster,  which  were 
ultimately  covered  with  buildings,  and  connected  with  each  other  by  four 
hundred  and  thirty  bridges.  The  huts  of  the  first  settlers  changed,  in 
the  course  of  time,  to  large  palaces  and  warehouses  ;  the  fishing-boats, 
to  ships  of  commerce ;  and  the  fishermen,  into  carriers  between  the  east 
and  the  west.  As  they  grew  in  opulence,  they  formed  themselves  into 
a  republic.  They  elected,  periodically,  a  chief  man  and  a  council  for 
their  government.  Their  chief  was  called  a  doge,  and  theirs  was  the 
model  of  modern  republics. 

The  Venetian  republic  grew  to  be  the  greatest  commercial  power  in 
the  world.  For  several  centuries  they  sustained  that  character.  The 
crusaders  employed  their  ships  and  merchants  in  their  busy  intercourse 
with  the  East,  by  which  Venice  acquired  unbounded  wealth  and  exten- 
sive connections.  For  better  than  two  centuries,  they  were  the  bulwark 
of  Christendom  against  the  Turks  and  Tartars.  They  were  the  fron- 
tier power,  and  their  colonies  were  the  objects  of  Turkish  ambition. 
Genuine  freedom  seemed  to  have  abode  with  them  for  several  centuries. 
They  were  the  centre  and  distributors  of  literature,  art,  and  science,  in 
Europe,  from  the  twelfth  to  the  fifteenth  century.  Their  republican 
constitution  sustained  them  independent  for  better  than  a  thousand 
years,  and  only  fell  into  decay  by  the  vice  and  luxury  of  an  overgrown 
aristocracy.  Venice  fell,  under  the  repeated  assaults  of  the  Turks,  in 
1669.  The  war  had  continued  for  nearly  half  a  century,  during  which 
forty  thousand  Christian  soldiers,  and  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
thousand  Turks,  were  slain. 

The  nation  next  in  importance,  and  more  directly  so  to  the  Irish' 
reader,  is  that  Scandinavian  irruption  of  men  generally  denominated 
"  Danes."  They  issued  from  the  north  of  Europe  in  inexhaustible 
numbers.  Born  to  a  cold  and  cheerless  climate,  and  a  sterile  earth,  they 
were  ready  to  risk  life,  and  incur  any  degree  of  hardship,  for  the 
luxuries  of  a  southern  soil.  Aided  by  the  great  quantity  of  the  best 
ship  timber  to  be  found  upon  their  barren  hills,  they  fitted  out  fleets, 
which  were  placed  under  resolute  leaders,  whom  they  denominated  sea 
Icings.  The  object  of  their  first  efforts  was  simply  plunder.  They 
usually  put  to  sea  in  the  summer,  issuing  from  the  basin  of  the  Baltic  in 
large  fleets,  plundering  the  European  coasts  on  the  Atlantic,  and  returning 
to  their  unapproachable  fastnesses  in  the  north.    Encouraged  by  successes, 


416  ORIGIN    OF    THE    NORMANS. 

they  proceeded  into  the  very  heart  of  Europe.  In  the  time  of  Charles 
the  Bald,  (843,)  they  plundered  many  parts  of  France  ;  even  in  the  reign 
of  Charlemagne,  they  attempted  the  same  thing,  but  were  kept  in  check 
by  the  dread  of  his  arms.  But  now,  they  sailed  boldly  up  the  Seine, 
plundered  Rouen,  while  another  fleet  entered  the  Loire,  and  laid  waste 
all  the  rich  country  washed  by  that  river;  carrying  away,  together 
with  rich  spoils,  men,  women,  and  children,  whom  they  sold  into 
captivity.  In  844,  they  appeared  abroad  in  greater  numbers ;  attacked 
England,  Ireland,  France,  Spain,  and  Germany  ;  they  astonished  and 
alarmed  all  Europe ;  they  entered  the  Elbe,  plundered  Hamburg,  and 
penetrated  far  into  Germany. 

They  were  called  Northmen,  or  Normans,  by  the  French  ;  and  these 
daring  adventurers  penetrated,  at  one  time,  under  Eric,  their  king,  as 
far  as  Paris.  Its  inhabitants  fled,  and  the  city  was  burnt.  Their 
fleet,  with  little  resistance,  burnt  Bourdeaux.  To  avert  the  destruction, 
Charles  the  Bald  compounded  with  them  for  a  large  sum,  and  Charles 
the  Gross  yielded  them  a  part  of  his  Flemish  dominion.  This  only 
tended  to  increase  their  confidence.  Their  leaders  continued  their  attack 
until  Rollo,  one  of  their  chiefs,  compelled  the  king  of  France  (anno 
912)  to  surrender  a  large  portion  of  the  territory  of  Neustria,  and  to 
give  him  his  daughter  in  marriage.  This  territory  was  formed  into 
a  new  kingdom,  called  Normandy,  of  which  Rouen  was  the  capital. 

In  England,  they  were  equally  successful ;  they  entered  the  Thames, 
sailed  up  to  London,  sacked  it,  drove  the  Saxon  kings  from  their  stools, 
and  laid  the  whole  country  under  tribute.  Their  ravages  in  England 
were  like  those  in  France  and  Germany.  They  were  of  a  plunderous 
character,  observed  none  of  the  usual  conditions  of  warfare  ;  gave  no 
quarter,  respected  no  age,  sex,  or  condition  ;  they  looked  upon  literature 
and  books  with  the  most  savage  enmity,  making  it  their  special  duty  to 
destroy  every  literary  collection  which  they  could  seize.  They  ap- 
peared to  affrighted  Europe  as  a  terrible  scourge,  which  nothing  could 
avert. 

They  visited  Ireland  about  the  close  of  the  eighth  century.  They 
sailed  up  through  her  rivfers,  landed  suddenly  from  their  small  craft,  pil- 
laged the  people,  murdered  the  clergy,  destroyed  the  churches,  burned 
the  libraries,  and  returned  quickly  with  their  spoils  to  sea.  This  har- 
assing warfare  was  kept  up  on  the  Irish  for  many  years.  It  was  in  vain 
that  the  pillagers  were  met  and  defeated  in  pitched  battles — in  vain  that 
thousands  of  their  numbers  were  slain  in  countless  engagements.  They 
seemed  to  be  nothing  the  less  in  numbers  or  ferocity.     After  a  pillaging 


TURGESIUS    THE    DANISH    CHIEF.  417 

and  wasting  war,  or  series  of  invasions,  of  half  a  century,  during 
which  many  of  the  best  commanders  of  Ireland,  and  unnumbered 
legions  of  her  bravest  men,  were  slain,  —  under  which  accumulated  mis- 
fortunes, Connor,  the  monarch  of  Ireland,  died  of  grief,  in  821. 

The  Danish  chief,  Turgesius,  now  appeared  in  the  north  of  Ireland, 
with  a  fleet  of  three  hundred  ships,  filled  with  an  overwhelming  army. 
They  landed  in  several  harbors,  and  forced  their  way  through  the  coun- 
try ;  during  which,  they  took  Armagh,  then  the  chief  city  of  Ireland. 
Great  was  the  joy  of  the  Danes  at  its  surrender,  whilst  the  spirits  of 
the  Irish  were  depressed  in  an  inverse  ratio. 

Turgesius  having  obtained  the  command  of  all  those  aliens,  wherever 
dispersed,  who  had  made  a  footing  in  Ireland  before  his  arrival,  availed 
himself,  with  great  tact,  of  this  additional  power ;  for  he  aimed  at  the 
thorough  conquest  of  the  kingdom.  His  different  detached  parties  were 
every  where  in  action.  Whilst  he  possessed  himself  of  Drogheda, 
another  of  his  party  took  Dublin.  And  now  was  the  whole  country 
one  scene  of  ruin  and  desolation.  Churches  and  monasteries,  religious 
and  laics,  nobles  and  peasants,  without  discrimination,  suffered  the 
utmost  cruelty  of  sword  and  fire.  The  wealthy  cities  and  smiling 
villages,  where,  before,  such  scenes  of  splendor,  hospitality,  and  piety, 
were  exhibited,  became  now  destitute  of  inhabitants,  and  the  country, 
instead  of  being  covered  with  flocks  and  corn,  was  covered  with  barba- 
^  rians,  who  were  a  disgrace  to  humanity ;  and,  superadded  to  all  this, 
there  existed  a  lamentable  dissension  between  the  provincial  kings 
of  Munster  and  Connaught.  The  Irish,  divided  among  themselves,  re- 
fusing to  support  each  other  when  attacked,  gave  spirit  to  the  Danes, 
who  had  therefore  nothing  to  fear  but  from  the  military  and  people  of 
the  territory  on  which  they  descended. 

Turgesius  erected  forts  and  warlike  stations  in  all  those  places  which 
be  seized,  and  none  of  the  old  inhabitants  could  return  to  the  fond 
habitations  of  their  infancy  without  making  a  formal  submission  to  him. 
He  took  care  to  invest  the  posts  on  the  sea-coasts  with  armed  battalions. 
In  vain  did  the  Irish  oppose  them  manfully,  and  cut  them  off  in  regi- 
ments of  eight  hundred,  and  a  thousand  at  a  time  in  the  interior;  as 
the  Danes  were  continually  increased  by  new  adventurers  on  the  sea- 
coasts,  it  appeared  as  if  they  grew  out  of  the  sea,  so  interminable  did 
their  numbers  appear.  The  interior  part  of  Ireland  was  yet  free  from 
their  absolute  power,  and  poured  forth  new  men  to  defend  those  places 
nearest  to  them.  Turgesius,  in  imitation  of  the  Irish,  built  light  barks 
to  run  into  the  interior  of  the  country.  He  filled  the  Shannon,  and  other 
53 


418  DEATH    OF    NIALL. ACCESSION    OF    MALACHT. 

rivers,  and  lakes,  with  myriads  of  armed  men.  Loch  Neagh  and 
Loch  Erne  were  covered  with  small  craft  full  of  armed  pirates,  land- 
ing on  every  side,  pillaging  churches  and  villages,  and  putting  to  the 
«word  defenceless  women  and  children. 

Anno  835.  Niall  the  Third,  who  succeeded  Connor  as  monarch  of 
Ireland,  was  indefatigable,  at  this  period,  in  reconciling  jarring  interests, 
and  animating  his  brave  countrymen  to  resistance.  He  was  enabled  to 
collect  forces  enough  to  o;ive  battle  to  the  Danes  in  two  signal  engacre- 
ments,  in  which  he  cut  them  to  pieces.  Encouraged  by  his  successes 
in  reconciling  jarring  interests,  and  uniting  forces  to  resist  the  invader, 
the  monarch  now  made  a  journey  into  Leinster,  to  rally  the  peoplo 
of  that  province  to  their  duty ;  but  he  lost  his  life,  in  crossing  a  river, 
through  his  own  excessive  humanity  in  endeavoring  to  save  the  life  of 
one  of  his  officers. 

Anno  848.  The  Irish  throne  was  now  filled  by  the  monarch  Mala- 
chy.  Imitating  the  policy  of  Niall,  he  called  a  council  of  the  nation  at 
Armagh,  which  had  been  retaken  from  the  Danes.  Here  the  estates 
of  Connaught,  Ulster,  and  Meath,  assembled,  with  several  of  the  bishops 
and  clergy.  It  was  then  agreed  to  make  a  general  and  simultaneous 
attack  on  the  Danes,  in  every  direction.  This  resolve  was  carried  into 
effect  with  great  vigor.  The  monarch  himself,  at  the  head  of  a  brave 
body  of  troops,  cut  to  pieces  a  large  army  of  Danes,  consisting  of  some 
thousands,  in  Meath.  The  brave  Dalgais  cut  to  pieces  several  hundred 
of  them  at  Ard  Bracen  ;  and  the  people  of  Tyr  Connell  gave  a  signal 
overthrow  to  a  large  body  of  them  near  Emisrudth.  The  same  success 
attended  the  people  of  Loch  Gobhair.  The  monarch  Malachy,  still 
following  up  his  successes,  gave  them  battle  at  Glass  Glean,  where 
seventeen  hundred,  together  with  Saxolb,  their  general,  were  left  dead 
on  the  field. 

But  these  transitory  successes  seemed  not  to  diminish  the  number  of 
the  invaders.  Having  made  a  footing  in  England,  they  found  ready 
auxiliaries  in  their  countrymen  who  had  settled  there,  and,  without  wait- 
ing for  troops  from  their  native  homes  around  the  Baltic,  were  enabled 
to  replace  the  ranks  of  the  dead  almost  immediately.  Their  hordes  ap- 
peared on  the  Irish  coast  in  still  greater  numbers,  and  county  after 
county,  and  district  after  district,  fell  into  their  hands,  after  rivers  of  the 
bravest  blood  had  been  shed  in  their  defence.  The  wills  of  the  conquerors 
became  law  to  the  vanquished.  At  length,  every  district  in  the  land, 
in  which  an  Irish  chieftain  resided,  was  obliged  to  entertain  a  Danish 
chief,  to  whom  he  was  to  submit,  and  from  whom  he  was  to  receive 


LETTERS  INTERDICTED. TAXES  IMPOSED.  419 

orders  for  the  government  of  his  people  ;  for  the  Irish  would  receive 
no  commands  but  directly  from  their  own  chiefs. 

Although  this  preserved  the  appearance  of  freedom  amongst  the  peo- 
ple, it  at  the  same  time  riveted  more  completely  their  chains.  Every 
town,  besides  its  old  magistrate,  was  superintended  by  a  Danish  captain, 
with  his  company  ;  eveiy  village  had  a  sergeant,  and  in  every  farm- 
house was  billeted  a  Danish  soldier.  Nothing  that  the  citizen  or  farmer 
possessed  could  he  call  his  own.  The  cattle,  the  corn,  the  provisions, 
were  at  the  disposal  of  the  rapacious  soldiery.  The  inhabitants  dared 
not  sit  down  to  their  meals  until  these  banditti  were  first  satisfied.  Uni- 
versities and  schools  were  filled  with  soldiers  ;  churches  and  monasteries 
were  destroyed,  or,  where  suffered  to  stand,  filled  up  with  pagan  priests.' 
Some  of  the  clergy  and  learned  men  escaped  the  sword,  and  quitted  the 
country  for  France,  or  fled  to  the  wildernesses,  and  there  died  of  starva- 
tion and  cold.  Religion  and  letters  were  interdicted  ;  the  nobility  and 
gentry  were  forbidden  the  use  of  arms,  and  the  ladies  were  prevented  re- 
ceiving the  education  proper  for  their  state.  Reading,  and  every  kind 
of  literary  instruction,  were  forbidden  to  the  common  people. 

This  was  not  enough;  the  master  of  every  house  in  the  land  was 
obliged  to  pay  annually  to  Tnrgesius's  receivers  an  ounce  of  gold ;  and 
this  was  exacted  with  such  rigor  and  cruelty,  that  such  as  could  not 
comply  were  to  forfeit  the  loss  of  their  nose,  or  become  slaves.  Hence 
this  tax  was  called  nose  money ;  and  such  were  the  terms  only  upon 
which  these  pillagers  would  cease  in  their  work  of  extermination.  As 
the  best  blood  of  the  country  had  already  saturated  the  soil  in  its  de- 
fence, the  exhausted  inhabitants  submitted  for  a  while  to  this  state  of 
degradation. 

We  look  back  upon  those  days  of  Ireland's  suffering  with  natural 
emotions  of  pity.  Had  we  lived  then,  and  escaped  from  the  torture 
of  the  Dane  to  a  free  country,  how  resolutely  we  would  turn  round, 
and  organize  some  power  to  free  our  countrymen  from  the  yoke !  And 
yet  Ireland  is  subject  to  a  like  tyranny  at  this  moment,  with  a  single 
exception — that  of  religious  liberty.  There  is  not  a  master  of  a  house 
in  Ireland  that  has  not  to  pay  more  than  an  ounce  of  gold  to  the  Eng- 
lish task-master :  whether  in  the  shape  of  labor,  or  pork,  or  money,  or 
meal,  the  humblest  cotter  in  the  land  pays  his  ounce  of  gold  to  the  Saxon. 

In  addition  to  this,  there  is  not  a  village  of  Ireland  that  has  not 
its  sergeant  of  police,  and  its  dozen  or  half-dozen  policemen,  with 
loaded  rifles,  ready,  upon  the  slightest  pretence,  to  shoot  down  the 
people.    There  is  hardly  a  mail  that  comes  from  Ireland  which  does  not 


420       ENGLAND  AS  BARBAROUS  AS  THE  PIRATE  DANES. 

inform  us  of  some  murders  committed  by  those  policemen,  or  some 
detestable  act  of  espionage.  We  know  that  all  that  the  Irish  farmer 
can  raise  is  little  enough  to  satisfy  the  landlord,  the  agent,  middle 
man,  tax  man,  and  parson  —  all  these  being  the  machinery  by  which 
the  Saxons  pillage  the  Irish  people.  We  also  know  that  if  the  Irish 
farmer  is  seen  to  wear  a  good  coat,  or  a  good  hat,  on  a  Sunday,  or  his 
wife  a  new  gown,  a  report  is  made  to  their  task-masters  by  the  police 
sergeant,  and  strait  the  rent  is  raised  five  or  ten  shillings  an  acre.  The 
people  of  Ireland  are  forbidden  to  keep  arms  in  their  houses,  unless  each 
sword  and  gun  shall  be  registered  and  branded,  and  a  tax  of  forty 
shillings  a  year  paid  to  the  British.  This  tax,  in  fact,  amounts  to  a  total 
prohibition  of  the  use  of  arms  to  the  bulk  of  the  people.  They  are 
forbidden  to  fish  in  their  own  waters ;  for  the  British,  after  having  taken 
possession  of  all  the  lands,  have,  by  the  river  laws,  taken  possession 
of  all  the  fish  in  the  waters  also,  and  a  poor  Irish  farmer  that  dares  fish 
up  a  salmon  or  trout  out  of  those  appropriated  waters  becomes  liable  to 
a  long  imprisonment  and  a  fine,  which  must  be  paid  ere  he  can  get  free. 
Then  there  are  the  game  laws,  which  have  transferred  the  winged 
creation  to  the  English  as  their  exclusive  property.  The  Irish  farmers^ 
who  hold  as  tenants  under  lease,  or  at  will,  are  not  permitted  to  cut 
down  a  tree  or  a  sapling,  vv'hich  may  be  growing  on  their  lands^  without 
the  special  permission  of  their  task-masters. 

In  very  few  features  of  Danish  tyranny  does  the  tyranny  of  England 
differ,  save  in  religious  liberty  ;  and  even  in  that  she  exceeded  the  Danes 
in  cruelty  and  in  persecution,  until  compelled  to  relent  by  Tone,  Keogh, 
Grattan,  Macneven,  O'Connell,  and  the  united  resolves  of  the  Irish  people. 
England,  in  the  midst  of  the  nineteenth  century,  is  a  more  barbarous 
persecutor  of  the  Irish  nation,  and  of  mankind  in  general,  wherever  she 
can  send  her  pirate  navies  with  a  chance  of  impunity,  than  ever  were 
the  barbarians  that  issued  fiom  the  north  of  Europe  in  the  dark  ages  we 
are  now  considering ;  and  the  public  opinion  of  civilized  man  must  be 
brought  to  bear  against  this  barbarian  power,  as  it  was  brought  against 
the  Danish  power,  in  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  when  they  were 
driven  out  of  Ireland  and  England,  and  other  parts  of  Europe,  by  one 
simultaneous  effort  of  indignant  man.  The  storm  is  gathering  around 
England  ;  and,  no  matter  what  appearances  she  may  exhibit,  we  know 
she  is  rotten  within,  rotten  throughout,  and  can  be  shaken  to  atoms  by 
the  thunder-voice  of  united  millions. 

The  brutal  invasions  on  female  liberty  and  virtue  which  these  barba- 
rians (the  Danes)  at  length  began  to  practise,  drove  the'  people  to  madness. 


DESIGNS    OF    TURGESIUS    ON    THE    KINo's    DAUGHTER.  421 

All  decency  was  sunk,  and  the  virtuous  daughters  of  Ireland  were 
forcibly  torn,  by  those  monsters,  from  the  parental  shrine,  or  the  nuptial 
sanctuary. 

The  chief  Dane,  Turgesius,  had  a  palace  built  for  himself  in  the 
same  fort  where  Malachy,  the  Irish  king,  was  permitted,  as  a  sort  of 
prisoner,  to  reside.  Though  the  Dane  arrogated  supreme  sway,  yet 
he  frequently  condescended  to  visit  Malachy,  his  brother  king,  who, 
through  a  constrained  policy,  was  obliged  to  entertain  the  usurper. 
During  these  repeated  visits,  the  unwelcome  guest  became  aware  of  the 
beauty  of  one  of  King  Malachy's  daughters,  and,  in  a  compulsory  way, 
demanded  the  lady  for  his  dishonorable  association.  This  was  the 
deepest  wound  that  was  yet  struck  into  the  afflicted  heart  of  the  Irish 
monarch.  It  was  not  enough  that  his  dominions  were  overrun  by  an 
unearthly  swarm  of  monsters  ;  it  was  not  enough  that  his  dignity  was 
eclipsed  and  his  crown  removed  from  his  venerable  brow ;  it  was  not 
enough  that  he  was  held  a  vassal  prisoner  in  his  own  palace,  in  the 
presence  of  his  family  and  followers  ;  but,  to  complete  his  humiliation, 
there  comes  this  superadded  misfortune,  —  he  must  resign  his  virtuous 
daughter  to  the  unlawful  power  of  the  usurper. 

The  king  endeavored  to  amuse  the  Danish  chief  by  assuring  him 
that  there  were  several  young  ladies  in  his  family  or  neighborhood  who 
far  surpassed  his  daughter  in  beauty  ;  but  the  arrogant  Dane,  whose 
passions  had  hitherto  been  strangers  to  any  refusal,  declared  his  inflexible 
determination,  in  case  the  king  refused,  to  take  away  the  young  princess 
by  force.  Though  stung  to  the  heart  by  the  infamous  resolution  of  the 
tyrant,  Malachy,  with  consummate  policy,  disguised  his  indignation 
and  resentment ;  and,  instead  of  an  affront,  he  affected  to  take  it  as  an 
honor,  and  assured  the  Dane  that  he  would  positively  send  his  daughter 
on  the  next  evening,  accompanied  with  fifteen  of  the  most  beautiful 
virgins  that  he  could  find  amongst  all  his  people,  and  if  the  princess 
still  appeared  to  his  eye  the  most  attractive,  then  he  consented  that  tlie 
Dane  should  possess  her ;  but  if  fascinated  by  any  of  the  other  ladies, 
he  then  trusted  to  his  honor  to  restore  his  daughter. 

The  lascivious  Dane  was  not  only  satisfied,  but  extremely  delighted 
with  the  proposal  ;  he  called  together  fifteen  of  the  most  daring  and 
influential  chiefs  of  his  .party,  and  communicated  to  them  the  intrigue, 
to  each  of  whom  he  promised  to  sacrifice  a  beautiful  virgin  in  his  palace 
—  an  intimation  received  with  uproarious  delight. 

Malachy  planned  an  escape  from  this  degradation,  which,  if  unsuc- 
cessful, must  have  caused  his  death,  and  the  complete  destruction  of 


422      malachy's  expedient  to  defeat  tukgesius. 

his  family.  His  plan  was  this :  He  got  together  fifteen  of  the  hand- 
somest young  men  he  could  find  in  the  neighborhood,  amongst  his  friends 
and  followers,  on  whose  spirit  and  resolution  he  could  depend,  and,  after 
communicating  to  them  the  secret  of  his  purpose,  and  pledging  them  to 
execute  it  to  his  wish,  he  had  them  all  attired  in  the  most  costly  habili- 
ments of  a  lady's  wardrobe.  Every  one  of  them  was,  however,  armed 
with  a  dagger,  beneath  his  robe.  The  king  then  instructed  them 
in  the  part  they  were  to  act,  and  promised  that  he  and  a  good 
body-guard  would  be  within  call  at  the  Dane's  fort.  Thus  ac- 
coutred and  disciplined,  the  princess  and  her  companions  went  to  the 
Dane's  castle,  where  they  no  sooner  arrived  than  they  were  con- 
ducted to  an  apartment,  where  the  chief  and  his  associates  were  pre- 
paring to  receive  them.  The  princess  and  her  companions  were  in- 
spired with  very  different  feelings  from  those  entertained  by  the  Danish 
heroes.  Amongst  the  trembling  sensations  of  the  moment,  which  must 
have  pervaded  their  hearts,  the  love  of  country  was  predominant.  They 
knew,  if  they  missed  the  blow  which  they  now  meditated,  that  they  and 
their  country  were  sacrificed. 

The  moment  arrived !  Turgesius  had  looked  over  the  faces  and 
figures  of  all  the  visitors,  and,  having  selected  the  princess  from  amongst 
all,  proceeded  to  embrace  her,  when,  she  giving  the  signal,  her 
companions  plunged  their  daggers  into  the  hearts  of  their  respective 
partners ;  every  one  of  the  Danes,  except  the  chief,  was  put  to 
death:  him  they  boiind ;  and  instantly,  at  a  signal  given,  King  Mala- 
chy,  with  his  guards,  broke  into  the  fort,  sword  in  hand,  giving  no 
quarter.  The  Danish  ofiicers  and  soldiers  fell  promiscuously  in  the 
carnage,  and  not  one  remained  alive,  or  was  suffered  to  escape  with  the 
tale.  The  revenge  of  the  Irish  being  thus  satisfied,  Malachy  had  the 
tyrant  bound  in  irons,  and  brought  before  himself  and  courtiers,  upbraid- 
ing him  with  all  the  horrid  crimes  he  had  committed ;  he  had  him 
dragged  along  in  his  procession  to  grace  the  victory,  and  finally  flung 
him,  covered  with  irons,  into  Lough  Neagh. 

No  sooner  was  this  success  over  the  Danish  chiefs  made  known  out- 
side, but  it  spread  quick  as  light  over  the  island  ;  and  the  news  could 
not  travel  quicker  than  did  the  resolution  of  the  Irish  people  to  throw 
off  the  yoke  which  had  so  long  enslaved  them.  As  soon  as  the  Danes 
found  their  chief  taken  prisoner,  and  many  of  their  commanders  killed, 
they  in  turn  became  panic-stricken  and  dispirited  ;  and,  as  if  the  charm 
of  their  power  lay  in  their  leader,  no  sooner  was  he  taken  than  their 
courage  forsook  them :  so  the  same  cause  produced  in  the  hearts  of  the 


DESTRUCTION    OF    THE    DANES. HUGH    THE    SEVENTH.  423 

Irish  such  new  courage  and  animation,  like  men  awakened  from  a 
trance  or  a  dream,  they  were  amazed  to  find  themselves  the  conquer- 
ors. Such  of  the  Danish  invaders  as  lived  near  the  coast  betook 
themselves  to  their  ships,  and  quitted  the  island ;  others  fled  to  the 
forts  and  fortified  places ;  but  every  where  they  were  pursued  by  their 
infuriate  foes,  whom  revenge  and  freedom  excited  to  extraordinary 
deeds  of  war. 

Malachy  now  took  the  reins  of  government  into  his  hands,  and  called 
the  estates  together.  Had  it  not,  perhaps,  been  for  the  affront  offered 
to  the  honor  of  his  daughter,  he  had  longer  acquiesced  in  the  bondage 
of  the  Dane.  He  assembled  the  estates  near  the  ancient  seat  of  legisla- 
tion, in  Tara,  and  there  submitted  various  measures  for  the  future 
defence  of  the  country  and  its  prosperity. 

In  a  short  time,  the  country  became  cleared  of  hostile  ships,  and  an 
armed  Dane  was  not  to  be  seen  in  the  land.  Liberty  was  proclaimed, 
the  remnant  of  the  clergy  and  literati  came  forth  from  the  wildernesses, 
and  many  of  those  who  fled  to  France  returned ;  universities  and 
colleges  were  again  opened,  and  such  works,  books,  and  writings,  as 
could  be  found,  after  the  battles,  or  had  escaped  the  Danish  con- 
flagrations, were  carefully  collected.  The  glory  of  Malachy,  and  the 
greatness  of  his  exploits,  were  the  themes  of  the  senachies  and  bards, 
and  the  kingdom  reechoed  the  sounds  of  joy. 

Many  of  the  Danes  had  settled  in  the  maritime  towns  and  cities,  who 
sued  the  Irish  monarch  for  pardon,  proposing  to  swear  fidelity  to  his 
crown.  Their  petitions  were  taken  into  consideration  by  the  estates, 
and  a  favorable  construction  placed  upon  their  intentions.  They  were 
suffered  to  remain  in  those  maritime  towns,  where  they  carried  on  traf- 
fic. A  general  amnesty  passed,  and  the  few  Danes  that  remained 
became  incorporated,  apparently,  in  interest  and  sentiment,  with  the 
nation.  The  next  care  of  Malachy  was  to  send  ambassadors  to  foreign 
princes,  announcing  the  happy  change.  To  Charles  the  Bald,  of 
France,  he  sent  rich  presents,  of  gold  ornaments,  Irish  horses,  and 
wolf  dogs,  and  was  about  to  visit  that  prince  in  person,  but  was  cut  off 
by  death. 

Anno  864.  Malachy  was  succeeded  by  Hugh  the  Seventh. 
Though  the  Danes,  as  a  military  people,  were  expelled  the  kingdom, 
yet  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  beauty  of  the  country,  but  more  espe- 
cially its  immense  wealth,  stimulated  them  to  pant  for  its  repossession. 
To  effect  this  by  force  they  saw  was  impracticable.  The  following 
project   was   resorted  to:    Three  brothers,  Amelanus,  Sitaracus,  and 


424  NEW  ATTACKS  OF  THE  DANES. 

Ivorus,  Danish  commanders  of  ability,  fitted  out  a  considerable  fleet, 
apparently  freighted  with  merchandise,  but  in  which  large  quantities 
of  arms  were  concealed ;  and  the  better  to  deceive  the  vigilance  of  the 
Irish,  they  were  divided  into  three  squadrons.  One  squadron,  com- 
manded by  Ivorus,  sailed  up  the  Shannon,  to  dispose  of  their  goods  at 
Limerick.  He  waited  on  Lachtna,  king  of  North  Munster,  presented  him 
with  some  curiosities,  requested  his  permission  to  settle  in  his  city,  with 
his  people,  in  the  way  of  traffic,  promising  extraordinary  taxes  and 
duties  to  his  government  for  this  liberty.  The  Danish  chiefs  now  laid 
themselves  out  to  pay  their  court  to  the  different  princes,  in  whose  terri- 
tories they  had  got  footing.  They  entered  into  their  Interests,  soothed 
their  passions,  and  spirited  up  chief  against  chief;  and  as  we  know 
how  prone  our  countrymen  are  to  be  deceived,  and"  cajoled  by  sweet 
language,  we  are  not  now  surprised  at  the  success  of  the  wily  Dane. 
They  obtained,  permission,  for  the  defence  of  their  merchandise,  to  build 
castles,  which  they  erected  of  extraordinary  strength.  By  these  means, 
and  the  accession  of  fresh  forces,  under  the  disguise  of  dealers  and 
travellers,  they  became,  in  a  short  time,  formidable  again. 

Such  was  the  preparation  made  by  the  Danes  for  a  reconquest  of 
the  country.  At  this  time,  their  successes  in  England  and  Wales  were 
considerable.  It  was  their  policy,  when  they  lost  one  station,  to  aban- 
don it  with  perfect  composure,  and  retreat  to  such  places  as  they  still 
held,  to  collect  their  forces  for  a  fresh  onslaught.  \n  opportunity  soon 
offering  to  put  their  plans  into  operation,  the  Danish  chief  Ame' 
lanus  attacked,  with  a  considerable  force,  the  governor  of  Meath. 
The  war  between  the  Danes  and  the  natives  was  thus  again  renewed, 
with  various  successes  on  either  side  :  it  was  carried  into  Ulster,  where, 
again,  the  clergy,  defenceless  women,  and  children,  were  butchered ; 
but  the  northern  king  gathered  his  forces,  and  met  the  Danes  at  Lough 
Foil,  in  the  county  Donegal,  and  routed  then)  with  great  slaughter. 
The  Ulster  monarch  followed  up  his  conquests,  and  appeared  before  the 
gates  of  Dublin,  which  he  surrounded,  and  then  put  the  Danish  garrison 
to  the  sword.  The  Danish  chiefs  and  soldiers,  from  other  quarters  of 
Ireland,  came  to  the  aid  of  their  countrymen  ;  but  in  one  decisive  en- 
gagement, upwards  of  five  thousand  of  them  were  slain.  Soon  after 
this,  the  remaining  Danes  collected  their  scattered  forces,  and  got  them 
over  to  Wales,  to  the  assistance  of  their  countrymen,  Hinquar  and 
Hubba,  who  were  then  hard  pressed  by  the  Welsh. 

The  histories  of  France  and  England  sufficiently  attest  the  fidelity 
with  which  the  Danes,  in  their  enterprising  attempts  on  dlfierent  nations. 


RETREAT  OF  THE  DANES  ON  WALES. NIALL  THE  FOURTH.  425 

supported  each  other:  the  scattered  forces,  driven  from  Ireland, 
enabled  the  invaders  of  Wales  to  effect  its  conquest ;  and  then  it  was 
that  Roger,  the  king  of  the  Britons,  fled  to  Ireland  for  refuge,  and  was 
there  most  honorably  entertained  by  the  Irish  monarch. 

During  the  remainder  of  this  king's  reign,  there  were  no  more  attempts 
made  by  the  Danes  to  disturb  the  tranquillity  of  the  Irish  nation.  Again 
arts,  sciences,  and  literature,  began  to  bud  forth,  with  the  sudden  fresh- 
ness of  a  warm  summer,  after  a  long,  ungenial  winter. 

But,  in  888,  the  Danes  again  invaded  Leinster,  plundering  the 
churches  and  monasteries,  and  retiring  to  their  ships  with  great  expe- 
dition. In  five  years  farther  on,  we  find  them  plundering  the  churches 
of  Armagh.  The  historians  of  those  times  fill  their  pages  with  recitals 
of  the  occasional  depredations,  committed  at  various  parts  of  the  sea- 
coasts,  by  these  pillagers. 

Anno  916,  Niall  the  Fourth  came  to  the  throne.  The  Danes,  who 
by  this  time  had  become  informed  of  the  various  dispositions  of  the 
chiefs  towards  each  other, — their  private  causes  of  quarrel,  he, — 
joined  one  party  or  the  other  in  these  deadly  animosities,  and  kindled 
up  the  passions  of  the  people  and  chiefs  to  civil  wars.  And  when  their 
dissensions  had  been  increased  to  a  fearful  pitch,  the  Danes  intimated 
to  their  countrymen,  at  home,  the  favorable  opportunity  for  the  recon- 
quest  of  the  country.  Accordingly,  Ulster  was,  in  917,  invaded  by  a 
large  Danish  force  ;  but  they  were  bravely  met  by  the  Ulster  prince,  and 
defeated,  with  great  slaughter.  In  the  ensuing  year,  a  tremendous  force 
appeared,  in  the  harbor  of  Dublin,  commanded  by  the  Danish  chief  Goc?- 
frey ;  and  this  fresh  force,  uniting  with  the  one  previously  in  the  coun- 
try, attacked  Dublin,  carried  it  by  storm,  and  put  thousands  to  the  sword. 

A  great  annual  fair  was  usually  held  in  Roscrea,  v/hich  is  nearly  the 
centre  of  Ireland :  merchants  resorted  to  it  not  only  from  all  parts  of 
Ireland,  but  from  foreign  countries,  to  purchase  cloth,  serges,  and  flan- 
nels, which  were  then  manufactured  largely  in  the  south  and  west  of 
Ireland.  The  traffic  of  Ireland  was,  at  this  time,  considerable.  The 
Danes  of  Limerick  and  Galway  had  formed  a  plan  to  surprise  the  mer- 
chants and  traders  who  attended  this  fair ;  and  they  arrived,  in  several 
small  detachments,  on  the  borders  of  the  Shannon,  to  a  point  within  a 
few  hours'  march  of  the  meeting.  By  the  watchtower  fires,  the  forces 
of  Roscrea  were  alarmed,  and  the  Irish  troops,  merchants,  assistants, 
and  all,  turned  out  and  killed  four  thousand  of  the  Danes. 

The  Irish  chieftains  of  the  south  placed  themselves  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Cealachan,  and  attacked  the  Danish  forts  wherever  they 
54 


426  STRATAGEM  TO  DESTROY  CEALACHAN. 

existed  in  that  quarter,  and  routed  the  Danes  totally  out  of  the  south 
of  Ireland.  Cealachan  then  prepared  a  great  sea  fleet,  to  sail  round 
to  Waterford,  Dublin,  and  the  northern  ports,  where  the  Danes  still 
retained  power.  In  this  expedition  they  were  eminently  successful, 
especially  in  Armagh  and  the  north  of  Ireland  generally.  Sitric,  the 
Danish  chief,  who  governed  Dublin,  seeing  his  power  about  to  be  anni- 
hilated, sent  ambassadors  to  the  young  heroic  Cealachan,  proposing  a 
peace,  and  offering  his  sister,  with  an  immense  marriage  portion,  to  the 
young  commander.  In  addition,  he  offered  him  ships,  and  a  guaranty 
against  the  further  incursions  of  his  countrymen.  These  proposals  had 
the  effect  of  inducing  young  Cealachan  to  listen  to  the  wily  Dane, 
and,  as  the  young  lady  was  beautiful,  it  was  thought  the  prince,  on  see- 
ing her,  would  be  so  enamored  as  to  consent  to  the  terms  required  by 
the  Dane ;  but  more  than  this,  the  treacherous  Dane  was  determined, 
the  moment  he  got  Cealachan  in  his  power,  to  destroy  him. 

The  wife  of  Sitric  was  an  Irish  princess,  and  felt  a  natural  horror 
at  the  contemplated  butchery :  she  therefore  intimated  to  the  young 
hero  the  trap  that  was  laid  for  him ;  but  he  having  arrived  as  far  as  Kil- 
mainham,  ere  he  was  aware  of  the  plot,  he  and  his  followers  were 
surrounded,  and  all  the  young  knights  in  his  train  butchered. 

This  act  of  baseness  roused  the  men  of  the  south,  and  tremendous 
retahation  ensued.  Cealachan  was  sent  prisoner  to  the  north  of  Ire- 
land, from  whence  he  found  means  to  communicate  with  his  country- 
men in  Munster,  and  urged  them  to  send  an  expedition  by  sea,  which 
was  considered  in  a  parliament  of  Munster;  and,  in  consequence,  one 
hundred  and  twenty  ships  of  war  were  fitted  out,  having  on  board  slings, 
bows  and  arrows,  spears,  swords,  &:c.,  all  well  manned.  These  were 
furnished  by  the  following  chiefs  :  O^Driscol,  O'  Cobhtach,  and  O^Flan, 
armed  and  manned  ten  ships  each.  Corchna  Dubhnee,  of  Kerry,  the 
hereditary  admiral  of  Munster,  fitted  out  thirty  vessels:  O' Connor  Ker- 
ry twenty  ships :  from  Corcomrudth  and  Burren,  in  the  county  Clare, 
twenty  ships,  and  from  Corcha  Bhaison  twenty  ships  ;  in  all,  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  ships.  There  was  sent  by  land  an  expedition  of  twelve 
thousand  men,  in  complete  armor,  well  appointed,  the  choice  and  flower 
of  the  Munster  militia.  The  whole  of  this  brave  army  was  placed 
under  O^Kccffe;  and  his  commanders  of  battalions  were  O  Hara, 
O'Connor,  O^Gara,  O^ Coghlin,  O' Fermellon.  He  arrived  before  Ar- 
magh, then  in  the  possession  of  the  Danes,  which  he  attacked,  with 
great  bravery,  sword  in  hand,  and  captured. 

Sitric,  the  chief  Dane,  and  his  principal  followers,  withdrew  to  Dundalk, 


GRKAT    SEA-FIGHT.  427 

where  his  ships  lay.  Thither  O'KeefFe  and  his  vaHant  army  pursued 
him  ;  and,  on  their  arrival,  he  was  found  embarked  in  his  ships  out  in  the 
bay.  O'KeefFe  sent  a  flag  of  truce  to  demand  the  prisoners,  particularly 
Cealachan  and  Dunchiun ;  but  Sitric  sent,  for  answer,  that  the  prisoners 
should  not  be  restored  till  a  fine  was  paid  for  every  Dane  that  was  killed 
in  fifteen  battles,  in  which  the  prince  Cealachan  commanded.  At  the 
same  time,  Sitric  ordered  the  captive  prince  to  be  bound  to  his  main- 
mast, in  view  of  the  Munster  army  on  the  shore.  This  insult  was  the 
more  galling,  as  the  Danish  ships  were  out  of  their  reach.  What  must 
their  delight  have  been  then,  on  beholding  the  Munster  fleet  in  sight, 
and  with  their  oars  and  sails  filling  up  the  bay ! 

When  the  Irish  army  beheld  distinctly  their  own  admiral's  flag,  they 
sent  up  a  shout  that  rent  the  very  skies.  O^Failbhe  drew  up  his  ships 
in  an  extended  line,  so  as  to  leave  room  enough  to  work  and  fight. 
The  battle  begins ;  the  Danes  fight  for  existence.  O^Driscol,  O'  Cobh- 
tach,  and  O'Flan,  lead  the  attack  by  showers  of  spears  and  arrows, 
large  stones  hurled  from  machines,  he.  They  approach  nearer,  grap- 
ple, and  board  the  Danes.  O^Failbhe  grappled  the  Danish  admiral, 
the  rest  of  his  squadron  did  the  like  to  others,  and  all  leaped  into  the 
enemy's  ships. 

Never  was  greater  valor  displayed  than  by  both  parties  on  this  occa- 
sion. The  Danish  fleet  was  much  better  manned  than  the  Irish,  and 
this  made  the  conflict  long  and  dubious.  O^Failbhe,  at  the  head  of  a 
hardy  band,  rushes  to  the  mast,  cuts  down  the  prince  Cealachan ;  they  are 
successful,  and  the  liberated  prince  performs  prodigies.  His  liberation 
is  shouted  along  the  ships,  and  reechoed  from  the  anxious  army  on  the 
shore.  O^Failbhe  was  rushed  on  by  Sitric,  the  Dane,  and  a  band 
of  desperate   followers  ;  he  fell  pierced  by  twenty  spears. 

His  death,  for  a  moment,  intimidated  his  crew ;  for  his  head  was  imme- 
diately severed  from  his  body  by  the  Dane,  and  exhibited,  in  order  to 
strike  terror  into  the  Irish  sailors  and  warriors  ;  but  Fingal,  second  in 
command,  vowed  revenge  on  Sitric.  He  animates  his  brave  compan- 
ions ;  they  catch  the  sapred  flame,  and  bravely  second  their  gallant 
commander.  Fingal  and  Sitric  at  length  closed  on  the  deck,  sur- 
rounded by  Danes.  Fingal,  seeing  his  end  certain,  resolved  to  die 
gloriously.  By  a  sudden  effort,  he  grasped  Sitric  in  his  arms,  and 
plunged  with  him  into  the  fathomless  deep.  The  like  did  Connal  and 
Leagha,  (ancestors  ol  O'ConnellandO'Loughlin,)  who  engaged  with  the 
ships  commanded  by  Tor  and  Magnus,  brothers  to  Sitric ;  and,  reduced 
to  'the  same  extremity  with  Fingal,  like  him  they  grasped  those  chiefs 


428  REIGN    OF    CONGALACH. BRIEN    BOROIMHE. 

In  their  arms,  and,  like  him,  plunged  with  them  into  eternity.  O'Con- 
nor Kerry  and  his  division  met  the  same  opposition.  He  attacked, 
hand  to  hand,  the  Danish  commander,  whose  head  he  cut  off;  and, 
whilst  he  was  exposing  it  to  his  men,  he  met  the  same  fate  from  another 
Dane. 

In  short,  such  bravery  and  determination  must  conquer ;  and  conquer 
jt  did,  but  not  till  nearly  every  Irish  chief  was  killed,  and  every  Dane 
also;  and,  of  that  numerous  host  of  insolent  invaders,  who,  in  the  morn- 
ing, manifested  such  insulting  airs,  not  a  single  Dane  remained  alive  at 
night.  The  page  of  history  does  not  furnish  a  braver  action  than  this. 
The  enemy's  ships  being  taken  or  destroyed,  Cealachan  and  Dimchiun, 
the  long-imprisoned  princes,  landed,  and  the  sight  of  them  on  shore,  after 
the  glories  of  the  day,  may  be  more  easily  imagined  than  described. 

The  spirit  of  Cealachan  and  his  glorious  companions  from  the  south 
seemed  to  be  caught  by  the  northern  men.  O'Neill  fitted  out  a  fleet 
on  Lough  Neagh,  with  which  he  attacked  the  Danes,  and  killed  twelve 
hundred  men.  In  like  manner,  the  Conaccians  attacked  them  on  Lough 
Orb,  destroying  vast  numbers. 

Anno  946.  Congalach,  of  the  Heremonian  line,  became  monarch 
of  Ireland.  He  also  had  to  contend  with  the  Danes  for  his  monarchy, 
which  he  did  with  great  bravery,  killing  four  thousand  near  Dublin. 
Several  more  Danish  legions  appear  at  Dublin,  land,  and  proceed  to  the 
interior  of  the  country,  where  they  are  met,  and  are  generally  cut  to 
pieces.  Godfrey,  the  next  Danish  chief  that  made  his  appearance  on 
the  Irish  soil,  brought  with  him  a  larger  alien  force  than  ever  before 
appeared  in  Ireland  ;  but  the  Irish  army  met  and  attacked  them  at  Mun 
Brocan,  in  Meath,  where  seven  thousand  of  them  were  killed  on  the 
field  of  battle.  This  victory  was  dearly  purchased,  for  the  Irish  lost 
the  flower  of  their  army  that  day,  amongst  whom  were  Roderic 
O^  Cannanan,  prince  of  Tyr  Connell,  and  others  of  high  name. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Danes  came  over  in  their  ships,  in  various 
fleets,  and  secretly  landed,  in  small  detachments,  all  round  the  island. 
In  this  extremity,  the  Munster  hero,  Cealachan,  died,  which  caused 
much  grief  to  the  Irish.  His  posterity  assumed  the  name  of  O'  Ceala- 
chan, and  preserved  a  considerable  part  of  their  hereditary  property  to 
the  days  of  Cromwell.  Without  dwelling  too  minutely  on  the  various 
battles  which  took  place  between  the  Danes  and  the  Irish,  we  will  come 
at  once  to  the  brilliant  life  and  exploits  of  Brien,  surnamed  Boroimhe. 
Brien  was  a  Munster  prince,  the  son  of  Vincidi,  the  king  of  North 
Munster.     He  was  born  in  the  year  926,  and  commenced  his  reign  in 


ROUTS    THE    DANES    IN    VARIOUS    BATTLES.  429 

Munster,  in  the  thirty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  The  length  of  his  reign 
was  forty-nine  years  ;  the  first  thirty-seven  he  was  king  of  Munster,  and 
the  last  twelve  he  was  monarch  of  Ireland. 

The  Danes,  who  occupied  the  south,  still  held  nearly  all  the  islands 
in  the  Shannon,  from  Limerick  to  the  sea.  Brien  prepared  a  fleet  of 
ships  and  flat-bottomed  boats,  and,  at  the  head  of  twelve  hundred  brave 
Dalgais,  he  landed  at  Innis  Catha,  or  Scattery  Island,  near  the  little  sea- 
port of  Kilrush. 

This  is  the  celebrated  island  to  which  St.  Senanus  retired  in  the  fifth 
century ,  where  he  founded  no  less  than  eleven  churches  for  the  use  of  his 
monks,  the  ruins  of  some  of  which  are  yet  standing.  This  holy  retreat 
was  celebrated  for  five  hundred  years  ;  and  amongst  its  rigid  rules  was 
one  which  prohibited  any  female  landing  on  the  island  —  a  law  which 
was  strictly  enforced  from  its  foundation  in  the  fifth  century  to  the  coming 
of  the  Danes,  when  they  took  possession  of  the  churches  and  grounds, 
butchering  the  holy  inhabitants.  Brien's  first  attack  was  on  the  bar- 
barians who  had  thus  possessed  themselves  of  a  spot  so  sacred. 

He  killed  eight  hundred  of  their  best  men,  took  possession  of  the 
island,  and  repaired  the  churches.  After  their  reconsecration,  he  offered 
a  solemn  thanksgiving  to  God  for  thus  enabling  him  to  overcome  his 
enemies.  From  this  spot  he  embarked  forces  which  sailed  up  the 
Shannon,  and  were  every  where  successful  in  driving  out  the  Danes 
from  the  islands  and  forts  they  occupied  along  that  river.  In  every 
place  which  he  retook,  he  repaired  the  churches  and  colleges  they  had 
destroyed,  restoring  the  clergy  to  their  rank  and  possessions.  These  acts 
of -bravery  and  respect  offered  to  religion  and  letters  won  for  Brien 
the  greatest  popularity. 

Thousands  flocked  to  his  standard,  and  he  was  thus  enabled  to  fit  out 
a  grand  expedition  against  Limerick,  which,  by  the  wonderful  increase 
of  the  Danes  there,  had  neariy  become  a  Danish  city.  On  his  ap- 
proach, the  Danes  shut  the  gates,  and  offered  battle  ;  but  Brien's  invin- 
cible army  carried  the  city  by  storm,  scaling  the  walls,  and  meeting  the 
foe  with  spear  and  sw^ord.  The  Danish  magistrates  he  deposed,  and 
set  up  the  old  magistrates  of  the  people. 

Having  now  thoroughly  subdued  the  Danish  power  throughout  Mun- 
ster, his  next  care  was  to  give  vigor  to  the  laws.  The  ruined  schools 
and  monasteries  he  rebuilt  and  repaired  ;  he  also  rebuilt  all  the  royal 
houses  and  colleges  through  Munster,  at  his  own  expense.  It  was  the 
custom  then  for  every  prince  of  the  royal  blood  to  support  three  royal 
houses  in  his  dominion.     Here  hospitality  was  done  in  a  truly  princely 


430  MALACHT. 

Style.  There  were  thirteen  of  those  royal  houses  in  Munster.  The 
public  roads  were,  during  the  last  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  strife,  torn 
up  or  neglected.  These  Brien  repaired.  He  summoned  a  feis,  or  par- 
liament, in  Cashell,  where  many  excellent  public  acts  were  passed.  The 
lands  which  had  been  unlawfully  usurped  by  the  Danes  were  restored 
to  the  proper  owners,  and  such  lands  as  could  not  be  clearly  claimed 
were  given  over  to  the  state.  The  records  of  the  kingdom  were  all  here 
carefully  examined,  and  new  copies  ordered  to  be  multiplied  by  the 
seneachies.  New  houses  of  public  hospitality  were  erected  upon  the 
lands  forfeited  to  the  king  ;  and  the  Psalter  of  Cashell  informs  us  that 
no  less  a  number  than  eighteen  hundred  of  such  houses  was  established 
in  Munster.  The  annual  revenue  of  Brien  was  very  considerable.  It 
was  agreed,  in  the  presence  of  St.  Patrick,  five  hundred  years  previous- 
ly, in  Tara,  that  the  revenue  of  the  king  of  Munster  should  consist  of 
six  thousand  two  hundred  and  forty  oxen,  six  thousand  cows,  four  thou- 
sand sheep,  five  thousand  hogs,  five  thousand  common  cloaks,  one 
hundred  green  cloaks,  forty  scarlet  cloaks,  four  hundred  and  twenty  tons 
of  iron  ;  and  the  annual  revenue  of  the  city  of  Limerick  was  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty-five  tuns  of  claret,  besides  spices,  cloths  and  silks. 
"  This  work  now  before  me,"  says  O'Halloran,  "  mentions  the  proportion 
which  the  different  territories  of  Munster  paid  of  this  revenue."  The 
maritime  force  of  Munster  consisted,  at  this  time,  of  three  hundred  vessels 
of  war;  they  were  generally  of  forty  to  sixty  tons  each.  The  land 
force  amounted  to  twenty-five  thousand  foot  and  five  thousand  horse. 

Brien  restored  the  country,  particularly  his  own  province  of  Munster,  to 
such  content,  and  so  well  oidered  the  local  government,  that  not  a  single 
outrage  was  heard  of.  Brien  got  the  surname  of  Boroimhe  from  the 
vast  number  of  cows  paid  to  him  in  tribute,  bo  being  the  Irish  of  cow, 
and  roimhe,  tax.  It  was  at  this  period  of  his  reign  that  a  young  and 
beautiful  virgin  undertook  a  journey  alone  from  one  side  of  the  province 
of  Munster  to  the  other,  carrying  in  her  hand  a  wand,  at  the  top  of 
which  was  affixed  a  valuable  diamond  ring ;  and  this  singular  feat  she 
performed  without  receiving  the  least  injury  or  molestation.  On  this 
incident  has  our  countryman  Moore  written  the  beautiful  song,  "  Rich 
and  rare  were  the  gems  she  wore,"  which  will  be  found  in  the  musical 
pages. 

Anno  980.  We  find  the  celebrated  Malachy  the  Second  installed 
monarch  of  Ireland.  The  Danes  had,  shortly  after  his  accession,  ap- 
peared with  a  considerable  force  on  the  plains  of-Meath,  to  give  him 
battle ;  but  here  Malachy  met  them  at  the  head  of  his  brave  troops, 


BRIEN    COMES    TO    THE    THRONE.  431 

and  killed  five  thousand  of  them  on  the  field.  It  was  at  this  battle  that 
Malachy  encountered  two  celebrated  Danish  chieftains,  Tomar  and 
Carlus,  one  after  the  other,  whom  he  killed  on  the  spot,  taking  a  collar 
of  gold  from  the  neck  of  one,  and  carrying  off  the  sword  of  the  other,  as 
trophies  of  his  victory. 

Partly  on  this  incident  Moore  has  written  one  of  his  beautiful  melo- 
dies, and  partly  on  the  fact  related  by  Cambrensis  in  relation  to  Lough 
Neagh ;  namely,  "  It  was  an  old  tradition,"  said  Cambrensis,  "  that 
Lough  Neagh  had  been  originally  a  fountain  in  a  valley,  by  whose  sud- 
den overflowing  the  country  and  whole  region  became  submerged,  and 
the  fishermen,  in  clear  weather,  used  to  point  out  to  strangers  the  tali 
ecclesiastical  towers  under  the  water."  On  these  interesting  reminis- 
cences the  expressive  stanzas, 

"  Let  Erin  remember  the  days  of  old," 

have  been  founded.     They  will  be  found  in  the  music  pages. 

Malachy  pursued  the  Danes  to  the  gates  of  Dublin,  where  they  shut 
themselves  up ;  but  he  scaled  the  walls,  carried  the  city  by  storm,  and 
planted  on  its  walls  the  green  standard  of  his  country,  instead  of  that  of 
the  invader.     Here  he  found  several  noble  prisoners,  whom  he  liberated. 

Ireland  was  now  pretty  well  freed  from  the  Danish  power ;  but,  un- 
fortunately, the  jealousies  which  grew  up  in  the  breast  of  Malachy 
towards  the  hero  Brien  were  near  subjecting  the  nation  to  the  power  of 
the  Danes  again.  These  jealousies  ended  in  a  bloody  conflict  between 
the  armies  of  both,  in  which  the  Munster  hero  was  victorious. 

Brien  was  then,  1001,  saluted  and  proclaimed  monarch  of  all  Ireland, 
Malachy  offering  him  the  crown  and  sword  in  submission.  Brieii  now 
received  hostages  from  Malachy  as  sureties  for  his  peaceable  behavior. 
He  also  demanded  hostages  from  all  the  surrounding  princes.  He 
marched  his  army  to  Athlone,  and  there  solemnly  received  the  fealty  of 
all  Connaught.  From  thence  he  proceeded  to  Armagh,  where  he 
received  the  fealty  of  the  northern  princes,  and  in  the  cathedral  of 
Armagh,  received  the  holy  communion  from  the  hands  ol  the  bishop, 
Marianus,  after  which  Brien  made  an  offering  of  rich  presents  to  the 
dignitaries  of  the  church,  and  the  support  of  the  cathedral  of  St.  Patrick, 
and  declared  his  intention  of  being  there  interred  at  his  death.  He 
then  returned  to  T^ara,  where,  in  the  presence  of  the  princes  and  chief 
nobility  of  the  land,  he  was  solemnly  anointed  and  crowned  by  the 
archbishop  of  Cashell,  and  it  was  then  announced  to  the  people,  that 
'•'  Brien,  the  son  of  Cincidi,  the  son  of  Lorcan,  and  so  on  to  Milesius, 


432     LAW  RELATING  TO  SURNAMES. THE  o's  AND  MAc's. 

was  monarch  of  Ireland,"  which  was  confirmed  by  giving  the  royal  shout 
—  a  practice  still  followed  at  the  coronation  of  the  kings  of  England, 
France,  and  other  European  countries. 

After  Brien's  coronation,  a  national  assembly  was  called  in  Tara,  where 
many  good  and  useful-  laws  were  enacted,  which  remained  in  force  in 
the  southern  and  western  provinces  of  Ireland  for  many  succeeding 
centuries,  even  after  the  English  invasion.  The  national  history,  which, 
during  the  sway  of  Danish  power,  was  suffered  to  drop,  was  again  taken 
up  and  continued.  A  law  was  passed,  by  which,  to  avoid  confusion, 
certain  families  were  for  the  future  to  be  distinguished  by  surnames ; 
but  these  were  not  to  be  arbitrarily  imposed.  Each  chief  was  to  be 
called  after  some  certain  ancestor,  whose  particular  virtues  would  always 
remind  him  of  his  origin.  Accordingly,  the  successors  of  the  great 
Brien  assumed  the  prefix,  or  surname,  of  O^Brien,  or  the  descendants  of 
Brien.  The  issue  of  his  brother  Mahon  were  called  Mac  Mahon.  The 
issue  of  Niall  the  Grand  were  called  O^NeiU.  The  adjuncts  of  Mac 
or  O,  importing  the  son,  or  descendant,  were  prefixed  only  to  the  issue 
of  the  chiefs  of  that  name  or  clan.  Thus  plain  Brien,  though  belong- 
ing to  the  clan,  or  name,  yet  did  not  belong  to  the  family  of  the  chief; 
plain  Carthy,  for  instance,  though  indicating  the  Carthy  clan,  attached 
not  the  chieftain's  distinction  to  the  wearer  which  the  prefix  Mac 
conferred. 

"Per  Mac  atque  O  tu  veros  cognoscis  Hibernos, 
His  duobus  demptis,  nullus  Hibernus  adest." 

By  Mac  and  O, 

You'll  always  know 
True  Irishmen,  they  say ; 

For  if  they  lack 

Both  O  and  Mac, 
No  Irishmen  are  they. 

Some  of  the  descendants  of  the  Irish  chieftains  yet  retain  their  estates 
and  original  titles  in  Ireland ;  for  instance,  O'Donoghou  of  the  Glens,  in 
Killarney ;  O'Connor  Don,  of  Roscommon ;  O'Gorman  Mahon,  of 
Clare. 

These  titles  were  always  so  much  prized  in  Ireland,  and  held  in  such 
reverence  by  the  people,  that  when,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Eighth, 
the  O'Brien  of  Clare  had  accepted  the  title  of  Earl  of  Thomond  from 
Henry;,  the  chiefs  of  his  own  blood  set  fire  to  his  noble  mansion  at  Clan- 
road,  near  Ennis,  and  would  have  consumed  him  in  the  flames,  but  for 
the  timely  interference  of  M  Clanchy,  chief  justice  of  Munster.     John 


KING    ALFRED    EDUCATED    IN    IRELAND.  433 

O'Neill,  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  returned  the  patent  of  Earl  of  Ty- 
rone, which  his  father  accepted  from  Henry  the  Eighth.  He  com- 
plained to  the  queen  of  the  dishonor  his  father  had  affixed  on  the  blood 
by  accepting  a  mushroom  title  from  his  enemies.  In  short,  the  Irish 
chiefs  regarded  the  English  titles  as  degradations. 

The  assemblies  which  met  in  the  ancient  halls  of  legislation,  under 
Biien's  reign,  produced  such  a  code  of  equitable  laws,  and  the  king  had 
them  administered  with  such  exactness,  that  the  whole  country  assumed 
a  new  face ;  the  cities,  from  a  ruined  state,  became  more  ample  and 
splendid  ;  the  churches,  monasteries,  and  public  hospitals,  were  repaired, 
or  rebuilt,  with  additional  majesty ;  piety,  peace,  and  plenty,  spread  far 
and  wide ;  learning  every  where  resumed  its  position  and  influence,  and 
the  eminent  doctors  of  learning  educated  in  Ireland  were  again  sought 
for  by  every  nation  of  Europe  to  superintend  their  schools  of  literature, 
religion,  and  music, — particularly  those  of  England,  which  had  been 
suppressed  by  the  Danes. 

Here  may  be  the  place  to  introduce  a  glance  at  the  progress  of  civilization 
in  England  at  this  period.  Alfred,  who  was  educated  in  Ireland,  and  was 
made  thoroughly  familiar  with  all  the  literature,  laws,  and  customs,  known 
and  practised  there,  no  sooner  completed  the  deliverance  of  his  country 
from  the  Danes,  than  he  introduced  among  his  subje-^ts  all  the  good  laws 
of  Ireland,  amongst  which  were  the  trial  by  jury,  the  law  of  gavel, 
the  assembly  of  estates,  the  division  of  the  country  into  counties  or 
shires,  the  law  of  Eric,  and  the  Brehon  code. 

Turner,  in  his  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  quotes  from  the  History 
of  Johna  Tinmouth,  in  manuscripts  in  the  Bodleian  library,  and  the 
chronicler  Higden,  (all  three  English  writers,)  and  gives  his  belief  of  their 
account  of  Alfred's  place  of  education  from  almost  childhood,  thus : 
"  If  it  be  true,  as  these  chroniclers  intimate,  that  infirm  health  occa- 
sioned his  father,  in  obedience  to  the  superstition  of  the  day,  to  send  him 
to  Modwenna,  a  religious  lady  in  Ireland,  celebrated  in  sanctity,  such 
an  expedition  must,  by  its  new  scenes,  have  kept  his  curiosity  alive, 
and  have  amplified  his  information."  —  Turner's  Anglo-Saxons,  b.  ii. 
chap.  viii. 

The  learned  Usher  has  the  following  confirmatory  paragraph  :  "  Ut 
de  Polydoro  Virgiiio,  et  Nicolao  Harpsfeldio  nihil  dicam,  qui  nono  post 
Christum  seculo  Modvennam  et  oritham  floruisse  volunt,  illos  secuti 
auctores,  qui  magnum  Illium  aluredum."  —  De  Brit.  Eccles.  Primord. 

The  cure  here  said  to  have  been  performed  on  Alfred  by  Modwenna 
is  mentioned,  also,  says  Moore,  by  Hanmer.  Thus  we  have  six  Eng- 
55 


434        GLANCE  AT  ENGLAND  IN  THE  TENTH  CENTURY. 

LisH  AUTHORITIES,  together  with  the  profound  Irish  scholar  Primate 
Usher,  assenting  to  the  fact  that  King  Alfred  the  Great  received  his 
education,  from  the  years  of  sickly  childhood  to  ripe  manhood,  in 
Ireland. 

Alfred  had  been  defeated  in  many  battles  with  the  Danes,  but  his 
courage  was  invincible,  and  his  spirit  untiring.  When  the  Danes 
thought  he  and  his  friends  were  completely  routed,  he  got  into  their 
camp  in  the  dress  of  a  bard,  and,  lulling  their  apprehensions  with  the 
music  of  his  harp,  informed  himself  of  their  position,  returned,  collected 
his  scattered  friends,  attacked  them  at  the  moment  he  knew  they  feasted 
and  indulged  in  excess,  and  by  this  and  other  signal  acts  of  valor  and 
generalship,  freed  his  country  from  their  yoke.  He  fought  fifty-six 
battles  with  that  barbarian  power,  and  at  length  cleared  them  from  his 
kingdom. 

Alfred  turned  the  attention  of  the  English  to  building  small  war 
vessels,  after  the  manner  of  the  Irish.  He  established  a  regular  militia 
on  the  very  principle  of  Fion  M'Cumhall's,  all  of  whom  were  well 
armed,  and  registered.  He  introduced  building  with  stone  and  brick 
into  England,  and  taught  his  countrymen  the  use  of  cement,  previously 
unknown  to  them.  He  also  introduced  the  order  of  knighthood,  and 
created  the  first  knight  that  was  ever  made  in  England  ;  namely,  his 
grandson  Athelstan.  He  commenced  the  regular  record  of  English 
history,  .customs,  and  laws,  after  the  manner  of  the  Psalters  of  Tara, 
Cashell,  and  Tuam  ;  and  that  record  which  he  commenced  was,  in  other 
ages,  continued  by  Edward  the  Confessor,  and  was  called  by  him  the 
Doomsday  Book,  from  which  William  the  Conqueror  continued  his  na- 
tional record.  The  body  of  laws  which  he  then  established  in  England 
were  the  same  as  those  in  use  in  Ireland  for  so  many  ages,  and  were 
totally  different  from  the  civil  laws  of  Rome,  compiled  in  the  Pandects  of 
Justinian,  or  those  introduced  into  England  by  William,  in  the  eleventh 
century.  He  obliged  his  nobility  and  chief  men  to  bring  up  their  chil- 
dren to  the  highest  state  of  excellence  in  every  sort  of  learning.  To 
none  would  he  give  place  or  command  that  was  not  skilled  in  letters. 
This  was  the  very  law  and  practice  of  Ireland  for  ages.  He  introduced 
the  practice  of  marking  the  hour  of  the  day  by  the  burning  of  a  wax 
candle,  sticking  a  nail  or  a  needle  into  the  candle,  forming  divisions  which 
would  denote  the  time  passed,  each  mark  denoting  an  hour.  This 
practice  was  known  in  the  monasteries  of  Ireland,  where  watching  and 
prayers  were  regulated  by  these  watch-lights.  Alfred  invented  lanterns 
to  enclose  these  lights  and  protect  them  from  the  wind. 


THE    DANES    AGAIN    IN^^ADE    IRELAND.  435 

He  established  first,  in  England,  an  annual  assembly  of  the  estates, 
i.  e.,  bishops,  priests,  gentry,  and  artificers  —  exactly  following,  in  this  re- 
spect, the  constitution  of  the  Tara  assembly.  This  was  held  in  London. 
He  followed  the  Irish  practice,  dividing  England  into  shires,  (counties,) 
and  appointing  over  each  a  lieutenant  for  its  government  —  a  practice 
continued  to  this  day.  Alfred  had  an  astonishing  memory,  and  could 
recite  in  verse  the  whole  history  of  Ireland  and  England  to  his  own 
times.  By  his  bravery  he  freed  England  from  the  Danes,  and  by  his 
wisdom  conferred  on  his  countrymen  that  body  of  laws  known  as  the 
British  constitution.  He  built  many  churches,  after  the  arched  style 
of  Ireland,  endowed  them  largely,  and  was  buried  in  Winchester.  After 
Alfred's  death,  the  Danes  again  ravaged  England,  and  so  subjugated 
were  the  English,  that  one  Dane  was  considered  equal  to  ten  English- 
men. I  utter  this  on  the  authority  of  Wade,  the  present  living  historian 
of  England.  The  English  passed  again  under  the  Danish  yoke,  and 
became  subject  to  their  kings.  The  monarch,  Svein,  was  succeeded  on 
that  throne  by  Knut,  Harold  and  Horda  Knut,  written  by  some,  Canute, 
Harold,  and  Hardicanute. 

But  we  must  hasten  to  the  grand  concluding  acts  of  the  life  of  our 
brave  Brien  Boroimhe.  The  Danes,  encouraged  by  their  great  successes 
in  England,  after  the  death  of  Alfred,  as  there  existed  nothing  in 
that  quarter  to  give  them  apprehensions,  now  turned  their  longing  eyes 
once  more  on  Ireland. 

It  has  ever  been  the  peculiar  misfortune  of  Ireland,  that  her  proud 
chieftains  were  prone  to  quarrel  with  each  other,  and,  by  their  dissensions, 
give  well-founded  hopes  to  the  enemies  of  their  country.  In  this  instance, 
again,  Ireland  was  not  without  her  petty  quarrel.  It  arose  in  a  very  silly 
way.  The  sister  of  Maolmorda,  prince  of  Leinster,  was  married  to  the 
monarch  Brien.  The  Leinster  prince  came  to  Brien  to  pay  him  the 
obedience  due  from  a  provincial  prince  to  the  monarch  of  Ireland.  For 
this  act  of  duty  he  was  reproved  by  his  sister,  the  queen  of  Brien. 
High  in  her  fancied  dignity  of  blood,  she  would  not  suffer  her  brother  to 
bend  before  her  husband.  This  brought  on  a  coolness  and  dislike,  and 
ended  in  strife,  which  Brien  avoided  by  every  reasonable  effort. 

Meantime  the  Danes  make  great  use  of  this  lucky  dissension,  and 
promise  Maolmorda  secret  supplies  of  men  and  arms,  to  resist  the 
authority  of  the  monarch  Brien.  To  the  shame  of  Ireland,  I  record 
that  he  listened  to  the  treacherous  proposals.  The  Danes  thereupon 
make  great  preparations,  and  land  a  powerful  army  at  Dublin.  They 
came  from  Sweden  and  Norway,  and  also  from  their  settlements  in 


436  CLONTARF. JiCRMNG    Oi     THE    BATTLE. 

England.  Never  before  was  there  so  powerful  an  army  landed  on  her 
shores.  Joined  to  the  numerous  tribes  of  Danes  already  scattered 
through  the  country,  together  with  the  forces  of  the  treacherous  prince 
of  Leinster  it  formed  a  seemingly  invincible  army.  They  landed,  and 
garrisoned  Dublin  with  sixteen  or  eighteen  thousand  men,  besides  the 
troops  which  remained  in  their  ships,  that  lay  in  Clontarf  Bay,  about 
three  miles  from  the  city. 

Brien,  fully  aware  of  all  their  movements,  was  not  idle.  He  appeared 
before  Dublin  in  the  beginning  of  April,  in  the  year  1014.  His  army 
amounted  to  fourteen  thousand  men,  and  he  expected  reenforcements 
under  his  son  Donough,  who  had  been  occupied  in  chastising  the  treach- 
ery and  insolence  of  the  Leinster  prince.  He  offered  the  Danes  battle 
on  Palm  Sunday,  which  they  declined  ;  but  on  Good  Friday  they  sig- 
nified, by  their  dispositions,  that  they  were  about  to  attack. 

Brien  felt  much  grieved  that  a  day  so  sacred  to  the  Christian  hear? 
should  have  been  chosen  by  the  heathen  invaders  for  the  work  of  death. 
But  fight  he  must;   no  alternative  remained. 

At  the  earliest  dawn,  prior  to  the  fatal  signal,  the  good  and  gallant 
monarch,  accompanied  by  his  son  Murrough  and  his  grandson  Turlough^ 
rode  through  the  ranks,  animating  the  troops.  The  aged  hero  carried 
in  his  hand  a  crucifix,  reminding  them  of  the  day  the  invader  chose  to 
give  them  battle ;  the  greater  part  of  the  army  formed  a  circle  round 
their  venerated  monarch.  He  then  addressed  them  in  the  following 
short  but  powerful  appeal,  which  has  been  translated  from  the  Annals  of 
.  Innisfallen  :  "  Be  not  dismayed,  my  soldiers,  because  my  son  Donough 
is  avenging  our  wrongs  in  Leinster ;  he  will  return  victorious,  and  in  the 
glory  of  his  conquests  you  shall  share;  On  your  valor  rest  the  hopes 
of  your  country  to-day  ;  and  what  surer  grounds  can  they  rest  upon  ? 
Oppression  nov/  attempts  to  bend  you  down  to  servility :  will  you 
not  burst  its  chains,  and  rise  to  the  independence  of  Irish  freemen  ? 
Your  cause  is  one  approved  by  Heaven :  you  seek  not  the  oppression 
of  others ;  you  fight  for  your  country  and  your  sacred  altars.  It  is  a 
cause  that  claims  a  heavenly  protection.  In  this  day's  battle,  the  inter- 
position of  that  God  who  can  give  victory  will  be  signally  manifested  in 
your  favor.  Let  every  heart,  then,  be  the  throne  of  confidence  and 
courage.  You  know  that  the  Danes  are  strangers  to  religion  and  hu- 
manity ;  they  are  inflamed  with  the  desire  of  violating  the  fairest 
daughters  of  this  land  of  beauty,  and  enriching  themselves  with  the 
spoils  of  sacrilege  and  plunder.  The  barbarians  have  impiously  fixed, 
for  their  struggle  to  enslave  us,  upon  the  very  day  on  which  the  Redeemer 


THE    BATTLE.  437 

of  the  world  was  crucified :  victory  they  shall  not  have.  From  such 
brave  soldiers  as  you  they  can  never  wrest  it ;  for  you  fight  in  defence 
of  honor,  liberty,  and  religion  —  in  defence  of  the  sacred  temples  of  tlie 
Deity,  and  of  your  sisters,  wives,  and  daughters.  Such  a  holy  cause 
must  be  the  cause  of  God,  who  will  deliver  your  enemies,  this  day,  into 
your  hands.     Onward,  then,  for  your  country  and  your  sacred  altars  !  " 

The  courageous  old  man  then  held  out  his  vigil  crucifix  in  one  hand, 
and  waved  his  gold-hilted  sword  with  the  other,  signifying  that  he  was 
willing  to  die  in  support  of  Christianity  and  Ireland,  The  whole  army 
heard  this  address,  and  were  greatly  animated.  Brien  was  deeply  al- 
fected,  and  was  proceeding  to  take  his  station  in  the  midst  of  them,  as 
their  general,  when  all  the  chiefs  interposed,  and  implored  him,  on  ac- 
count of  his  age,  (then  eighty-eight,)  to  retire  to  his  tent,  and  leave  the 
command  to  his  son,  the  vahant  Murrough.  With  this  request  he  un- 
willingly complied. 

The  Irish  army  then  called  on  their  chiefs  to  lead  them  to  the  fight ; 
the  intrepid  Dalcassians,  the  body-guard  of  Brien,  raised  the  sunburst 
standard  of  Fingal,  —  the  Gall-greana,  or  "blazing  sun,"  marked  with 
the  arms  of  the  O'Brien,  the  hand  and  sword,  bearing  the  inscrip- 
tion, "  Victory  or  Death  !  " 

The  clash  of  battle  commenced  ;  every  chief,  and  every  soldier,  of 
the  Irish  army,  vied  with  each  other  in  evincing  a  valor  and  hero- 
ism worthy  of  the  fame  of  Ireland.  The  Danes,  on  the  other  hand, 
fought  with  a  desperate  resolution  —  an  energy  that  required  all  the 
genius  and  valor  of  the  Irish  generals  to  oppose.  Every  man  fought, 
under  his  respective  ensigns,  until  felled  by  the  spear  or  axe  of  his  ad- 
versary, when  his  place  was  quickly  supplied  by  another.  Every  foot 
of  ground  was  contested.  "  I  never,"  writes  a  spectator,  in  the  Chroni- 
con  Scotorum,  "  beheld  with  my  eyes,  nor  read  in  history,  a  sharper 
and  bloodier  fight  than  this." 

Princes  Murrough  and  Turlough,  the  son  and  grandson  of  Brien, 
fought  like  invincible  beings :  every  where  they  darted  on  the  fo'e,  like 
the  flashes  of  lightning.  The  Danish  princes,  Carolus,  Sitric,  and 
Conmael,  fell  by  their  swords ;  and  so  did  forests  of  others.  A  band  of 
one  thousand  of  the  Danish  warriors  were  clad  in  tight  armor,  who 
proved  the  most  formidable  of  the  foe.  The  fight  had  raged  from  sun- 
rise till  long  past  meridian,  when  the  valiant  Murrough,  resolving  to 
conclude  the  gigantic  fight,  snatched  the  standard  of  Fingal,  waved  it 
high  above  their  heads,  exclaiming,  "■  Before  the  lapse  of  an  hour,  this 


438  VICTORY. MURROUGH    KILLED. 

must  float,  either  over  the  tents  of  the  Danish  camp,  or  over  my  dead 
body:' 

The  other  chiefs  catch  the  fire  of  his  kindling  heroisnoi,  and  furiously 
precipitate  themselves  on  the  foe.  No  human  force  could  resist  the 
overwhelming  charge.  The  Danes,  thrown  into  confusion,  fled  on 
every  side,  pursued  to  their  very  ships  by  the  victorious  Irish. 

Murrough's  right  arm  became  so  swollen,  by  the  violent  exertion  of 
wielding  his  sword  all  the  day,  that  he  could  not  raise  it  up,  and  knelt 
beside  a  brook,  to  bathe  it.  At  that  moment  a  straggling  party  of  Danes, 
who  were  retreating  from  the  field,  accidentally  came  near,  and  one  of 
them,  Anrud,  a  chief,  set  upon  him  ;  but  Murrough,  though  not  able  to 
raise  his  right  arm,  with  a  trip  prostrated  him  on  the  earth,  and  with  his 
left  arm  actually  dragged  his  coat  of  mail  over  his  head,  placed  the  point 
of  his  sword  on  his  body,  and,  leaning  on  it,  drove  it  through  into 
the  earth ;  while  Murrough  was  so  stooped  over  his  foe,  the  expiring 
Dane  snatched  a  cimeter  from  Murrough's  girdle,  and  plunged  it  into 
his  heart.  The  Dane  expired  immediately,  and  the  brave  Murrough 
lingered  till  the  ensuing  day ;  he  received  all  the  rites  and  consolations 
of  religion,  ere  his  valiant  spirit  fled  from  earth. 

Thus  fell  the  Ajax  of  Clontarf.  '•  According  to  the  Munster  Book 
of  Batdes,"  says  a  learned  antiquarian,  "  Prince  Murrough  was  buried 
in  the  west  end  of  a  chapel,  in  the  cemetery  at  Kilmainham.  Over  his 
remains  was  placed  a  lofty  stone  cross,  of  granite,  on  which  his  name  was 
engraven.  About  forty-five  years  ago,  the  cross  fell  from  its  pedestal. 
•Under  its  base  were  found  Danish  coins  and  a  fine  sword,  supposed  to 
be  that  which  the  prince  used  at  the  battle  of  Clontarf.  This  sword 
hangs  now  in  the  apartments  of  the  commander  of  the  forces,  at  Kil- 
mainham hospital." 

Let  us  now  look  after  the  great  "  star  of  the  field,"  Brien.  Corco- 
ran, one  of  his  marshals,  was  the  first  to  fly  to  the  monarch's  tent,  with 
the  intelligence  of  the  brave  Murrough's  death.  He  found  him  kneeling 
before  a  crucifix  ;  and,  on  hearing  the  sad  news,  he  thought  the  victory 
was  won  by  the  Danes,  and  instantly  said,  "  Do  you  and  the  other 
chiefs  fly  to  Armagh,  and  communicate  my  will  to  the  successor  of  St. 
Patrick.  But  as  for  me,  I  came  here  to  conquer  or  to  die,  and  the 
enemy  shall  not  boast  that  I  fell  by  inglorious  wounds."  At  this  in- 
stant, Broder,  the  Dane,  with  a  small  party,  rushing,  in  their  despair, 
towards  the  wood,  near  which  Brien's  tent  was  erected,  resolved,  in  the 
madness  of  despair,  to  be  avenged.     The  aged  but  heroic  monarch,  see- 


DEATH  OF  BKIEN. INGLORIOUS  ATTACK  ON  RETURNING  TROOPS.    439 

ing  them  rush  into  his  tent,  seized  his  sword,  and  with  one  blow,  cut 
off  the  legs  of  the  first  Dane  that  entered.  Broder,  entering  next,  struck 
Brien  on  the  back  of  the  head  with  his  axe ;  but,  in  spite  of  the  stun- 
ning wound,  Brien,  with  all  the  rage  of  a  dying  warrior,  by  a  fortunate 
stroke,  cut  off  the  head  of  Broder,  and  killed  the  third  Dane  that  at- 
tacked him ;  a?id  then  calmly  resigned  himself  to  death. 

Thus,  in  the  eighty-eighth  year  of  his  age,  in  the  midst  of  conquest, 
fell  one  of  the  bravest,  wisest,  most  patriotic  and  religious,  of  Ireland's 
princes,  whose  reign  exhibits  the  most  splendid  display  of  glory  in  the 
annals  of  his  country.  His  career,  long  and  splendid,  irradiated  his  coun- 
try's name  with  a  halo  of  glory.  Its  rays  may  yet  enkindle  in  us  the 
fire  of  successful  resistance  to  the  cruel  oppressors  who  now  hold  that 
country  in  bondage. 

Brien  commanded  in  twenty-nine  pitched  battles  against  the  Danes, 
and  the  last  fought  by  him  extinguished  their  power  in  Ireland.  He 
was  entombed  in  St.  Patrick's  cathedral,  in  Armagh,  according  to  his 
will.  Some  of  the  historians  record  that  the  remains  of  Murrough  were 
taken  to  Armagh.  The  victory  of  Clontarf  was  dearly  bought :  seven 
thousand  to  ten  thousand  Irish  fell  that  day,  and  upwards  of  fourteen 
thousand  Danes,  with  every  one  of  their  principal  officers. 

In  a  few  days  after  the  battle  of  Clontarf,  the  surviving  chiefs  agreed 
to  return  home,  each  to  his  respective  province.  The  Connacians  set 
out  for  their  home,  and  so  did  the  Ulster  men  to  theirs. 

The  Munster  heroes,  one  half  of  whom  were  wounded,  began 
their  march  towards  their  homesteads,  under  Donough,  the  son  or 
grandson  of  Brien  ;  but  I  am  grieved  to  say,  that  passing  through  the 
territory  of  Fitzpatrick,  of  Ossory,  that  inglorious  chieftain  came  to 
give  them  battle,  owing  to  an  old  grudge  which  he  entertained  towards 
them.  The  wounded  men,  the  remnant  of  Brien's  brave  army,  to  the 
number  of  eight  hundred,  addressed  Donough,  their  leader,  urging  him  to 
allow  them  to  join  their  companions  against  the  inglorious  foe.  "  Let 
you,  brave  prince,"  said  they,  "  cause  a  sufficient  number  of  stakes  to  be 
cut  down  in  yonder  wood,  and  driven  into  the  battle-ground,  to  which 
let  us  be  tied,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  have  our  hands  and  arms  at  liberty 
to  wield  our  weapons ;  between  every  two  of  us,  let  a  sound  man  be 
placed,  and  let  us  stand  to  conquer  or  to  die  with  our  brave  comrades." 
The  prince,  moved  to  admiration  at  the  glorious  proposition,  re- 
luctantly complied,  and  the  wounded  men  stopped  their  wounds  with 
moss.  Thus  stationed,  these  heroes  waited  the  attack  of  their  foes. 
Perhaps,  in  the  whole  page   of  history,  amongst  the  most  valorous  acts 


440  BRAVERY  OF  THE  WOUNDED  MEN. 

of  ancient  or  modem  heroes,  there  is  nothing  to  equal  this  brilliant  exhi- 
bition. When  the  adverse  forces  made  the  first  onslaught,  and  saw  the 
condition  and  the  bravery  of  the  wounded  heroes,  they  suddenly  halted, 
and  absolutely  refused  to  repeat  the  charge.  Such  were  the  silent  but 
eloquent  appeals  of  those  brave,  wounded  heroes,  —  thus  upheld,  in  the 
battle,  by  stakes,  —  that  the  Prince  of  Ossory  could  not,  or  would  not, 
reanimate  his  troops  to  a  second  attack. 

Those  heroes  then  passed  with  glory  to  their  homes,  the  proud  con- 
queror of  their  country's  invaders  and  her  internal  foes.  On  this 
battle  and  that  of  Clontarf,  Moore  has  founded  the  inspiring  song  — 
"  Remember  the  glories  of  Brien  the  brave  ! "  It  will  be  found  in  the 
music  of  the  next  page,  and  its  sentiment,  I  hope,  will  animate  us  in  oui 
struggle  for  our  national  parliament ;   for  , 

"Enough  of  his  glory  remains  on  each  sword, 
To  light  us  to  victory  yet" 


MUSIC   AND   POETRY. 


441 


REMEMBER    THE    GLORIES    OF    BRIEN. 


BY    MOORE. 


Bold. 


^^- 


^E3E3 


^^^EE^^:^^EE^-^ 


1.     Re-mem-ber    the    glo  -  lies      of       Bri    -    en      the 


f- 


#- 


lE: 


£: 


^ — Sri — ^ ^^ — R~i?'i 


brave,*    Tho'    the       days       of     the     he 


ro       are 


T" 


-# 


-#- 


-F i 


c: 


-r 


t\ 


o  er : 


Tho'     lost       to      Mo  -  no  -  nia,f    and 


'¥- 


m 


l-f^~m~.'-i 


fc 


cold      in      the   grave,     He      re    -    turns        to     Kin 


^#- 


£: 


^ 


-#f- 


*  Brien  Boroimhe,the  great  monarch  of  Ireland,  who  was  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Clontarf,  in  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century,  after  having  defeated  the  Danes 
in  twenty-five  engagements. 

♦  Manster.  na 


442 


MUSIC    AND    POETRr. 


mm 


ko    -    ra  *     no      more ! 


et 


That      star       of      the 


m 


p 


IJ-^LlJ 


:E 


Its 


e± 


field,    which    so 


P 
oft  -  en 


:r' 


i^: 


has       poured 


~l        I" 


-E: 


--^-^T 


:«r3=prp 


"g 1 — r 


/ 


beam      on    the  bat  -  tie, 
&- ^ # 


-#- 


But  e 


EsPRESs.     Lentando. 


T" 


-#-- 


nough   of      its     glo  -  ry      re  -  mains      on      each    sword, 


iE^: 


^- 


:pz^ 


zi 


LL  Jr       Tempo. 


E? 


H 


icr^jc 


-F 


To    light      us      to      vie  -  to  -  ry      yet. 


:F-: 


zzztP- 


Fgi^T^TE 


The  palace  of  Brien. 


MUSIC    AND   POETRT. 


443 


2. 

Mononia !    when  Nature  embellished  the  tint 

Of  thy  fields,  and  thy  mountains  so  fair, 
Did  she  ever  intend  that  a  tyrant  should  print 

The  footstep  of  Slavery  there? 
No,  Freedom  1   whose  smiles  we  shall  never  resign, 

Go,  tell  our  invaders,  the  Danes, 
That  'tis  sweeter  to  bleed  for  an  age  at  thy  shrine, 

Than  to  sleep  but  a  moment  in  chains! 
3. 
Forget  not  our  wounded  companions,*  who  stood, 

In  the  day  of  distress,  by  our  side ! 
While  the  moss  of  the  valley  grew  red  with  their  blood, 

They  stirred  not,  but  conquered,  and  died ! 
The  sun,  that  now  blesses  our  arms  with  his  light, 

Saw  them  fall  upon  Ossory's  plain: 
O  1   let  him  not  blush,  when  he  leaves  us  to-night, 

To  find  that  they  fell  there  in  vain ! 

*  This  alludes  to  an  interesting  circumstance  related  of  the  Dalgais,  the  favorite 
troops  of  Brien,  when  they  were  interrupted  in  their  return  from  the  battle  of 
Clontarf,  by  Fitzpatrick,  prince  of  Ossory.  The  wounded  men  entreated  that  they 
might  be  allowed  to  fight  with  the  rest.  "Let  stakes,"  they  said,  "be  stuck  in 
the  ground,  and  suffer  each  of  us,  tied  to  and  supported  by  one  of  these  stakes,  to 
be  placed  in  his  rank  by  the  side  of  a  sound  man."  "  Between  seven  and  eight 
hundred  wounded  men,"  adds  O'Halloran,  "  pale,  emaciated,  and  supported  in  this 
manner,  appeared  mixed  with  the  foremost  of  the  troops ;  never  was  such  another 
sight  exhibited." 


RICH   AND    RARE   WERE    THE   GEMS    SHE    WORE, 


BY    MOORE, 


Iw  Moderate  Time. 


?^^^^^ 


T- 


p 


* »  ^- 


1.     Rich       and         rare         were   the       gems 


at-a 


f^ 


—Sz±=e- 


she 


'^ 


444 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


ks>- 


£ 


f^ 


wore, 


And     a       bright       gold      ring       on     her 


i: 


£ 


1 — ^1 f- 


"H" 


ig& 


F=g5=£ 


But,       O ! 


wand       she 


bore ; 


her 


S?' 


=ip: 


^# 


i=F=[ 


~n" 


T' 


beau  -   ty     was 


be   -   yond 


i: 


"T 


£ 


5 


:!z*Ej 


=i 


-"5^ 


':=tt— p- 


^r-fz: 


±: 


"S>~ 


?: 


3: 


spark    -  ling      gems,        or        snow  -  white  wand ;     But 


£=: 


*  This  ballad  is  founded  upon  the  following  anecdote:  "The  people  were  in- 
spired with  such  a  spirit  of  honor,  virtue,  and  religion,  by  the  great  example  of 
Brien,  and  by  his  excellent  administration,  that,  as  a  proof  of  it,  we  are  informed 
that  a  young  lady  of  great  beauty,  adorned  with  jewels  and  a  costly  dress,  under- 
took a  journey  alone  from  one  end  of  the  kingdom  to  the  other,  with  a  wand  only 
in  her  hand,  at  the  top  of  which  was  a  ring  of  exceeding  great  value  ;  and  such 
an  impression  had  the  laws  and  government  of  this  monarch  made  on  the  minds 
of  all  the  people,  that  no  attempt  was  made  upon  her  honor,  nor  was  she  robbed 
of  her  clothes  or  jewels." 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


445 


=«=[: 


i  ^       -      a  •  F —i \ 


O !       her      beau  -  ty   was       far         be  -  yond        Her 


^ 


£ 


f^^ 


f^^^h 


spark    -    ling     gems,       and     snow  -  white    wand ! 


i: 


:?=? 


T' 


r 


iffi 


-iS>' 


f 


:S=£: 


2. 

"  Lady,  dost  thou  not  fear  to  stray, 

So  lone  and  lovely,  through  this  bleak  way? 

Are  Erin's  sons  so  good,  or  so  cold. 

As  not  to  be  tempted  by  woman  or  gold?" 


"  Sir  Knight !    I  feel  not  the  least  alarm ; 
No  son  of  Erin  will  offer  me  harm : 
For,  though  they  love  woman,  and  golden  store, 
Sir  Knight !    they  love  honor  and  virtue  more ! " 


On  she  went ;    and  her  maiden  smile 
In  safety  lighted  her  round  the  green  isle ; 
And  blessed  forever  is  she,  who  relied 
Upon  Erin's  honor,  and  Erin's  nrirlo  i 


446 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


SING,    WHACKl  FOR  THE    EMERALD    ISLEl 


E  -  rin    doth    tru  -  ly     ex    -   eel ; 


For     vir  -  tue,   for 


iEg?EE£EE 


-^ 


3?E 


N-- 


or   and    fun,  'Tis    famous,     the    world  sure    can 


-#- 


^=r 


1^ 


'^9- 


tell. 


The     boys   are  all      fris  -  ky ;    the    girls, 


r-#— #-^- 


=--^P==TE 


^r^ 


Sweet     daughters   of    vir  -  tue     they     prove; 


The 


-^ 


'— r — p~^—w 


sr — 1^_ 

for  -  mer   ne'er  dread     a  - 


t- 


I     r 


ny 


per  -  ils ; 


The 


=g53E-J=$ 


i-r-l- 


m 


lat  -  ter      are     brim-ful       of 


love. 


Then  sing, 


whack!     for     the     Em    -    e  -  raid       isle. 


Where  shil 


BIUSIC    AND   POETRY. 


447 


^ 


^— 


£ 


-#- 


le    -   lahs  and    sham  -  rocks   a     -     bound ; 


^^^ 


May 


^- 


peace     and  pros  -  per 

»    » 


i   -   ty      smile 


O'er     the 


£ 


land,    and     its       na  -  lives    all       round. 


2. 

As  for  heroes,  we  have  them  in  plenty, 

From  gallant  old  Brien  Boroimhe ; 
In  battles,  faith,  upwards  of  twenty, 

He  leathered  the  Danes  black  and  blue. 
Invasion  her  sons  could  not  sever; 

Like  lions  they  fought  on  the  strand ; 
And  may  their  descendants  forever 

Protect  their  own  beautiful  land. 
Then  smg,  whack,  &;c. 

3. 

Our  forefathers  tell  us.  Saint  Pat 

Drove  venom  away  from  our  shore ; 
The  shamrock  he  blessed,  and  for  that. 

We'll  steep  it  in  whisky  no  more. 
He  told  us,  while  time  would  remain, 

Still  merry  should  be  the  gay  sod ; 
And  bloom  in  the  midst  of  the  main. 

With  the  footsteps  of  friendship  be  trod. 
Then  sing,  whack,  Sic. 


LECTTJEE    XIII. 


RELIGION,    LITERATURE,  AND 
ARCHITECTURE. 

Review  of  the  Danish  Wars.  —  Reflections.  —  Lessons  of  History.  —  Religion  of  the 
first  Irish  Christians.  —  Derived  from  Rome.  —  Nature  qf  the  Popedom.  —  Rehgion 
of  Ireland  and  Rome  alike.  —  Proofs.  —  Usher's  Grandson.  —  The  Councils  of 
Fathers. — How  the  Scriptures  were  compiled.  —  When  and  by  whom  written. — 
Christian  Religion  established  before  the  Scriptures  were  written.  —  Catholic 
Church  Evidence  for  the  Scriptures.  - —  Councils  of  the  early  Fathers.  —  Safest 
Interpreters.  —  The  Bible.  —  Who  shall  explain  it  ?  —  Where  is  the  true  Version  ? 

—  Effects  of  individual  Judgment.  — Clerical  Interference  in  cjvil  Affairs.  —  The 
Monks.  —  Abbots.  —  Christian  Warriors.  —  The  Pope's  Connection  with  civil 
Affairs.  —  His  present  Authority  defined.  —  Debate  on  the  Point  in  the  Irish  Re- 
peal Association.  —  Ecclesiastical  Dissensions  in  Ireland.  —  Tithes  first  introduced. 
Discipline  and  Order  restored.  —  Literature  of  this  Period. —  Moore's  Descrip- 
tion. —  Tigernach.  —  King  Cormac. —  His  Wars.  —  Death  and  Will.  —  Reflections. 

—  Architecture  at  this  Period.  —  Irish  Architecture.  — Mode  of  treating  the 
Question.  —  Patriarchal  Temples.  —  Ancient  Caves.  —  Pyramids.  —  Round  Tow- 
ers. —  Conical  Huts.  —  Tents.  —  First  Cities.  —  First  Architects.  —  The  Phoenicians 
and  their  Cities. —  Testimony  of  Holy  Writ.  — Jewish  Temples.  —  Chinese  Archi- 
tecture.—  Etrurian  Architecture.  —  The  Arch. —  Cement.  —  Grecian  and  Irish 
Architecture  distinct  in  Principle.  —  Grecian  Orders.  —  Roman  Architecture.  — 
Irish  Architecture. —  Style  of  the  first  Christian  Churches.  —  The  Goths. — The 
Architecture  of  Ireland.  — The  great  Hall  of  Tara.  —  First  Christian  Churches  of 
Ireland. — Antiquities  neglected.  —  Origin  of  the  pointed  Arch.  —  Splendid  Ruins. 

—  Opinion  of  English  Architects.  —  Great  Antiquity  of  Ireland.  —  Beauty  of  its  Ar- 
chitecture.—  Cormac's  Chapel.  —  Willis's  Opinion.  —  Perspective  View  of  the 
Interior  of  Cormac's  Chapel.  — Irish  Style.  —  Art  of  staining  Glass  known  to  the 
Irish.  — Their  Sculptures.  —  Chieftains'  Castles.  —  Standing  Cathedrals. —  Section- 
al View  of  Holy  Cross  Abbey.  —  Remarks.  —  What  Nation  originally  possessed  the 
Germ  of  this  grand  Architecture  ?  —  Buildings  of  the  Ancient  Brltoi^.  —  Of  the 
Anglo-Saxons. —  Of  the  Picts.— Of  the  Welsh.  —  Of  the  Gauls  and  French.— 
Of  the  Italians.  —  Condition  of  Europe  in  the  fourth,  fifth,  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth 
Centuries.  —  The  Irish  Monks  the  Architects  of  Europe .  —  First  Monasteries  erected 
in  England.  —  Monasteries  built  on  the  Continent  of  Europe  by  Irish  Monks. — 
Dr.  Milner's  Opinion. — Further  English  Evidences.  —  St.  Peter's  at  Oxford  mod- 
elled after  Cormac's  Chapel.  —  Salisbury  Cathedral,  after  Holy  Cross  Abbey.  — 
Did  the  pointed  Style  come  from  the  East .''  —  Character  of  Irish  Architecture. — 
Origin  of  the  Term  "  Gothic."  —  Variations  in  Style. —  Revival  of  Architecture  in 
Ireland.  —  Irish  Architects  of  the  present  Day  in  England  and  America. 


REVIEW    OF    THE    DANISH    WARS.  REFLECTIONS.  449 

In  the  preceding  section  I  have  given  the  great  outline  of  the  Danish 
wars  in  Ireland.  Those  wars  were,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  short 
intermissions,  continued  for  two  hundred  and  forty  years.  Seven  or  eight 
generations  of  Irishmen  were  born,  and  were  cut  off  by  the  sword,  and 
by  death,  from  the  commencement  of  those  wars  to  their  termination. 
During  all  this  time,  the  Danes  never  established  a  sovereignty  in  Ire- 
land. Their  nearest  approach  to  it  was  made  during  the  leadership  of 
Turgesius ;  and  then  the  proud  Dane  reigned  jointly  only  with  Mala- 
chy,  by  a  compromise,  I  admit,  degrading  to  the  latter. 

Their  years  of  sovereignty  over  a  part  of  Ireland  were  few.  They 
were  never  masters  of  the  whole.  While  England  yielded  in  despair  to 
their  dominion,  and  received  from  them  a  race  of  kings  ;  while  the  French 
compromised  for  their  independence,. and  yielded  up  to  the  invader,  as 
the  price  of  peace,  a  large  portion  of  their  territory,  on  which  was  found- 
ed the  kingdom  of  Normandy,  —  Ireland  gave,  in  every  generation,  a 
new  race  of  heroes,  who  contended  inch  by  inch  for  their  freedom,  and, 
falling,  bequeathed  the  battle  to  their  posterity.  If,  from  the  first  Dan- 
ish battle  to  the  last,-  we  subtract  the  years  of  peace  from  those  of  war, 
we  shall  find  there  were  two  hundred  years  of  fighting.  The  old  histo- 
rians spread  those  battles  on  their  canvass  in  life  size.  Were  I  to 
imitate  them,  the  "  Danish  Invasions  "  would  fill  two  volumes  as  large 
as  this.  The  battles  were  of  the  most  sanguinary  character ;  the  perse- 
verance, desperation,  and  ferocity,  of  the  Danes,  were  equalled  only  by 
the  unconquerable  spirit  and  bravery  of  the  Irish.  Whole  legions,  from 
three  thousand  to  five  thousand  men  each,  were  again  and  again  cut  off: 
yet  new  invaders  appeared,  in  still  greater  numbers,  as  if  borne  to  our 
shores  by  an  ungovernable  instinct.  They  came,  were  killed,  and  their 
places  were  supplied  by  others.  I  should  estimate  about  twenty-five 
thousand  Irishmen  fell  every  year  during  the  two  hundred  years  of  war. 
This  estimate,  which  is  moderate,  would  lead  us  to  a  result  which  cannot 
but  astonish, — that  ^ce  millions  of  Irishmen  bled  on  the  field,  for  the 
independence  of  their  native  land,  during  those  two  centuries.  I  am 
certain,  from  the  returns  given  by  the  old  histories,  that  double  that 
number  fell  on  the  Danish  side.  I  know  not  the  wars,  on  the  page 
of  history,  to  liken  these  to,  for  duration  and  desperate  valor,  on 
both  sides,  save  the  Punic  wars,  between  the  Romans  and  Cartha- 
ginians, and  those  between  the  followers  of  Mahomet  and  the  cross. 

There  can  hardly  be  named  a  single  church,  castle,  or  other  sacred 
building,  that  existed  in  Ireland  before  the  Danish  wars,  which  was  not 
taken,  pillaged,  battered  down,  retaken,  rebuilt,  redestroyed,  ten  times 
57 


450  LESSONS    IN    HISTORY. 

over  during  these  terrible  contests.  The  remorseless  savages,  impelled 
as  much  by  the  desire  of  plunder  as  by  hatred  of  the  cross,  invaded 
the  sanctuaries  of  piety  and  literature,  scattered  the  shrines  of  the  dead, 
desecrated  the  altars  of  sacrifice,  burnt  the  valued  libraries  of  the  col- 
leges, demolished  the  venerated  evidences  of  architectural  genius ;  and 
yet  the  Milesian  race  refused  to  yield  their  country  up. 

Six  generations  had  fought  and  fell,  and  the  seventh  was  found  by 
the  Danes  as  unconquerable  as  the  first. 

Where,  in  the  volume  of  history,  is  the  "parallel  of  that  to  be  found  1 
Not  on  the  historic  page  of  England !  not  on  the  historic  page  of 
France  ! 

Let  that  proud  fact  be  engraved  on  the  heart  of  every 
Irishman. 

Let  it  be  proclaimed  at  home;  let  it  be  trumpeted  abroad;  let  it  be 
rehited  by  mothers  to  their  babes  ;  let  it  be  told  by  old  men  ;  let  it  be 
sung  in  ballads ;  let  it  be  blown  from  the  clarion  ;  let  it  be  sounded 
from  every  instrument  that  speaketh  with  strings  —  that,  though  Eng- 
land submitted,  and  received  a  race  of  kings  from,  the  northern  inva- 
ders—  that,  though  France  yielded  them  half  her  territory,  Ireland 
never  yielded  them  an  inch  —  fought  against  them  two  hun- 
dred   AND    forty   years,    AND    SUBDUED    THEM    AT    LAST. 

Who  will  tell  us  that  the  present  race  of  Irishmen  are  less  brave,  or 
less  oppressed,  than  those  who  lived  in  the  days  of  the  Malachys  and 
the  Briens  ? 

O  Irishmen,  bear  in  mind  the  wise  axiom  of  one  of  your  own  wri- 
ters, in  the  Nation  :  — 

"  History's  lessons,  if  you  read  'em, 
Will  impart  this  truth  to  thee  — 
Knowledge  is  the  price  of  freedom ; 
Know  yourselves,  and  you  are  free." 

The  history  of  those  wars  will  teach  Irishmen  this  lesson,  —  when- 
ever they  yielded  to  the  gratification  of  their  personal  resentments  towards 
each  other,  —  whenever  they  yielded  to  dissensions  and  quarrels  amongst 
themselves,  —  then  the  Danes  were  encouraged  to  make  new  invasions, 
and,  so  long  as  this  local  strife  continued,  were  victorious.  But,  when- 
ever the  Irish  chiefs  and  provinces  cordially  united,  their  resistance  of 
the  invader  was  crowned  with  triumphant  success. 

This  "lesson"  is  literally  as  applicable  to  their  wars  with  the  Eng- 
lish as  with  the  Danes,  as  will  appear,  unfortunately,  too  plain  in  the 
succeeding  pages.     Their  battles  with  the  English,  though  now  carried 


ANCIENT    RELIGION    OF    IRELAND.  451 

on  by  the  tongue  and  pen,  are  yet  as  hot,  and  as  pregnant  of  suffering, 
as  ever. »  It  would  be  a  signal  blessing  to  the  Irish  race,  were  they 
gifted  with  perception  sufficiently  capacious  to  measure  the  power  of 
UNITY.  Such  unity  can  grow  only  from  kindness  to  each  other,  mutual 
forbearance,  a  toleration  of  each  other's  opinions,  and  even  faults  and 
follies ;  an  individual  suppression  of  vanity,  resentments,  illegitimate 
ambition  ;  a  religious  oblivion  of  all  old  family,  personal,  party,  or  county 
animosities  ;  a  thorough  contempt  for  distinction,  grounded  on  the  pos- 
session of  wealth  merely,  or  family  heritage  ;  neither  of  which  can  make 
a  man  noble  or  pure,  though  either  is  sure  to  make  him  vain — a  most 
dangerous  foible  among  a  people  struggling  to  be  free.  Vanity,  scat- 
tered through  the  ranks  of  the  people,  is  worse  than  the  shells  of  their 
enemies.  Ingratitude,  on  the  other  hand,  from  the  people  to  their 
servants,  is  full  as  mischievous.  Therefore  it  is  necessary  that  they 
be  instructed  and  intelligent,  either  to  recover  their  liberties,  or  to 
preserve  them.  Vanity  and  cant,  the  counterfeit  of  patriotism,  will 
pass  on  an  ignorant  multitude  for  the  genuine  ore.  Any  movement 
for  freedom,  built  on  such  machinery,  will  break  down,  and  tend,  at 
the  conclusion,  to  strengthen  tyranny.  An  intelligent  community  will 
detect  the  counterfeit  from  the  genuine  metal,  and,  whether  the  latter  be 
found  in  the  cottage  or  the  castle,  will  prize  it  equally.  Among  such  a 
people  tyranny  cannot  live.     This  all  history  teaches. 

The  reader,  after  so  long  a  study  of  war,  will  naturally  feel  desirous 
to  learn  the  general  state  of  religion,  hterati^re,  architecture,  arts,  &;c., 
at  this  period,  in  Ireland.  I  shall,  in  this  section,  devote  a  few  pages 
to  each  topic  ;  and  first,  on 

RELIGION. 

The  first  Christian  missionaries  that  appeared  in  Ireland  were,  accord- 
ing to  the  strongest  probabilities,  disciples  of  St.  John,  who  preached  to 
the  Eastern  nations.  Among  these,  history  has  recorded  St.  Mansuetus. 
The  second  and  more  numerous  teachers  proceeded  directly  from 
Rome,  and  bore  the  commission  to  preach  from  the  then  occupant  of 
Peter's  chair.  In  the  earlier  struggles  of  Christianity,  during  the  first, 
second,  and  third  centuries,  the  chief  bishop  of  the  Christians  had 
no  settled  habitation.  He  was  driven  about  from  Rome  to  Jemsalem, 
from  thence  to  Antioch,  and  from  Antioch  to  Byzantium.  Often  was  he 
sacrificed  to  the  ferocity  of  the  Romans ;  but  his  place  was  quickly  filled 
by  another,  elected  from  among  the  ecclesiastics  of  the  church.  The 
pope  might  be  crucified,  but  the  chief  of  the  Christian  church  still  lived 


452  NATURE  OF  THE  POPEDOM. 

in  his  appointed  successor.  The  term  pope  itself  is  derived  from  pater 
patrie,  "  father  of  fathers,"  of  which  papa  is  an  abbreviation,  and  from 
which  "pope"  has  grown  ;  and  the  elemental  constitution  of  thisyh^Aer 
is  not  unlike  that  of  the  president  of  the  United  States. 

The  one  is  elected  from  among  bis  fellows  to  fill  the  chair  of  the 
Christian  republic,  the  other  to  fill  the  chair  of  the  republic  of  the  Uni- 
ted States.  The  one  is  invested  with  supreme  and  sovereign  power  for 
the  control  and  protection  of  the  community ;  so  is  the  other.  The 
president  is  elected  for  a  term  of  four  years,  the  pope  for  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  The  popes,  being  generally  selected  from  the  oldest  men, 
have  not  reigned  beyond  an  average  term  of  seven  years  each.  There 
have  been  two  hundred  and  sixty  popes  in  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred years,  which  give  about  seven  years  to  each.  Ten  presidents  of 
the  United  States  have  governed  in  sixty-one  years,  which  give  an 
average  of  six  years,  nearly,  to  each.  The  pope  is  assisted  by  a 
council  of  bishops  and  cardinals,  generally  seventy-two  in  number,  and, 
in  difficult  cases,  by  a  council  of  the  entire  church  —  that  is,  representa- 
tives from  the  priesthood  of  every  nation,  called  a  general  council; 
the  president,  by  the  senate  and  congress.  For  a  time,  during  the 
struggle  of  the  revolution,  the  constitution  and  laws  of  that  jx)wer  which 
we  noiv  call  the  United  States,  were  centred  in  the  jjerson  of  George 
Washington.  The  entire  government  and  direction  of  the  Christians, 
during  seasons  of  persecution,  were  similarly  deposited  in  the  sole  keep- 
ing of  an  individual  bishop.  As  soon  as  the  strife  was  over  between 
the  apostles  of  civil  liberty  and  the  agents  and  armies  of  tyranny,  on  this 
continent,  councils  of  the  various  states  of  the  Union  were  held,  and  cer- 
tain regulations  were  established  for  the  government  and  guidance  of  the 
newly-disenthralled  community.  The  early  Christians,  as  soon  as  the 
war  of  persecution  was  abated,  and  their  own  triumph  established,  called 
general  councils  for  the  regulation  of  their  affairs,  which  consisted  of  the 
most  discreet,  learned,  and  zealous  of  their  ecclesiastics.  In  the  case  of 
the  Americans,  liberty,  with  its  attributes,  —  equity,  law,  protection, — 
was  established  in  the  minds  of  millions  of  men,  before  the  constitution 
was  written,  or  the  laws  agreed  upon.  Religion  —  the  Christian  reli- 
gion —  was  established  in  the  hearts  of  millions  before  the  Gospels  were 
written,  or  gathered  into  a  compiled  code.  The  earliest  councils  of 
the  Christian  church  were  those  of  Carthage  and  Nice,  held  in  the 
close  of  the  third  and  beginning  of  the  fourth  centuries.  These  coun- 
cils, in  condemning  newly-started  doctrines,  agreed  upon  a  united  inter- 
pretation of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  old  and  new,  expounded  several  difficult 


NATURE  OF  THE  POPEDOM.  453 

points,  and  gave  us  a  code  of  religious  instructions  and  laws  for  our 
government. 

The  pope  and  his  council  of  cardinals,  for  the  time  being,  are  intrust- 
ed with  the  administration  of  the  Christian  code  of  faith  and  morals,  but 
cannot  alter  them  in  any  essential.  This,  I  take  it,  is  the  nature  and 
extent  of  the  president's  authority.  He  may,  according  to  the  constitu- 
tion, exercise  his  supreme  power,  even  despotically,  in  carrying  on  the 
government,  or  in  preventing  an  alteration  of  the  laws ;  but  to  alter  the 
laws  himself  would  be  treason  to  the  community,  and  he  dares  not 
attempt  it.     Even  so  it  is  with  the  pope. 

General  councils  of  the  church  have  had  their  majorities  and  minori- 
ties, on  difficult  and  perplexing  questions  ;  but  the  articles  of  Christian 
faith  remained  undisturbed,  though  clerical  discipline  has  experienced 
occasional  alterations.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  general  practice  of 
the  American  government ;  and,  to  carry  on  the  parallel,  I  may  add, 
that  patriarchs  are  appointed  by  the  pope  to  take  charge  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical interests  of  nations,  equalling  in  relative  authority  the  governors 
of  our  American  states. 

I  have  made  these  preliminary  remarks  with  a  view  of  removing 
from  between  the  reader  and  me  a  cloud  of  prejudice,  (should  it  exist,) 
which  may  have  been  generated  by  long-continued  abuse  of  the  Cath- 
olic religion,  within  his  hearing,  or  by  the  perusal  of  authors,  of 
counterfeit  talent,  who  rely  for  their  success  less  upon  their  power  to 
create  than  to  destroy,  and  more  upon  their  power  to  degrade  humanity 
than  to  exalt  it,  —  who  would,  to  get  a  blow  at  the  Catholic  church, 
trample  down  humanity  itself. 

To  return  now  to  the  direct  question.  St.  Palladius  and  St.  Patrick 
brought  into  Ireland  the  code  of  faith,  ceremonials,  and  discipline,  estab- 
lished by  the  first  general  councils  of  Christians  that  were  held  any 
where  ;  viz.,  the  councils  of  Carthage  and  Nice.  And  it  was  singular 
to  find,  as  O'Halloran  remarks,  that  the  ceremonials  and  articles  of  faith 
of  those  Irish  Christians  who  had  been  converted  by  the  earlier  mission- 
aries, who  came  from  the  East,  before  any  general  council  of  the  church 
had  been  held,  coincided  in  all  articles  of  faith,  morals,  and  ceremonial, 
with  those  agreed  upon  at  these  first  general  councils  of  the  Christian 
church.  St.  Patrick,  having  been  the  successful  agent  of  the  Lord  in 
the  conversion  of  all  Ireland,  was  intrusted  by  the  pope  with  the  power 
of  consecrating  bishops.  And  on  his  second  visit  to  Rome,  he  was 
intrusted,  by  the  successor  of  Celestine,  Pope  Hilarius,  with  the  power 
of  holding  a  primacy  and  council  in  Ireland,  where  all  matters  of  disci- 
pline, including  the  appointment  of  bishops,  ordination  of  clergymen, 


454  ST.  patkick's  injunction.  —  usher's  history. 

and  the  establishment  of  churches,  colleges,  and  monasteries,  were  ad- 
ministered. This  power  was  conceded  to  the  bishop  of  Armagh  as 
"  primate  of  Ireland,"  until  about  the  eleventh  century.  Appeals  and 
references,  in  difficult  matters,  were  sometimes  made  to  the  archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  as  the  legatus  natus  of  the  British  islands. 

It  does  not  appear,  during  the  five  or  six  centuries  which  passed 
from  St.  Patrick's  mission  to  the  eleventh  century,  that  there  took 
place  any  very  frequent  interference  of  the  pope,  in  the  administration  of 
the  Irish  church  ;  though  it  was  the  constant  practice  of  Irish  ecclesiastics 
to  proceed  to  Rome  for  instruction,  edification,  or  appointment.  Indeed, 
this  practice  was  not  confined  to  ecclesiastics  ;  for  the  laity  of  the  middle 
ages,  of  all  countries,  and  especially  of  Ireland,  faced  to  Rome,  in  their 
holy  pilgrimages,  it  being  the  centre  seat  of  Christianity.  That  able 
controversialist  on  the  Catholic  side.  Dr.  Milner,  arrays,  in  his  reply  to 
Ledwich,  a  host  of  incidents,  appointments,  correspondences,  references, 
appeals,  that  took  place,  from  the  fifth  to  the  twelfth  century,  between 
the  Irish  clergy  and  the  Roman  see,  which  leave  no  doubt  upon  the 
mind,  that  the  religion  established  by  St.  Patrick  in  Ireland,  and  that 
established  in  England  by  St.  Austin,  were,  in  faith,  morals,  and  cere- 
monials, substantially  the  same  with  that  practised  in  Rome  during 
coeval  ages. 

In  629,  there  was  a  national  ecclesiastical  synod  held  in  Ireland,  in 
M  hich  the  following  clause  was  passed  among  their  acts :  "  That,  on 
questions  of  peculiar  moment  or  difficulty  arising  in  Ireland,  recourse 
should  he  had  to  the  apostolic  see."  This  canon  was  passed  in  accord- 
ance with  the  advice  which  St.  Patrick  had  solemnly  given  to  his  clergy 
in  Armagh,  to  apply,  in  all  questions  of  difficulty,  to  the  holy  see,  as  he 
expressed  it,  velut  natos  ad  matrem  — "  like  children  to  a  mother." 
See  iS*^.  Cummian's  Ep.  in  Sylloge,  as  quoted  by  the  Very  Reverend  Dr. 
MiLEY,  of  Dublin,  in  his  late  very  able  letters  on  this  question.  "This 
is,"  adds  the  doctor,  "  an  epitome  of  what  Primate  Usher  has  said  of  St. 
Patrick."  He  gives,  in  his  Antiquities,  the  vouchers  for  this,  and  much 
more.  Yet  that  same  archbishop,  later  in  his  life,  under  the  influence 
of  the  anti-Catholic  King  James  the  First,  and  in  view  of  the  primacy 
of  Ireland,  wrote  his  "  libel "  on  the  "  religion  of  the  ancient  Irish,"  which 
appeared  to  be  so  contradictory  of  his  able  work  on  her  antiquities, 
written  with  the  honesty  of  youth,  that  his  grandson,  the  Rev.  James 
Usher,  having  investigated  the  pros  and  cons  of  his  learned  relative,  not 
only  abjured  the  Protestant  form  of  worship,  in  which  he  had  been  edu- 
cated, and  of  which  he  was  a  distinguished  and  well-paid  minister,  but 
absolutely  joined  the  Catholic  church,  in  which  he  became  an  edifying 


usher's  grandson  became  a  catholic.  455 

and  zealous  priest,  and  raised  his  able  pen  in  defence  of  the  creed  which 
he  had  from  conviction  espoused. 

In  a  letter,  published  a  century  ago,  (quoted  by  Dr.  Miley,) 
addressed  to  some  of  the  anti-Catholic  writers  of  the  day,  he  says, 
"  When  you  attack  the  church  of  Rome,  you  never  fail  to  assault  her 
in  some  point  or  other  in  which  she  is  impregnable.  You  accuse  her 
of  teaching  idolatry,  or  impiety,  &;c.  This,  to  be  sure,  gains  you  a 
temporary  applause  amongst  your  zealous  partisans,  and  influences  their 
hatred  against  Papists ;  but,  in  the  mean  time,  the  Papists  themselves, 
being  conscious  of  the  falsehood  of  these  charges,  are  confirmed  in  their 
religion,  and  serious  Protestant  seekers,  (like  myself,)  discovering  by 
degrees  the  same  falsehood,  are  induced  to  go  over  to  the  Popish  com- 
munion." 

"  Primate  Usher,"  continues  Dr.  Miley,  "  details,  in  his  Antiquities, 
how  the  faith  was  first  founded  in  Britain,  while  yet  a  Roman  province, 
by  missionaries  from  the  pope,  A.  D.  181.  They  return  to  give  an 
account  of  their  successes,  just  as  St.  Boniface  and  St.  Patrick  did. 

'  Sic  disposita  regione, 
Doctores  Romam  repetunt,  coniirmat  eorum, 
Dictus  apodtolicus  factum,'  &c.  —  Gildas. 

"  The  decrees  of  a  council,  consisting  of  six  hundred  bishops,  who 
met  at  Aries  in  the  year  314,  were  subscribed  by  the  bishops  of  Lon- 
don and  York,  with  other  prelates  of  Britain  ;  and  in  one  of  those 
decrees  there  is  the  clearest  recognition  of  papal  supremacy.  That 
supremacy  was  still  more  emphatically  asserted  and  enforced  in  the 
great  council  of  Sardica,  A.  D.  347  ;  and  Usher  again  tells  us  —  indeed, 
he  could  not  deny  it  —  that  there  also  some  prelates  of  Britain  assisted. 
In  fine,  the  church  of  the  Britons,  or  Welsh,  as  we  now  call  them,  used 
to  be  visited  and  reformed  by  the  pope's  legates  even  after  the  Saxon 
conquest ;  so  that,  of  the  subordination  of  the  British  church  to  the 
pope's,  there  can  be  no  question  whatever ;  and  consequently,  if  it  were 
only  on  this  account  alone,  there  ought  to  be  none  as  to  the  similar  sub- 
ordination of  the  Irish  church,  because  that  between  the  British  and 
Irish  there  was  the  most  perfect  accord  and  sympathy  in  religious  views, 
is  admitted  on  all  hands." 

The  celebrated  Irish  father  St.  Columbanus,  who  in  the  sixtli  century 
established  so  many  churches  in  Germany,  writing  to  Pope  Honorius  the 
Fourth,  proves,  incontestably,  that  the  Irish  clergy  adhered  strictly  to 
the  see  of  Rome,  in  faith  and  practice.  I  make  one  extract :  he  begins, 
'^  Pulcherrimo  omnium  Euro])(B  ecclesiarum   caviti — papa  pradulci 


456  RELIGION    OF    IRELAND    AND    ROME    ALIKE. 

— pastorum  pastori  —  To  the  head  most  serene  of  all  the  churches  of 
Europe  —  to  the  pope  best  beloved  —  to  the  pastor  of  pastors  :  —  it  is 
not  as  an  alien  that  I  write.  1  address  you  as  a  friend,  as  a  follower,  as 
a  disciple  ;  wherefore  my  language  shall  be  such  as  ought  to  be  addressed 
to  the  pilot  and  mystic  steersman  of  the  spiritual  ship,  &tc.  Thus  shall 
I  presume,  because  we  Irish  are  the  disciples  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul, 
stationed  on  the  verge  of  the  world.  We  are  on  that  account  more 
scrupulous  in  admitting  nothing  but  what  is  apostolical.  Amongst  us, 
no  heretic,  feud,  or  schismatic,  was  ever  met  with  ;  but  that  faith  which 
we  first  received  from  the  successors  of  the  apostles,  we  cling  to,  with  a 
constancy  that  cannot  be  shaken,"  he.  —  Sacra  Collectanea,  1667. 

And  it  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that,  amid  the  incredible  crowd  of  learned 
ecclesiastics  which  Ireland  gave  to  the  church  in  fourteen  hundred 
years,  not  one  of  them  ever  originated  a  schism  !  While  other  nations 
changed  their  creed  oft  and  oft,  Ireland  remained  as  firm  in  her  first 
faith  as  the  rock  Peter. 

In  6S0,  St.  Wilfrid,  archbishop  of  York,  assisted  at  the  first  great 
Lateran  council  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  bishops,  under  Pope 
Agatho,  in  which  he  bore  testimony  to  the  orthodoxy  of  the  churches 
of  Ireland,  as  well  as  those  of  Britain. 

That  philosophical  controversialist.  Dr.  Milner,  thus  speaks,  in  another 
page :  "  It  is  objected,  by  Usher,  that  what  is  called  St.  Patrick's  purgato- 
ry, was  not  instituted  by  the  saint  of  that  name.  This  I  readily  grant, 
for  it  was  set  on  foot  by  an  Abbot  Patrick,  several  ages  later,  and  was 
once  suppressed  by  an  order  of  the  pope,  ni  1497.  But  if  he  argues 
from  thence  that  St.  Patrick  and  the  early  Christians  did  not  believe  in 
a  middle  state  of  souls  after  death,  which  may  be  assisted  by  the  prayers 
of  living  Christians,  he  is  guilty  of  an  error  both  in  reasoning  and  in 
fact.  It  will  be  seen  in  this  saint's  second  council,  that  he  forbids  the 
holy  sacrifice  of  the  mass  to  be  offered  up  for  those  persons,  after  their 
death,  who  had  rendered  themselves  unworthy  of  having  it  offered  up 
for  them  during  their  lifetime.  It  will  not  be  disputed  that  the  writings 
of  Bede  abound  with  testimonies  in  favor  of  prayers  for  the  dead,  of 
purgatory,  he,  (see  his  Ecclesiastical  History,  chap.  22,  vol.  xi.  chap. 
19;)  and  it  is  a  fact  that  he  himself,  when  he  came  to  die,  earnestly 
desired  that  prayers  and  masses  might  be  offered  for  him.  (See  Cuth- 
bert's  Bede,  tom.  iii.) 

"  It  is  said  that  St.  Patrick  condemned  the  worship  of  images. 
True,  he  condemned  and  extirpated  the  use  of  pagan  idols  ;  but  there  is 
not  the  shadow  of  an  argument  to  show  that  he  deviated  from  the 
received  doctrine  and  practice  of  the  universal  church,  with  respect  to 


ANCLENT    PRACTICES.  457 

the  paying  a  proper  reverence  to  the  cross  of  Christ,  his  image,  or  the 
images  and  rehcs  of  the  martyrs  and  saints,  or  with  respect  to  the  pious 
usage  of  desiring  the  saints  to  offer  up  pray  ere  for  us.  Before  St.  Patrick 
arrived  in  Ireland,  he  saw  the  cross  of  Christ  exahed  upon  the  imperial 
standards  of  Constantine,  and  he  left  the  great  doctors  of  Christianity, 
Chrysostom,  Aiigmtine,  Prosper,  and  Leo,  bearing  ample  testimony 
to  all  these  practices.  He  himself  is  recorded  as  bringing  over  relics 
into  these  islands,  as  Usher  acknowledges  St.  Pailadius  did  before  him. 
We  find  that  St.  Patrick  condemned  certain  criminals  to  twelve 
months'  public  penance  for  their  sins — a  mode  of  atonement  then  much 
practised  by  the  church,  but  limited,  in  modern  ages,  to  private  acts  of 
penance,  consisting  of  prayer  and  fasting. 

"With  respect  to  our  native  historian  and  theologian,  Venerable 
Bede,  whom  Usher  appeals  to,  he  describes  St.  Augustine  of  Canter- 
bury preaching  the  gospel  to  King  Ethelbert,  with  the  cross  for  an 
ensign,  and  the  figure  of  Christ  for  an  emblem  ;  he  represents  the  same 
saint  consecrating  pagan  temples  with  holy  water  and  relics,  and  offer- 
ing up  homage  to  God  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass.  With  respect  to 
images  in  particular,  Venerable  Bede  proves  that  God  did  not  interdict 
the  total  use  of  them,  by  his  commanding  the  figures  of  cherubim  and 
oxen  to  be  placed  in  the  temple  :  '  for  certainly,'  he  adds,  '  if  it  is  lawful 
to  make  twelve  oxen  of  brass,  to  support  the  brazen  sea,  it  cannot  be 
amiss  to  paint  the  twelve  apostles  going  to  preach  to  all  nations.  We 
are  told  that  the  liturgy  of  St.  Patrick  differed  from  that  of  the  Roman 
church.  It  is  not,  however,  proved  to  have  differed,  in  the  smallest 
tittle,  from  that  which  was  followed  at  Rome  when  St.  Patrick  received 
his  mission  ;  much  less  Is  It  proved  to  have  deviated  in  any  point  which 
is  essential  to  the  nature  of  the  sacraments  and  sacrifice  of  the  church 
in  all  ages  and  countries.  That  the  Catholic  liturgies  of  all  times  and 
countries  have  been  essentially  the  same  in  this  respect,  is  abundantly 
proved  by  divines  and  canonists.  Nevertheless,  it  is  to  be  proved  that  a 
certain  latitude,  in  mere  ceremonies  and  particular  devotions,  has  always 
been  allowed  to  great  or  national  churches,  under  the  regulation  of  their 
head  pastors.  St.  Gregory  permitted  our  apostle,  St.  Augustine,  to 
adopt  any  usages  of  this  nature  for  the  Infant  church  of  the  English, 
which  he  might  choose  to  borrow  from  the  French  or  other  Catholic  na- 
tions ;  and  the  court  of  Rome,  at  the  present  day,  so  far  from  requiring 
the  orthodox  Greeks,  who  have  colleges  there,  to  conform  to  her  ritual 
in  these  unessential  points,  obliges  them  to  adhere  to  their  own.  It 
appears  that  the  mass  was  sometimes,  in  former  ages,  said  by  the  Irish 
58 


458  ANCIENT    PRACTICES    OF    THE    CHURCH. 

clergy  at  night.  So  it  was,  in  the  same  ages,  and  on  the  same  occa- 
sions, —  namely,  on  the  eves  of  certain  great  festivals,  —  by  the  clergy  of 
every  other  Catholic  country.  It  is  still  said  by  us  at  midnight  on 
Christmas  night.  In  the  mean  time,  we  learn  from  Bede,  that  nine  of 
the  clock  in  the  morning  was  the  usual  time  of  saying  it.  Bede  and 
Cogitosus  speak  of  '  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  body  and  blood ; ' 
whence  it  appears  that  the  sacrament  was  in  ancient  times  administered 
in  both  kinds.  I  answer,  that  the  Catholics  use  the  same  language 
at  the  present  day,  though  the  laity  receive  the  sacrament  only  under 
one  kind ;  that  the  difference  of  receiving  it  under  one  or  under  both 
kinds,  is  a  mere  point  of  discipline,  which  may  be,  and  has  been, 
changed,  as  the  circumstances  of  time  and  place  required  ;  and  that, 
nevertheless,  the  present  practice  of  the  church,  in  communicating  to  the 
laity  under  the  form  of  bread  alone,  was  the  practice  of  our  infant  Eng- 
lish church,  as  appears  from  Bede  himself.  In  the  mean  time,  we  are 
to  observe  that  this  illustrious  doctor  of  the  English  church,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  eighth  century,  expressly  teaches,  not  only  that  the  mass  is 
a  true  sacrifice,  in  which  Christ  is  truly  and  really  present,  but  also  that 
a  true  and  proper  change  or  transubstantiation  of  the  bread  and  wine 
into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  takes  place  in  it.  I  will  transcribe 
bis  words,  and  I  defy  the  subtilty  of  the  most  ingenious  controvertist 
to  give  them  any  other  meaning  than  that  which  I  have  assigned. 

"  '  Lavat  nos  (Christus)  a  peccatis  nostris  quotidie  in  sanguine  suo, 
cum  ejusdem  beatee  passionis  memoiia  ad  altare  replicatur,  cum  panis  et 
vini  creatura  in  sacramentum  carnis  et  sanguinis  ejus,  ineflabili  spiritus 
sanctificatioiie  transfertur  :  sicque  corpus  et  sanguis  illius  non  infide- 
lium  manibus  ad  perniciem  ipsorum  funditur,  et  occiditur,  sed,  fidelium 
ore,  suam  sumitur  ad  salutem.'  "     Bed,  Hom.  in  Epiph.  tom.  7. 

["  Christ  washes  us  daily  from  our  sins,  in  his  blood,  when  the  memory 
of  his  blessed  passion  is  renewed  at  the  altar,  when  the  substance  of 
bread  and  wine  is  changed  into  the  sacrament  of  his  body  and  blood 
by  the  ineffable  santification  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  thus  his  body  and 
blood  is  immolated  and  shed  ;  not  by  the  hands  of  infidels  to  their 
eternal  ruin,  but  they  are  received  by  the  faithful  for  their  salvation."] 

As  the  doctrine  of  the  eastern  church  is  particularly  implicated  in 
the  present  controversy,  I  shall  select,  from  among  scores  of  other 
testimonies  relating  to  it,  a  passage  from  the  catechetical  discourses 
of  a  holy  father  who  was  bishop  of  the  primitive  church  of  the  fourth 
century :  "  The  bread  and  wine  of  the  eucharist,  before  the  invocation 
of  the  adorable  Trinity,  were  mere  bread  and  wine;  but  that  invo- 
cation having   taken  place,  the  bread   becomes    the   body  of    Christ, 


THE    COUNCILS    OF    FATHERS.  459 

and  the  wine  becomes  the  blood  of  Christ.  Since,  then,  Christ  thus 
declares  concerning  the  bread,  'This  is  my  body,'  who  can  doubt  any- 
longer?  And  since  he  confirms  what  he  said,  and  declares,  ^  This  is 
MY  BLOOD,'  who  will  dare  to  hesitate,  and  affirm  that  it  is  not  his 
blood?  He  once  changed  water  into  wine,  which  resembles  blood, 
at  Cana  in  Galilee  ;  and  is  he  riot  worthy  to  be  believed,  when  he 
says  that  he  changes  wine  into  blood?"  he. — St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem. 
Catech.  Mystagog.  i.  —  See  also  the  Liturgy  of  St.  Basil,  and  of  St. 
Chrys.  in  Le  Brun,  &lc. 

I  have  been  tempted  to  insert  from  Dr.  Milner  these  few  words  of 
explanation  of  some  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Catholic  church.  We  can- 
not account  for  the  obstinacy  with  which  the  great  bulk  of  the  people 
of  Ireland  adhere  to  the  Catholic  faith,  without  remembering  that  it  is 
the  same  which  Patrick  taught  them  fourteen  hundred  years  ago. 
Patrick  may  have  been  wrong,  and  the  councils  of  Christian  fathers  who 
assembled  at  Carthage,  and  Nice,  and  Constantinople,  in  the  third 
and  fourth  centuries,  may  have  mistaken  the  meaning  of  the  Scriptures, 
which  they  themselves  had  gathered  and  compiled,  and  from  which 
point  Christianity  started,  with  the  seal  of  a  great  council  of  learned 
teachers  and  profound  believers,  affixed  in  unity  upon  its  brow.  Lo- 
gicians and  subtile  reasoners  may  go  behind  these  early  councils,  or  take 
their  position  on  some  spot  several  centuries  this  side  of  their  delibera- 
tions. Yet  I  know  not  that  they  can  present  us  with  a  better  scheme 
for  our  salvation  than  that  which  those  Christian  fathers  have  left  us. 

When  sonie  persons  tell  me  —  and  it  is  no  unfrequent  thing  —  that 
they  do  not  see  how  any  intelligent  or  enlightened  man  can  believe  in 
the  absurd  doctrines  of  the  Catholic  religion,  I  naturally  feel  a  desire  to 
learn  which  creed  of  all  those  who  have  separated  from  her  is  more 
consistent  with  the  true  ideas  of  reason  and  intelligence,  or  with  the 
Testaments,  Old  and  New.  If  Christ  came  to  fulfil  what  had  been  fore- 
told by  the  prophets,  —  if  he  confirmed  the  correctness  and  divine  mis- 
sion of  these  prophets,  —  he  must  have  left  prophets  to  carry  on  the 
administration  of  religion,  as  it  had  been  carried  on  before  his  time. 
He  did  not,  it  appears,  condemn  what  Moses  had  recorded,  or  the  laws 
and  commandments  which  he  professed  to  have  had  from  the  direct 
revelations  of  God.  On  the  contrary,  he  came,  as  he  tells  us,  to  confirm 
them  in  all  their  great  particulars,  and  to  leave  behind  him  men,  like 
Moses,  who  were  specially  instructed  to  preach  and  teach.  Christ  did 
not  write  any  portion  of  the  New  Testament ;  he  did  not  write  any 
thing  connected  with  his  mission  except  once,  and  then  it  was  with  his 
finger,  in  the  sand.     Nearly  all  the  apostles  had  written  down  what 


460  HOW    THE    SCRIPTURES    WERE    COMPILED. 

they  heard  him  say  and  saw  him  do,  from  their  memories,  some  years 
after  his  death,  in  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  congregations  or  indi- 
viduals. The  Christian  religion,  consisting  of  baptism,  sacrifice, 
and  penance,  including  the  morals  comprehended  in  the  ten  command- 
ments, was  established  before  the  Neio  Testament  was  written. 

Ere  the  apostles  separated,  to  preach  to  all  nations,  they  agreed  upon 
a  doctrine,  upon  a  united  and  common  interpretation  of  Christ's  mission 
and  maxims ;  that  doctrine  is  comprehended  in  the  aposdes'  creed, 
which  is  found  in  every  Catholic  prayer-book.  It  was  some  twenty 
and  fifty  years  after  our  Lord's  death,  that  the  books  called  the  Gospels, 
with  others  not  preserved,  were  written  by  the  apostles  and  their  imme- 
diate disciples.  These  were  gathered  before  a  council  of  Christian 
bishops  and  teachers  at  Carthage,  in  the  fourth  century,  when  an 
examination  of  them  all  took  place,  and  a  selection  of  the  most  concise 
and  direct  histories  of  our  Redeemer's  hfe  and  conversations  was  jnade. 
This  selection  was  then  compiled  into  that  book  which  they  called  the 
New  Testament,  being  the  continuation  and  fulfilment  of  those  revela- 
tions of  God  contained  in  the  Old. 

The  apostles  and  their  disciples  did  not  write  those  books  while  in 
direct  communication  with  each  other,  nor  did  they  resort  to  any  par- 
ticular means  to  have  them  published  to  the  Christians  of  countries 
distant  from  those  in  which  they  preached.  St.  Peter,  who  was  the 
first  POPE  or  chief  of  the  Christians,  by  the  appointment  of  the  Redeem- 
er, preached  through  India,  Syria,  Italy,  and  lastly,  in  Rome,  where  he 
was  crucified,  about  twenty-seven  years  after  our  Lord's  death.  St. 
John  wrote  in  Asia,  having  travelled  much  in  the  East.  His  writings 
were  principally  directed  to  prove  the  divinity  of  Christ. 

St.  Paul  preached  throughout  Lesser  Asia,  Greece,  and  Spain.  His 
Epistle  to  the  Romans  was  intrusted  to  a  lady,  named  Phebe.  That 
to  the  Ephesians  was  sent  to  his  disciple  Theophilus.  He  was  be- 
iieaded.  St.  Andrew  preached  in  Scythia.  He  too  was  stoned  on  a 
cross ;  St.  Thomas  and  Bartholomew,  in  Parthia  and  India.  St. 
Matthew  wrote  a  book  of  memorandums,  of  Christ's  chief  actions  and 
words,  at  the  particular  request  of  the  Christians  of  Palestine.  St. 
Mark  composed  his  at  the  request  of  those  of  Rome ;  St.  Luke  for  the 
sole  guidance  of  Theophilus,  St.  Paul's  disciple.  They  all  taught  by 
word  of  mouth.  We  do  not  find  that  they  wrote  down  their  creed. 
They  had  no  written  document  in  common.  The  creed,  the  com- 
mandments, and  the  words  of  baptism,  of  sacrifice,  and  other  cere- 
monials of  the  mass,  they  had,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  time, 


BY    WHOM    WKITTEN.  461 

committed  to  iheir  memory ;  for,  in  those  ages,  the  teachers  and 
lawgivers  committed  their  lessons  and  laws  to  memory,  and  not  gener- 
ally to  the  scroll. 

There  were  persons  in  every  one  of  those  countries,  through  which 
the  apostles  passed,  who  disputed  the  Christian  doctrine.  With  such 
the  apostles  and  their  immediate  disciples  held  discussions ;  and,  in  the 
absence  of  the  apostles  from  the  scenes  of  their  labors,  they  were 
applied  to  by  their  converts  for  explanations.  They  then  wrote  "  Epis- 
tles "  or  doctrinal  letters,  some  of  which  we  have  included  in  the  New 
Testament.  The  Gospels  and  Epistles  are  not  complete  treatises  on  the 
Christian  religion  ;  they  are  merely  detached  fragments,  written  to  meet 
special  objections,  but  not  covering  the  whole  ground  of  Christianity, 
which  was  given  by  word,  and  not  by  scroll.  There  is  found  no 
creed  in  any  of  the  Gospels,  no  particular  form  of  faith  ;  the  form  had 
been  establislied  by  word  and  by  deed,  at  the  council  of  Jerusalem,  be- 
fore the  apostles  separated.  The  religion  of  Jesus  was  formed  without 
books  — •  preached  and  spread  without  books  :  those  apostles  fixed  their 
doctrines  in  the  minds  of  men,  and  not  on  perishable  scrolls.  Millions 
of  Christians,  and  thousands  of  priests  and  bishops,  were  converted  and 
ordained,  before  even  those  sacred  writings  were  gathered  together,  out 
of  the  different  countries  in  which  they  were  written,  or  from  the  hands 
of  those  to  whom  they  were  addressed. 

In  short,  the  "  Catholic  church."  comprehending  the  countless  mil- 
lions who  embraced  the  doctrines  of  the  cross  prioi'  to  the  fourth 
century,  together  with  their  numerous  learned  teachers,  who  were  edu- 
cated men,  —  historians,  mathematicians,  astronomers,  &c., —  was  formed 
before  the  book  called  the  New  Testament  was  compiled. 

We  have  no  authority  but  the  Catholic  church  for  believing  that  all 
these  various  books  and  epistles  are  the  genuine  emanations  of  those 
holy  apostles  and  their  disciples.  It  was  only  after  several  spurious 
writings  were  circulated  —  after  several  schismatical  treatises  had  been 
written  and  published,  in  the  third  and  fourth  centuries  —  that  a  council 
of  the  fathers  was  held  in  Carthage,  being  the  third  general  council  of 
the  church,  in  which  many  of  the  chief  bishops  of  the  Christian  world 
were  assembled,  Pope  Innocent  presiding,  to  inspect  those  writings. 

All  the  writings  of  the  apostles  and  their  immediate  disciples,  which 
could  be  gathered  any  where,  were  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  this 
council.  Learned  men  were  appointed  to  translate  them  from  the 
Greek,  Hebrew,  Syriac,  Chaldee,  Phoenician,  and  other  languages,  into 
Latin.     There  were  very  many  of  the  writings  deemed  either  unfit  or 


462  THE    BIBLE WHO    SHALL    EXPLAIN    IT? 

unnecessary  for  retention  in  the  Christian  code.  Amongst  those  re- 
jected were  the  books  written  by  St.  Barnabas,  one  of  the  chosen 
twelve  of  Christ.  Four  books  only  were  selected  as  gospel  or  true 
books,  and  two  of  these  were  written  by  Mark  and  Luke,  who  were  not 
of  the  twelve,  but  the  immediate  disciples  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul. 
Their  books,  however,  had  been  confirmed  by  these  latter  apostles. 

The  Christian  religion,  then,  was  completely  formed,  preached,  and 
established,  before  these  books  were  written,  and  centuries  before  they 
were  compiled.  If  I  remain  a  Christian,  I  must  be  guided  by  the  trans- 
mitted authority,  wheresoever  it  lies,  of  those  who  formed  and  established 
that  religion.  If  I  receive  Mark  and  Luke,  why  should  I  reject  St. 
Clement,  St.  Augustine,  St.  Basil,  St.  Chrysostom  ?  I  prefer  the  Roman 
Catholic  church  to  all  others,  because  the  great  body  of  the  fathers 
have  adhered  to  the  Roman  see.  I  take  their  interpretation  of  these 
Gospels  because  their  predecessors  wrote  and  compiled  them,  and 
because  they  are  the  only  evidence  I  have  of  their  being  at  all 
the  writings  of  the  apostles.  If  I  cannot  find  my  way  by  their  as- 
sistance, who  will  guide  me?  If  I  leave  the  Catholic  church  to 
better  my  chances  of  salvation,  to  whom  shall  I  go  ?  All  of  these  sects 
outside  of  her  pale,  differ  from  one  another,  condemn  one  another. 

In  this  difficulty,  I  shall  be  desired  to  read  my  Bible,  and  judge  for 
myself.  I  have  read  my  Bible,  and  I  have  judged  for  myself,  and  my 
judgment  tells  me  that  it  is  a  book  far  beyond  my  comprehension ;  that, 
though  there  be  many  things  plain  enough,  yet,  again,  many  things  are 
in  it  which  require  to  be  explained  to  me.  To  whom  shall  I  go  for  this 
explanation?  These  books,  it  appears,  were  originally  written  in  the 
Greek,  Syriac,  Chaldee,  Phoenician,  and  Hebrew  languages.  There 
are  many  of  the  terms  used,  and  customs  noted,  and  things  done,  which 
cannot  be  understood,  or  reconciled  to  our  senses,  without  we  also  study 
ancient  history,  and  the  very  languages  in  which  our  Lord  himself  and 
the  apostles  spoke  and  wrote. 

Who  amongst  us,  without  this  knowledge,  can  interpret  the  Scrip- 
tures? It  will  be  objected  that  there  have  been  eminently  learned  men, 
who,  having  all  these  acquirements,  have  put  an  interpretation  on  the 
Scriptures  different  from  that  of  the  church  of  Rome.  So  there  have ; 
but,  again,  these  learned  men  have  differed  from  each  other ;  have  put  — 
to  speak  moderately  —  a  hundred  different  constructions  upon  the  New 
Testament.  On  the  other  side,  I  find  that  the  innumerable  host  of 
learned  men  who  have  appeared  within  the  Catholic  pale,  have  adhered 
to  the  one  interpretation  of  the  entire  Scriptures,  from  the  first  council 
to  the  present  time. 


THE    BIBLE WHO    SHALL    EXPLAIN    IT  ?  4{)3 

I  find  that  many  of*  the  interpretations  put  on  the  Scriptures  by  the  sees 
of  the  present  day  are  not  new  ;  that  some  of  them  were  started  foiutt'eii 
or  fifteen  hundred  years  ago,  and  refuted  by  the  church  of  that  day  ;  ior 
instance,  Arius,  a  priest  of  Alexandria,  preached  against  the  divinity  of 
Christ  in  A.  D.  315.  A  council  of  three  hundred  and  eighteen  Christian 
bishops,  held  at  Nice,  in  A.  D.  319,  condemned  his  opinions  as  heretical. 
In  360,  the  usurper  of  the  holy  see  at  Constantinople  preached  against 
the  divinity  of  the  third  person  in  the  trinity,  the  Holy  Ghost,  which 
was  considered  by  an  assembly  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  bishops,  in 
a  general  council  held  in  that  city,  in  381,  in  which  the  trinity  was 
fully  maintained,  and  the  denial  proclaimed  heresy.  In  311,  the  pre- 
rogative of  "  the  church  "  was  questioned  by  Donatius,  but  affirmed  at 
three  separate  councils,  namely,  Rome,  313,  Aries,  314,  Carthage,  411. 
In  412,  Pelagius,  an  English  monk,  preached  at  Rome,  Carthage,  and 
through  Palestine,  against  the  existence  of  original  sin,  and  the  necessity 
of  God's  grace  to  salvation.  His  doctrines  were  condemned  in  the 
council  of  Carthage,  416,  and  that  of  Milevand,  418.  In  429,  Nesto- 
rius  preached  against  the  unity  of  person  in  Jesus  Christ.  His  doctrine 
was  condemned  in  the  general  council  of  Ephesus,  431,  which  consisted 
of  two  hundred  bishops.  In  488,  Eutyches,  superior  of  a  monastery  in 
Constantinople,  preached  against  the  distinction  of  two  natures  in  Jesus 
Christ  —  condemned  by  the  general  council  of  Chalcedon,  451,  where 
three  hundred  and  sixty  bishops  assembled.  In  726,  the  Greek  emperor 
Leo,  like  some  of  his  successors,  raised  objections  against  the  honors  due 
to  holy  images.  The  objections  were  considered  and  condemned  in  the 
second  general  council  of  Nice,  787,  where  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
seven  bishops  assembled.     It  does  not  appear  that  the  mass,  the  real 

PRESENCE,  TRANSUBSTANTIATION,  AURICULAR  CONFESSION,  PENANCE, 

the  seven  sacraments  of  baptism,  confirmation,  eucharist,  penance,  ex- 
treme unction,  holy  orders,  and  matrimony,  were  called  in  question 
by  even  the  schismatics  of  those  early  ages,  nor,  except  in  the  instance 
of  Arius,  until  the  times  of  Luther  and  Calvin,  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
How,  then,  can  I  refuse  to  yield  my  belief  to  their  decrees  —  to  the 
doctrines  of  the  Catholic  church  ?  How  can  I  be  so  absurd  as  to  go  out 
amongst  those  who  I  am  not  sure  are  learned,  or  guided  by  a  Christian 
spirit  ?  But  I  have  been  told  the  Bible  alone  is  enough,  without  any  other 
assistance,  to  guide  me  to  salvation.  If  this  be  so,  I  must  be  the  judge 
of  my  own  criminaUty,  and  I  must  acquit  or  condemn  myself  according 
as  my  self-love,  my  passions,  or  my  ignorance,  shall  prompt.  I  shall 
make  unto  myself  images  of  perfection  in  my  own  mind.     By  these  I 


464  THE    BIBLE WHO    SHALL    EXPLAIN    IT  ^ 

will  judge  myself.  Others,  by  the  same  rule,  will  form  their  separate 
images  of  right  and  wrong,  vice  and  virtue.  Each  will  form  a  code  of 
laws  of  his  own,  and  act  on  it.  If  each  man  will  interpret  those  difficult 
Scriptures,  is  it  likely  that  any  two  men  will  agree  in  understanding  them 
alike  ?  Have  they  ever  done  so  yet  1  People  may  say,  "  If  you  pray  to 
God,  he  will  enlighten  you  with  grace  to  enable  you  to  understand  every 
difficult  passage."  Only  that  this  is  said  by  many  sincere  persons,  I 
would  call  it  cant.     To  define  it  mildly,  I  must  pronounce  it  delusion. 

The  Scriptures  sometimes  speak  literally,  and  sometimes  figuratively, 
of  the  Deity  and  his  attributes  —  of  angels  —  and  in  a  mysterious  style 
of  prophecy.  Then  the  peculiar  idioms  of  the  old  languages,  the  para- 
bles, figures  of  allegory  and  hyperbole  in  which  the  divine  will  was 
symboled,  frequently  puzzle,  and  make  us  wish  for  a  clearer  under- 
standing, and  desire  aid  to  explain  them.  When  we  confront  one  text  of 
the  Scriptures  with  another,  how  puzzled  we  feel  by  their  apparent 
contradiction  of  each  other!  and  we  cannot  select  the  plainest  and 
reject  the  rest.  Either  the  whole  Scriptures  are  necessary  to  be  un- 
derstood, or  they  are  not.  If  a  part  only,  then  loho  is  to  decide  on  the 
part  which  we  may  put  aside?  or  if  we  must,  and  cannot,  understand 
all,  then  who  is  to  explain  to  us  that  portion  which  is  obscure?  If  each 
man's  own  sense  is  enough  to  direct  him,  then  he  may  select  passages 
favorable  to  his  own  personal  addictions,  whether  of  war,  conquest,  lust, 
murder,  &c.  ;  for  texts  are  to  be  found  to  answer  any  of  these  purposes, 
in  the  Scriptures. 

It  is  hard  to  understand  the  Scriptures.  St.  Augustine,  in  the  fourth 
century,  said,  "There  are  more  things  in  Scripture  which  I  am  ignorant 
of  than  those  that  I  know;"  and  the  Protestant  Doctor  Balguy  said,  in 
the  last  century,  "  Open  your  Bibles,  take  the  first  page  that  appears, 
in  either  Testament,  and  tell  me,  without  disguise,  is  there  nothing  in  it 
too  hard  for  your  understandings  ?  If  you  find  all  before  you  clear  and 
easy,  you  may  thank  God  for  giving  you  a  privilege  which  he  has  de- 
nied to  many  thousands  of  sincere  believers."  —  Balguy^s  Discourse, 
p.  133. 

The  sense  of  a  text  in  Scripture  may  depend  upon  the  choice  of  a 
single  word  in  the  translation,  or  its  position  in  the  sentence  or  sentences 
of  which  the  text  is  formed,  and  even  upon  the  punctuation.  The  denial 
of  the  divinity  of  Christ  itself  has  been  partly  sustained  by  the  division 
of  one  scriptural  sentence  into  two,  which  was  done  by  substituting  a 
period  for  a  comma,  without  changing  a  single  letter  of  the  original ;  for 
example,   "  Surrexit   nan.     Est  hie ; "    whereas  the  correct  and  true 


WHERE    IS    THE    TRUE    VERSION? INDIVIDUAL    JUDGMENT.      465 

reading  and  punctuation  are,  "  Surrexit,  non  est  hie"  '•'  He  is  risen,  he 
is  not  here." 

If  I  am  to  judge  for  myself,  independent  of  the  CathoHc  church, 
I  must  be  able  to  compare  my  English  translations  of  the  Bible  with  the 
original  Latin  version,  which  is  in  possession  of  that  church  alone,  and 
then  1  must  take  that  on  their  authority  as  a  correct  translation  from  the 
Greek  and  Hebrew  texts  of  the  inspired  writers,  some  of  which  are  lost. 

The  text  of  Moses  and  the  ancient  prophets  was  destroyed  with  the 
temple  and  city  of  Jerusalem  ;  and,  though  they  were  replaced  by  au- 
thentic copies,  at  the  end  of  the  Babylonish  captivity,  by  the  prophet 
Ezra,  yet  those  also  perished  in  the  persecution  of  Antiochus,  from 
which  time  we  have  no  evidence  of  the  genuineness  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment until  it  was  supplied  by  Christ  and  his  apostles.  King  Henry  the 
Eighth  condemned  Tyndal's  Translation  of  the  Bible,  as  crafty,  false, 
and  untrue.  The  Bibles  first  published  by  Queen  Elizabeth's  bishops 
were  found  so  incorrect  by  the  bishops  of  James  the  First,  that  a 
new  translation  was  deemed  necessary,  which,  when  made,  produced 
a  great  deal  of  discussion  between  the  learned  Protestants  of  the 
day. 

Which  of  all  these  translations  shall  I  consult  ?  and,  then,  if  every  man 
expounds  the  Scriptures  for  himself,  what  necessity  is  there  for  any  cler- 
gymen ?  or  any  church  ?  or  any  attendance  at  church  ?  and,  to  pursue 
this  idea,  we  shall  soon  find  every  man  set  up  in  his  own  mind  an  image 
of  God,  or  an  idol  for  his  own  private  worship.  He  will  also  be  dis- 
posed to  form  laws  for  his  government  in  civil  society  out  of  his  own 
head,  and  according  to  his  own  standard  or  image  of  justice.  Is  this 
right?  The  illustrious  Fenelon  has  said,  "It  is  better  to  live  without 
any  law  than  to  have  laws  which  all  men  are  left  to  interpret  according 
to  their  several  opinions  and  interests." 

Is  this  right?  I  repeat.  Am  I  safe  in  my  own  keeping,  and  under 
my  own  exclusive  judgment  ?  Shall  I  reject  all  advice  ?  Shall  I  con- 
sult no  one,  except  some  person  equally  weak,  or  ignorant,  or  wicked, 
with  myself?  I  cannot  bear  to  think  of  it.  There  must  be  some  one 
left  on  earth  to  guide  me  besides  the  careless  printer,  whose  production, 
called  a  Bible,  is  now  before  me. 

These  are  some  of  the  grounds   for  my  adhesion  to   the  Catholic 

church.     I  cannot  say  that  I  am  enlightened,  for  I  live  in  the  midst  of 

darkness,  and  grow  more  and  more  convinced,  every  day,  of  my  own 

ignorance.     The  only  object  in  the  misty  atmosphere  around,  which  ap- 

69 


466  CLERICAL    INTERFERENCE    IN    CIVIL    A.FFAIRS. 

pears  to  my  weak  vision  most  distinct,  is  the  connection  of  the  existing 
Catholic  church  with  the  first  Christians  and  the  Redeemer  himself." 

While  I  thus  give  vent  to  my  opinions  on  the  doctrines  of  the  Cath- 
olic faith,  I  am  bound  by  the  immutable  laws  of  history  to  state  that  in 
Ireland,  as  well  as  on  the  European  continent,  many  of  the  bishops  and 
abbots,  officiating  as  the  ministers  of  that  faith,  imbued  their  sacred 
hands  in  the  strife  of  battles,  and  absolutely  commanded  their  legions  in 
the  tented  field.  There  is,  of  course,  nothing  more  foreign  to  the  idea 
of  the  duties  of  a  prelate,  entertained  by  the  Christian  of  the  present 
day,  than  the  command  of  warlike  legions  on  the  field  of  slaughter. 

While  I  have  no  notion  of  attempting  to  defend  this  mixture  of  the 
warrior  with  the  priest,  I  may,  however,  be  permitted  to  account  for  it. 
The  higher  orders  of  the  clerg)»,  for  many  centuries  after  the  general 
introduction  of  Christianity  throughout  Europe,  were  almost  the  sole 
managers  of  every  thing.  They  performed  all  the  offices  of  religion ; 
administered  the  higher  duties  of  the  courts  of  jurisprudence ;  were 
chancellors  and  judges,  legislators,  lawgivers,  historians,  architects, 
mechanics,  painters,  poets,  —  premiers  and  counsellors  of  kings,  diplo- 
matists, ambassadors,  secretaries  of  state:  —  above  all,  they  were  every 
where,  through  every  country,  the  only  teachers  of  youth,  the  chief 
possessors  of  knowledge,  the  sole  writers  of  books. 

Tliese  relations  with  society,  it  must  be  owned,  were  calculated  to 
give  them  an  immeasurable  ascendency.  Nor  did  this  state  of  things 
spring  up  all  at  once.  It  gradually  grew  from  the  labor,  study,  learn- 
ing, and  utility,  of  the  great  body  of  the  monks  and  clergy,  and,  indeed, 
from  the  wants  of  society  itself.  They  performed  all  these  important 
offices  for  nations,  because  there  was  none  other  found  so  well  fitted  by 
varied  acquirements  for  the  trust.  Princes,  when  young,  were  sent  to 
pious  and  learned  ecclesiastics  to  receive  education.  When  at  maturity, 
and  they  came  to  their  hereditary  seats  of  power,  they  frequently 
induced  their  learned  and  beloved  preceptors  to  accompany  them,  to 
remain  round  their  persons,  to  advise  them  in  all  matters  of  state,  to 
accompany  them  in  their  journeys,  and  counsel  them  in  their  wars. 

The  ABBOTS,  who  were,  by  election  for  life,  presidents  of  their  com- 
monwealths, in  the  monasteries,  became,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
centuries,  a  most  important  power  in  the  state.  It  has  been  said  that 
those  abbots  were  under  the  influence  of  the  popes,  and,  by  their  direc- 
tions, meddled  largely  in  civil  affairs.  It  was  not  generally  so.  The 
ABBOTS  were  independent  and  irresponsible  governors  of  their  own  little 
kingdoms,  in  and  about  their  monasteries ;  a  few  of  them  only  were 
under  what  is  railed  "  priests'  orders,"  and  thence  amenable  to  the  holy 


THE    MONKS. ABBOTS.  467 

see.  The  great  majority  were  lay  chiefs,  of  religious  and  learned  cor- 
porations, governed  only  by  their  own  laws,  owing  obedience  to  the 
chief  houses  of  their  own  order.  In  the  progress  of  time,  many  of  these 
important  trusts  were  forcibly  and  factiously  seized  by  laymen,  who 
assumed  the  barren  title  of  deacon  or  archdeacon,  which  was  then  the 
name  of  a  mere  tyro  in  the  ecclesiastical  grades.  Both  the  lay  and 
ecclesiastical  abbots  exercised,  through  extensive  ramifications,  a  very 
considerable  influence  over  the  Christian  communities. 

These  monasteries  became  wealthy,  from  various  sources.  The  monks, 
by  their  great  industry,  improved  the  lands  granted  to  them  by  the 
princes  and  great  ones,  to  perhaps  a  thousand  times  their  original  value. 
Wherever  they  settled,  upon  wastes  or  in  forests,  they  devoted  their 
labor  and  knowledge,  after  the  worship  of  God,  to  agriculture,  architec- 
ture, and  literature.  Towns  and  cities  grew  up  around  their  monasteries ; 
their  lands,  therefore,  became  miraculously  enhanced  in  value.  Their 
proprietary  and  ownership  never  died,  nor  were  transferred.  The  little 
commonwealth  was  continued  by  new  disciples,  and  newly-elected  gov- 
ernors, from  generation  to  generation.  Their  surplus  lands  were  let,  at 
easy  rents,  to  an  affectionate  tenantry,  whose  children  received  a  free 
education  from  their  pious  landlords.  Between  the  people  and  these 
monks  the  most  friendly  relations  existed.  The  poor  and  the  sick 
were  all  taken  care  of  by  those  pious  men,  and  they  were,  we  may  welt 
suppose,  exceedingly  popular. 

The  abbots,  or  presidents,  of  those  corporate  colleges,  were,  therefore, 
a  very  important  class  of  men.  In  addition  to  the  foregoing  sources  of 
their  power,  they  were  usually  made  trustees  or  guardians  to  young 
heirs  of  noble  blood  and  great  possessions,  and  they  were  not  unfre- 
quently  related  by  blood  themselves  to  the  highest-born  of  the  land. 
Occasions  arose  when  some  of  them  were  called  from  the  cloister  to  the 
throne,  as  heirs  by  blood  to  the  dignity. 

For  several  centuries,  the  European  Christians  were  kept  in  con- 
tinued wars,  defending  themselves  from  the  Mahometans  on  the  one 
side,  and  the  northern  marauders,  called  Danes,  on  the  other. 

Thousands  upon  thousands  of  the  ecclesiastics  of  Europe,  and  par- 
ticulariy  of  Ireland,  were  butchered  unresistingly,  withifi  their  sacred 
habitations.  It  was  not  unnatural  in  men,  attacked  in  their  castles  by 
those  land  pirates,  to  defend  themselves  as  best  they  could.  All  these 
circumstances  conspired  to  form  that  apparently  incongruous  character, 
the  militant  priest. 

The  vicissitudes  of  the  clergy,  in  various  parts  of  Europe,  and  the  very 


468  THE  pope's  connection  with  civil  affairs. 

existence  of  the  Christians,  rendered  it  necessary  for  the  popes  to 
meddle  largely  in  the  civil  affairs  of  kings.  Indeed,  it  was  impossible 
for  them  to  be  passive  spectators  of  the  butcheries  of  their  clergy  and 
spiritual  flocks,  by  the  Mahometans  in  the  south,  and  the  Danes  in 
the  west,  of  Europe.  They  therefore  leagued  with  princes  for  protec- 
tion ;  and  princes,  in  turn,  sought  their  assistance,  in  establishing  their 
own  authority  amongst  their  subjects. 

The  popes,  too,  were  frequently  appointed,  by  contending  petty 
princes,  as  the  arbitrators  of  their  disputes.  This  grew  to  a  common 
practice  ;  and  at  last  the  great  monarchs  of  Europe  endeavored  anxious- 
ly, one  against  the  other,  to  secure  the  interest  of  the  see  of  Rome,  as  a 
protection  ;  and  it  is  admitted  by  the  great  writers  of  the  present  centu- 
ry, (see  Edinburgh  Review,  No.  52,)  that  the  temporal  power  obtained 
by  the  church,  in  the  middle  ages,  conduced,  by  the  check  which  it 
opposed  to  the  encroachments  of  kings,  to  advance  considerably  the 
cause  of  civil  and  political  liberty. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Christian  church  spread  its  branches  through 
unnumbered  dominions.  Its  influence  progressed  with  its  principles, 
and  it  became,  at  last,  a  far  more  potent  power  on  earth  than  the  might- 
iest of  the  nations  recorded  on  the  page  of  time. 

Although  the  popes  have,  for  centuries  past,  ceased  to  interfere  in  the 
afiairs  of  kings,  their  spiritual  and  moral  influence,  over  nearly  two 
hundred  millions  of  Catholics,  spread  throughout  the  world,  is  as  para- 
mount as  it  ever  was.  But  the  Catholics  every  where  perfectly 
understand  the  distinction  between  the  spiritual  obedience  they 
owe  the  holy  father,  in  matters  of  faith  and  Christian  discipline,  and 
the  civil  obedience  they  owe  the  king  or  chief  magistrate  under  whom 
they  live. 

A  very  remarkable  illustration  of  my  argument  has  come  to  my  hand 
since  these  remarks  were  penned  ;  it  is  part  of  a  debate  in  the  Dublin 
Repeal  Association,  on  the  third  of  July,  1844.  It  appears  that  the  British 
ministry,  with  all  their  affected  contempt  for  the  "  power  of  the  pope," 
have  not  disdained  to  importune  the  holy  fither  to  put  forward  in  Ire- 
land his  moral  power  in  their  behalf.  They  contrived  to  get  the 
Austrian  minister.  Prince  Metternich,  to  second  their  designs  at  Rome ; 
and  an  attempt  was  actually  made  to  wheedle  the  pope  into  the  issuing 
of  a  bull  to  the  Irish  Catholic  clergy,  which  should  command  them  to 
discountenance  the  repeal  agitation. 

His  holiness  has  not  issued  any  such  rescript,  and  has  so  intimated  to 
all  the  parties  interested.     Upon  this  important  point,  that  faithful  son 


DEBATE    ON   THE    POINT    IN   THE    REPEAL    ASSOCIATION.  469 

of  Ireland,  Henry  Grattan,  made   the    following   observations   in   the 
Repeal  Association :  — 

"  He  (Mr.  Grattan)  would  request,  for  the  next  day  of  meeting,  the  presence  of  his 
Protestant  and  Orange  friends,  in  order  to  unfold  to  them  some  intelligence  from 
Rome  of  a  surprising  character.  He  had  lately  been  in  the  Eternal  City,  and  had 
mingled  in  the  society  of  the  pope,  and  his  cardinals  and  prelates,  and  he  thought  his 
duty  to  the  Irish  people,  and  especially  to  the  Protestant  portion  of  them,  required 
him  to  disclose  a  shameful  conspiracy  which  he  had  detected  there,  being  a  machina- 
tion, on  the  part  of  individuals  high  in  power  in  England,  to  induce  his  holiness  to 
prohibit  by  his  mandate  the  agitation  of  repeal.  ('Hear!  hear!')  He  would  detail 
the  particulars,  if  he  lived,  on  the  next  day  of  meeting  !  ('  Hear  ! '  and  loud  cheers.)  " 

Mr.  Grattan's  authority  is  unquestionable  on  the  fact  he  asserts,  and 
his  opportunities  of  accurate  information  are,  for  many  reasons,  more 
than  those  of  ordinary  persons.  In  alluding  to  the  topic,  Mr.  O'Neil 
Daunt,  a  practical  and  theologically  informed  Catholic,  said :  — 

"  He  begged  to  express  his  satisfaction  that  his  honorable  friend  had  stated  the  fact 
that  influential  persons  in  England  had  used  means  to  induce  the  pope  to  condemn 
the  Repeal  agitation.  ('  Hear  !  hear !  ')  He  spoke  of  the  course  with  the  deepest  respect 
for  his  holiness,  but  he  would  just  ask  them  this :  Supposing  that  the  pope  were  to 
enjoin  them  to  desist  from  their  struggle  for  repeal,  was  there  one  solitary  Catholic  in 
Ireland  who  would  o'bey  him  ?  (Cries  of '  No,  not  one  ! '  and  vehement  cheering.)  "Not 
they,  indeed.  They  knew  too  well  the  just  limits  of  the  spiritual  jurisdiction  of  the 
pontiff,  which  he  (Mr.  Daunt)  was  quite  certain  his  holiness  never  would  exceed. 
The  ministry  might  spare  themselves  the  fruitless  labor  of  negotiating  with  Rome 
upon  a  point  respecting  which,  whatever  Rome  might  promise,  the  Irish  people 
could  never  be  turned  aside  from  their  course.   (Cheers.)  " 

Now,  recollect  by  whom  these  observations,  totally  disavowing  the 
temporal  authority  of  the  pope,  were  uttered ;  to  what  assembly  they 
were  addressed,  and  how  received  by  the  multitude.  The  sentiment 
was  uttered  by  a  strict  Catholic,  Mr.  O'Neil  Daunt ;  it  was  addressed  to 
an  assembly  which  was,  and  which  the  speaker  knew  was,  mostly  com- 
posed of  Catholics ;  and  by  that  meeting,  so  constituted,  the  sentiment 
was  received  whh  unanimous  shouts  of  assent  and  approbation.  There 
was  no  preconcert  here  ;  the  thing  was  momentary.  The  ebuUition  was 
natural,  distinct,  and  powerful,  —  worth  a  thousand  treatises  on  "  the 
temporal  and  spiritual  power  of  the  pope." 

Returning  to  the  state  of  religion,  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries, 
in  Ireland,  we  are  pained  to  find  that  struggles  for  the  primacy  of 
Armagh  extended  to  irreverent  lengths.  The  power  of  "  primate  of 
ALL  Ireland"  was  originally  conferred  on  St.  Patrick,  by  the  holy  see; 
which  power  descended,  in  episcopal  succession,  to  the  occupant  of  the 
primatical  chair   of  Armagh.     This  see  was  therefore   the   object   at 


470  TITHES. 

which  the  ambitious  spirits  of  Ireland  aimed.  The  power  of  the 
chair  of  Armagh  radiated,  as  from  the  centre  of  autliority,on  all  the 
affairs  of  Ireland,  whether  civil  or  ecclesiastical.  The  families  of 
royal  blood,  who  contended  in  the  field  with  each  other  for  supreme 
sway,  courted  this  power,  and  intrigued  for  its  alliance.  This  begot  a 
series  of  struggles  in  the  election  of  the  primate,  which  produced  broils 
of  a  most  irreverent  character ;  and  it  is  recorded  that  one  noble  family, 
by  its  members,  kept  possession  of  the  see  for  nearly  two  hundred  years, 
and  wen!  so  far  as  to  force  lay  members  into  the  sanctified  chair  of 
Patrick,  who  seized  upon  the  rich  revenues  and  possessions  of  the  see, 
and  appointed  a  bishop  as  "  suffragan,"  to  perform  the  clerical  duties. 

On  the  subject  of  church  dues,  Moore  says,  concerning  this  period, 
"  There  occurs  more  than  once,  in  the  records  of  this  century,  some 
mention  of  a  law  relating  to  ecclesiastical  property,  which,  as  much  im- 
portance appears  to  have  been  attached  to  it.  requires  some  passing 
notice.  It  would  appear  that  the  revenue  arising  from  those  dues, 
which  had,  ever  since  the  time  of  St.  Patrick,  been  paid  to  the  church 
of  Armagh,  was,  amidst  the  convulsions  of  this  period,  interrupted  or 
withheld  ;  and,  in  the  year  824,  we  find  the  authority  of  the  warlike 
Feidhlim,  king  of  Munster,  interposed  in  aid  of  Artrigius,  archbishop 
of  Armagh,  for  the  collection  of  this  tax.  A  law  had  been  established, 
indeed,  about  the  year  731,  by  the  king  of  all  Ireland  and  the  king  of 
Munster,  in  concert,  to  regulate  the  payment  of  the  revenue  of  the  pri- 
matial  see  ;  and  it  is  manifestly  this  regulation  we  read  of  in  the  annals 
of  the  ninth  century,  as  enforced  under  the  name  of  the  '  law  of  St. 
Patrick.' " 

It  does  not  appear  that  tithes  were  paid  or  demanded  in  Ireland  till 
about  the  twelfth  century,  and  in  conformity  to  the  decisions  of  the 
solemn  chief  synods,  held  under  the  direction  of  a  legate  from  the  holy 
see.  Previous  to  this,  the  payments  to  the  support  of  the  church  seemed 
to  have  been  irregular.  The  institution  of  tithes,  or  tenths,  was  for 
the  purpose  of  securing  uniformity  in  the  Christian  contributions  to  the 
church.     In  other  parts  of  Europe,  they  were  earlier  established. 

"  Notwithstanding  all  these  things,"  says  Moore,  [ivho  is  severer  on  the 
Irish  clergy  mul  chieftains  of  this  age  than  any  foreign  writer,^  "  that 
there  must  still  have  been  preserved  among  the  people  of  this  country 
—  a  people  once  so  conspicuous  throughout  Europe  for  their  piety  —  a 
strong  and  pervading  religious  feeling,  however  imbued  with  the  general 
darkness  of  the  times,  and  allowed  to  run  wild  for  the  want  of  culture 
and  discipline,  is  sufficiently  apparent  on  the  very  face  of  our  native 


DISCIPLINE  AND  ORDER  RESTORED. LITERATURE  AT  THIS  PERIOD.    471 

annals,  even  in  this  dim  and  agitated  period.  The  number  of  pious, 
and,  according  to  the  standard  of  their  age,  learned  ecclesiastics,  who 
are  recorded,  in  the  annals  of  the  tenth,  eleventh,  and  twelfth  centuries, 
as  passing  their  whole  lives  in  works  of  devotion  and  charity  among  the 
ruins  of  once  flourishing  monasteries,  could  not  but  cherish,  in  the  popu- 
lar mind,  a  fond  remembrance  of  the  early  saints  of  the  land,  and  keep 
alive,  like  the  spark  beneath  the  embers,  some  remains  of  the  faith  of 
better  days." 

It  was  not  till  the  twelfth  century  that  a  reformation  was  effected  in 
the  ecclesiastical  affairs  of  Ireland,  —  when,  by  the  authority  of  the  pope, 
hacked  by  the  deliberations  and  decisions  of  several  synods  of  the  Irish 
clergy,  creating  thus  a  strong  public  opinion,  the  lay  intruders  \yere  re- 
moved from  their  ill-gotten  powers,  and  the  church  was  suffered  to 
return  to  that  austere  discipline  for  which  it  was  famed  in  the  ages  pre- 
vious to  the  Danish  invasions. 

Drs.  Lannigan,  Carew,  and  Gahan,  give  copious  details  of  the  several 
synods  of  these  times,  and  the  ecclesiastical  measures  instituted  to  restore 
Christian  observance  and  uniformity  to  the  Irish  church.  Having  de- 
voted already  so  much  remark  and  space  to  the  affairs  of  religion,  I  fear 
to  risk  a  further  intrusion  of  the  same  matter  on  the  reader,  who  is 
referred  for  full  details  to  those  elaborate  and  faithful  chroniclers  of  Irish 
church  history  above  mentioned  ;  and  I  shall  now  proceed  to  the  next 
great  feature  of  the  age,  its 

LITERATURE. 

After  the  two  hundred  and  forty  years  of  war  which  Ireland  had  just 
then  passed  through  ;  after  the  sacking  and  burning  of  the  colleges, 
monasteries,  and  libraries,  during  the  Danish  persecutions ;  after  more 
than  two  centuries  of  slaughter  of  all  ages  and  degrees,  —  it  cannot  be 
expected  that  her  literature  could  be  any  thing  like  what  it  had  been 
from  the  fifth  to  the  ninth  century. 

After  the  battle  of  Clontarf,  and  the  total  prostration  of  Danish  power 
in  Ireland,  the  members  of  the  learned  professions  came  forth  from  their 
hiding-places  and  retreats.  An  endeavor  was  made  to  restore  the  libra- 
ries ;  but,  alas  !  it  was  a  vain  attempt.  The  majority  of  the  books  were 
destroyed ;  and  Ireland,  which  had  been  once  so  rich  in  the  possessions 
of  those  countless  tomes  of  genius,  so  celebrated  throughout  Europe,  — 
from  the  superabundance  of  which,  the  Benedictine  monks  on  the  Conti- 
nent acknowledge  t»  have  frequently  received  copious  supplies, — was 
now  destitute  of  many  records  of  her  own  history,  and  forced  to  seek 


472  LITERATURE  OF  THE  ELEVENTH  CENTURY". 

among  the  archives  of  foreign  seminaries,  the  attested  memorials  of  her 
past  greatness.  Only  two  or  three  of  her  numerous  colleges  escaped 
total  destruction. 

Her  learned  men  now  rallied  on  the  scanty  stock  of  manuscripts  left 
them,  and  during  the  eleventh  and  beginning  of  the  twelfth  centuries,  — 
say  for  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  years, —  applied  themselves 
with  so  much  industry  to  the  work  of  restoration,  that  Ireland  reassumed 
her  scholastic  station  amid  the  nations,  —  again  put  forth  her  literary 
blossoms,  and  filled  Europe  anew  with  the  aroma  of  her  knowledge. 
I  find  so  good  a  paper  on  this  head  in  Moore,  that  I  transcribe  it  en- 
tire, rather  than  write  any  thing  of  the  same  kind  myself. 

"  The  night  of  ignorance  and  barbarism,  which  had  been  so  long 
gathering  around  the  western  world,  is  supposed,  in  the  century  we  are 
now  considering,  [the  tenth,]  to  have  reached  its  utmost  gloom.  How 
far  this  comparative  view  is  well  founded  may  be  a  matter  of  question ; 
but  of  the  positive  prevalence  of  darkness  throughout  this  age  there  can 
exist  no  doubt.  It  i?  not,  therefore,  wonderful  that  even  Ireland,  which 
had  hitherto  stood  as  a  beacon  of  learning  in  the  west,  should  begin  to 
share  in  the  general  obscuration  of  the  times,  and,  being  acted  upon  by 
the  same  causes  which  had  already  uncivilized  some  of  the  fairest 
regions  of  Europe,  should  feel  the  fated  tide  of  barbarism  gaining  fast 
upon  her  shores.  The  exceeding  rapidity  with  which  the  chief  schools 
and  monasteries  throughout  the  country,  though  so  frequently  ravaged 
and  burnt  by  the  Northmen,  again  arose  from  their  ashes,  and  resounded 
afresh  with  the  voice  of  instruction  and  prayer,  seems  hardly  less  than 
marvellous.  Nor  was  this  intrepid  and  persevering  enthusiasm,  in  the 
cause  of  learning  and  holiness,  confined  to  the  natives  of  the  country 
alone,  but  inspired  also  its  visitors;  as,  but  a  few  months  after  a  des- 
perate inroad  of  the  Danish  spoilers  into  Armagh,  we  are  told  of  a 
youth  of  a  royal  house  of  the  Albanian  Scots,  named  Cadroe,  repairing 
to  the  schools  of  that  university  for  the  completion  of  his  education. 

"  Among  the  obituary  notices  scattered  throughout  the  annals  of  this 
age,  there  occur  the  names  of  several  divines  who  are  described  as 
learned  and  eminent,  but  of  whom  no  further  mention  is  to  be  found. 
Towards  the  middle  of  the  century  flourished  Probus,  or,  as  his  Irish 
name,  of  the  same  import,  is  said  to  have  been,  Coenachair,  whose  Life 
of  St.  Patrick,  still  extant,  is  praised  by  a  high  authority  on  the  subject 
of  our  ecclesiastical  history,  as  '  a  very  valuable  work.'  That  Probus 
was  an  Irishman,  he  has  himself  placed  beyond  doubt  by  several  expres- 
sions which  occur  in    his  pages.     Thus,  when   speaking  of  the  saint 


LITERATURE    OF    THE    ELEVENTH    CENTURY.  473 

embarking  from  Britaing  for  Ireland,  he  says,  that  '  he  entered  upon  our 
sea ;  and  the  harbor  first  reached  by  the  missionary,  whom  he  styles 
*  our  most  holy  father,'  is  represented  by  him  as  '  one  much  celebrated 
among  m.'  Probus  was  chief  lecturer  of  the  school  of  Slane,  and  fell 
a  victim  there,  as  already  has  been  related,  during  an  attack  upon  the 
church  of  that  place  by  the  Danes. 

"  In  the  year  975,  according  to  the  annalist  Tigernach,  took  place  the 
death  of  Keneth  O'Artegan,  '  chief  of  the  learned  of  Leath  Cuinn.'  A 
poem  of  this  writer  is  still  preserved,  descriptive  of  the  beauty  of  the 
celebrated  hill  of  Tara,  and  moralizing  mournfully  over  its  history  ;  nor 
should  those  who  visit,  in  our  days,  that  seat  of  long-extinguished  royal- 
ty, feel  any  wonder  on  not  discovering  there  some  vestige  of  its  grandeur, 
when  told  that,  even  in  the  time  of  this  poet,  not  a  trace  of  the  original 
palace  still  remained  ;  while  the  hill  itself  had  become  a  desert,  over- 
grown with  grass  and  weeds. 

"  As  thus,  in  the  midst  of  the  general  darkness  of  the  age,  there  were 
still  preserved  in  Ireland  some  relics  of  the  lore  of  better  days,  so,  in 
the  schools  and  religious  establishments  of  the  Continent,  her  sons  still 
continued  to  retain  all  their  former  superiority,  and,  among  the  dwarf 
intellects  of  that  time,  towered  as  giants.  In  England,  since  the  time 
of  her  great  Alfred,  both  sacred  and  literary  knowledge  had  sunk  to  so 
low  an  ebb,  that  at  length  no  priest  could  be  found  capable  of  writing 
or  translating  a  Latin  letter.  '  Very  few  churchmen  were  there,'  says 
Alfred,  'on  this  side  the  Humber,  who  could  understand  their  daily 
pi-ayers  in  English,  or  translate  any  letter  from  the  Latin.  I  think  there 
were  not  many  beyond  the  Humber ;  they  were  so  few,  that  I,  indeed, 
cannot  recollect  one  single  instance  on  the  south  of  the  Thames  when  I 
took  the  kingdom.'  —  See  Turner,  Hist.  Anglo-Sax.  book  v.  chap,  i, 
'  A  few  years  before  the  Norman  conquest,'  says  Mr.  Berington,  on  the 
authority  of  William  of  Malmesbury,  '  the  clergy  could  hardly  stammer 
through  the  necessary  service  of  the  church,  and  he  who  knew  the  rules 
of  grammar  was  viewed  as  a  prodigy.'  The  Irish  were,  in  this  century, 
the  means  of  restoring  some  taste  for  liberal  studies.  With  that  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  religion  and  instruction  which  had  become,  in  this  people, 
(as  an  author  of  those  times  expresses  it,)  a  second  nature,  a  number  of 
Irishmen,  described  as  conversant  with  every  department  of  knowledc^e, 
secular  as  well  as  sacred,  retired,  some  time  before  the  year  940,  to 
Glastonbury.  This  monastery  had  already  been  long  distinguished  as  a 
favorite  retreat  of  their  countrymen  ;  and,  within  its  walls,  so  great  was 
the  reverence  felt  for  their  patron  saint;  says  Usher,  '  that,  from  an  early 
60 


474  LITERATURE    OF    THE    ELEVENTH    CENTURY. 

period,  the  establishment  had  been  called  '  Glastonbury  of  St.  Patrick.' 
From  the  Irish  who  fixed  themselves  there  in  this  century,  the  Abbe  St. 
Dunstan  chiefly  received  his  education ;  and  while  he  imbibed,  as  we 
are  told,  under  their  discipline,  the  very  marroW  of  scriptural  learning, 
they  also  instructed  him  in  the  sciences  of  arithmetic,  geometry,  and 
astronomy,  in  all  of  which  they  were,  it  is  intimated,  more  deeply  skilled 
than  in  the  refined  niceties  of  classical  literature.  With  a  taste,  too, 
highly  characteristic  of  their  country,  they  succeeded  in  awakening  in 
their  pupil  so  strong  a  love  and  talent  for  music,  that  it  was  in  after  life 
his  frequent  practice,  when  worn  with  business  or  study,  to  fly  for  re- 
freshment to  the  soothing  sounds  of  the  harp. 

"  On  the  continent  of  Europe,  in  like  manner,  the  fame  of  the  Island 
of  Saints  continued  to  be  upheld  by  the  learning  and  piety  of  her  sons ; 
and  in  the  course  of  this  century,  there  flourished  in  France,  as  well  as 
in  Germany  and  the  Netherlands,  a  number  of  eminent  Irishmen,  whose 
names  belong  not  so  much  to  the  country  which  gave  them  birth,  as  to 
those  which  they  benefited  by  the  example  and  labors  of  their  lives. 
Among  the  prelates  present  at  a  synod,  held  in  the  year  947,  at 
Verdun,  was  an  Irish  bishop  named  Israel,  whose  character  and  accom- 
plishments must  have  been  of  no  ordinary  stamp,  as  he  had  been  one 
of  the  instructors  of  the  great  and  learned  Archbishop  Bruno,  the  brother 
of  the  Emperor  Otho. 

"  An  Irish  abbot  of  considerable  celebrity,  named  Fingan,  who  had 
been  honored  with  the  notice  and  patronage  of  the  dowager  empress 
Adelhard,  the  zealous  relict  of  Otho  the  Great,  was,  through  her  inter- 
est, invested  with  the  government  of  the  abbey  of  Symphorian,  at  Metz, 
on  the  singular  condition  that  he  and  his  successors  should  receive  no 
other  than  Irish  monks  into  their  establishment,  as  long  as  any  such 
could  be  found  ;  but,  in  case  of  a  deficiency  of  monks  from  Ireland, 
should  then  be  allowed  to  admit  those  of  other  nations.  See  the  deed 
in  Colgan,  Acta  Sanctorum. 

"  Another  of  these  '  monasteries  of  the  Scots,'  as  they  were  to  a  late 
period  called,  had  been  established  about  this  time  on  an  island  in  the 
Rhine,  near  Cologne,  having  for  its  first  abbot  an  Irishman  named  Mim- 
borin ;  and  it  is  clearly  to  this  establishment  at  Cologne  that  such 
frequent  reference  is  made  in  the  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  and 
others. 

"  Of  the  attention  early  paid  to  the  study  of  Greek  in  the  native 
schools  of  the  Irish,  some  notice  has  already  been  taken  ;  and  a  proof 
of  their  contmued  attention  to  the  cultivation  of  that  language  is  to  be 


LITERATURE    OF    THE    ELEVENTH    CENTURY.  475 

•found  in  the  interesting  fact,  that,  in  the  diocese  of  St.  Gerard,  at  Toul, 
where  there  had  assembled  at  this  time  a  number  of  Greek  refugees,  as 
well  as  of  Irish,  the  church  service,  in  which  both  nations  joined, 
was  performed  in  the  language  of  the  Greeks,  and  according  to  the 
Greek  rite. 

"  One  of  the  few  of  our  learned  countrymen  at  this  period,  who  have 
left  behind  them  any  literary  remains,  was  an  Irish  bishop  named 
Duncan,  or  Duncant,  who  taught  in  the  monastery  of  St.  Remigius,  at 
Rheims,  and  wrote  for  the  use  of  the  students  under  his  care  a  Com- 
mentary on  the  Nine  Books  of  Martianus  Capella,  —  an  author  whose 
claims  to  attention,  such  as  they  are,  concern  the  musician  rather  than 
the  scholar,  —  and  also,  Observations  on  the  First  Book  of  Pomponius 
Mela,  De  Situ  Terrae  ;  both  of  which  writings  are  still  extant ;  and  the 
former  is  in  the  British  Museum. 

"  With  respect  to  those  Irish  bishops  we  frequently  read  of,  as  con- 
nected with  foreign  religious  establishments,  and  passing  their  whole 
lives  abroad,  it  is  right  to  explain,  that  there  existed  at  this  time  a 
custom  in  Ireland  of  raising  pious  and  exemplary  monks  to  episcopal 
rank,  without  giving  them  any  fixed  sees.  In' addition  to  these  there 
was  also,  as  in  the  primitive  times  of  the  church,  an  order  of  Chorepis- 
copi,  or  country  bishops,  to  whom  the  care  of  the  rural  districts  was 
intrusted,  with  powers  subordinate  to  those  of  the  regular  bishop  in 
whose  diocese  they  were  situated.  From  these  two  classes  of  ministers 
were  furnishedj  doubtless,  the  great  majority  of  those  Episcopi  Vagantes, 
or  '  vague  bishops,'  as  they  are  called,  of  whom  such  numbers,  princi- 
pally Irish,  were  found  on  the  Continent  in  the  middle  ages ;  and  whose 
assumed  power  of  ordaining  came  at  length  to  be  so  much  abused,  that, 
at  more  than  one  council,  an  effort  was  made  to  abate  the  custom  by 
declaring  all  such  ordinations  to  be  null  and  void.  Notwithstanding, 
however,  such  occasional  laxity  of  discipline,  it  is  admitted  by  one  of 
the  most  liberal  as  well  as  most  learned  of  theologians,  that  the  bishops 
of  this  description  from  Ireland  were  of  great  service,  as  well  to  the 
Gallican  as  the  Germanic  church. 

"  Of  that  class  of  humble  but  useful  writers,  the  annalists,  who  merely 
narrate,  says  Cicero,  without  adorning  the  course  of  public  affairs,  Ire- 
land produced,  in  this  century,  two  of  the  most  eminent,  perhaps,  in  all 
Europe — Marianus  Scotus  and  Tigernach.  The  latter  of  these  writers, 
whose  valuable  annals  have  been  so  frequently  referred  to  in  these 
pages,  is  said  to  have  been  of  the  sept  called  the  Muireadhaigh,  or 
Murrays,  in  Connaught,  and  was  abbot  of  Clonmacnois.     His  Annals, 


476  LITERATURE    OF    THE    ELEVENTH    CENTURY. 

which  were  brought  down  by  him  to  the  year  of  his  death,  1088,  are 
scarcely  more  valuable  for  the  materials  of  history  which  their  own 
pages  furnish,  than  for  the  proofs  they  afford  of  still  earlier  records 
existing  when  they  were  written — records  which,  as  appear  from  the 
dates  of  eclipses  preserved  by  this  chronicler,  and  which  could  not 
otherwise  than  by  written  memorials  have  reached  him  so  accinately, 
must  have  extended  as  far  back  as  the  period  when  Christianity  be-* 
came  the  religion  of  the  country. 

"  Another  service  conferred  on  the  cause  of  Irish  antiquities  by  this 
work,  independently  of  its  own  intrinsic  utility,  arises  from  the  number 
of  metrical  fragments  we  find  scattered  throughout  its  pages,  cited  from 
writings  still  more  ancient,  which  were  then  evidently  existing,  though 
at  present  no  other  vestige  of  them  remains.  That  Tigernach  had 
access  to  some  library  or  libraries,  furnished  with  books  of  every  descrip- 
tion, is  manifest  from  his  numerous  references ;  and  the  correctness  of 
his  citations  from  foreign  authors,  with  whose  works  we  are  acquainted, 
may  be  taken  as  a  surety  for  the  genuineness  of  his  extracts  from  the 
writings  of  our  own  native  authors,  now  lost ;  thus  affording  an  an- 
swer to  those  skeptical  objectors,  who,  because  there  are  ^tant  so  few 
Irish  manuscripts  of  an  earlier  date  than  about  the  eleventh  or  tenth 
century,  contend  that  our  pretensions  to  a  vernacular  literature,  in  the 
centuries  preceding  that  period,  must  be  mere  imposture  or  self-delusion. 

"  Marianus  Scotus,  the  contemporary  of  Tigernach,  and,  as  some 
suppose,  a  monk  in  the  very  monastery  over  which  he  presided,  stands, 
as  a  chronographer,  among  the  highest  of  his  times.  He  wrote  also 
Notes  on  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  a  copy  of  which,  transcribed  by 
himself.  Is  still  extant  in  the  imperial  library  of  Vienna. 

"  It  appears  that  by  Marianus,  as  well  as  by  his  countryman  Tiger- 
nach, who  had  never  been  out  of  Ireland,  the  error  of  the  Dionyslan 
cycle  was  clearly  perceived  ;  and  to  the  former  is  even  attributed  the 
credit  of  having  endeavored,  however  unsuccessfully,  to  correct  It. 

"  Besides  Marianus,  there  appeared,  in  this  century,  several  other  dis- 
tinguished Irishmen  on  the  Continent ;  among  the  foremost  of  whom 
may  be  mentioned  St.  Colman,  whom  Austria  placed  on  the  list  of  her 
patrons,  and  whose  praise  was  celebrated  In  an  ode  by  Stabius,  the  his- 
toriographer of  the  emperor  Maximilian. 

"  Some  curious  historical  poems  by  Flann  and  Gilla-Coeman,  two 
metrical  chronographers  of  this  century,  have  furnished  a  subject  for 
much  learned  comment  to  the  pen  of  the  reverend  editor  of  the  Irish 
Chronicles ;  who,  in  proof  of  the  accuracy  of  Gilla-Coeman's  chrono- 


KING    CORMAC. 


477 


logical  computations,  has  shown  that  all  the  dates  assigned  by  him  to 
the  great  events  of  Scripture  history  coincide,  to  a  wonderful  degree, 
with  those  laid  down  by  no  less  authorities  than  Scaliger,  Petavius,  and 
Sir  Isaac  Newton. 

"  Though  somewhat  anticipating,  in  point  of  time,  it  may  save  trouble 
to  state,  while  touching  on  the  subject,  that  the  chronological  list  of  the 
Irish  kings,  which  had  by  Coeman  been  brought  down  to  the  lime  of  St. 
Patrick,  was,  by  another  metrical  chronographer,  Gilla  Moduda,  who 
flourished  about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  continued  to  the  death 
of  Malachy  the  Second,  in  a  poem  consisting  of  a  number  of  ranns,  or 
strophes,  much  in  the  manner  of  the  metrical  list  of  the  Dalriadic  kings, 
composed  in  Scotland,  in  the  reign  of  Malcolm  the  Third. 

"  While  thus  not  a  few  of  the  natives  themselves  continued  to  culti- 
vate, even  in  those  stormy  times,  most  of  the  studies  for  which  their 
country  was  once  so  famous,  neither  does  it  appear  that  the  attractions 
and  advantages,  by  which  foreign  students  were  forraeriy  drawn  to  their 
schools,  had  altogether  at  this  dark  period  ceased.  An  instance  to  the 
contrary,  indeed,  is  afforded  in  the  case  of  Sulgenus,  afterwards  bishop 
of  St.  David's,  who,  'moved  by  the  love,'  as  we  are  told,  'of  study,  set 
out,  in  imitation  of  his  ancestors,  to  visit  the  land  of  the  Irish,  so  won- 
derfully celebrated  for  learning.'  Having  been  driven  back  by  a  storm 
to  his  own  country,  it  was  not  till  after  a  long  lapse  of  time  that  he 
again  ventured  on  the  voyage,  when,  reaching  the  country  of  the  Scots 
in  safety,  he  remained  there  tranquilly  for  more  than  ten  years,  studying 
constantly  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  storing  his  mind  with  the  spiritual 
wealth  which  they  contained.  Such  is  the  account  given,  in  a  poem 
written  on  the  studious  labors  of  Bishop  Sulgenus  in  the  schools  of 
Ireland  at  this  period ;  and  Usher  cites  the  poem  as  a  proof  that  the 
study  of  letters  had  at  this  lime  revived  in  the  country,  and  that 
Ireland,  even  in  the  eleventh  century,  was  still  '  a  storehouse  of  the 
most  learned  and  holy  men.'  '  Revixisse  tamen  bonarum  literarum  stu- 
dia,  et  seculo  adhuc  undecimo  habilam  fuisse  Hiberniam  (ut  in  Vita 
Florentii  loquitur  Franciscus  Guillimannus)  virorum  sanctissimorum  doc- 
tissimorumque  officinamJ  Another  conclusion  which  Usher -draws  from 
this  poem  is,  that  the  name  of  Scots  was  still,  in  the  eleventh  century, 
applied,  xar  f^ox^iv,  to  the  Irish."  After  this  period,  the  name  of  Ire- 
land, (after  Ir,  who  came  with  the  Milesians,)  began  to  be  generally 
applied  to  the  island,  while  that  of  Scotia  was  more  distinctly  given  to 
Caledonia. 

I  have  purposely  postponed  a  notice  of  Cormac  M'  CulKnane,  bishop 


478  KING    CORMAC. 

of  Cashell  and  king  of  Munster.  to  allow  Moore's  observations  on  the 
literature  of  those  times,  which  I  am  obliged  to  abridge,  to  go  to  the 
reader  uninterrupted.  Moore  does  not,  in  my  opinion,  treat  the  bishop- 
king  of  Munster  fairly,  and  I  therefore  compile  my  account  of  him  from 
other  sources. 

This  extraordinary  man,  who  has  left  behind  him  the  best  memorials 
of  his  science,  taste,  and  knowledge,  which  any  Irishman  of  remote  ages 
had  been  fortunate  enough  to  bequeath  entire,  was  bishop  of  Cashell  in 
the  close  of  the  ninth  century.  He  wrote,  amongst  other  works,  the 
entire  history  of  Ireland,  from  the  earliest  period  to  his  own  times,  in  a 
magnificent  epic  in  blank  verse.  Having  access  to,  he  consulted  the 
most  authentic  and  learned  works  of  his  day.  His  church  and  his  resi- 
dence were  comparatively  safe  from  the  Danish  atrocities,  for  they  were 
built  on  the  "  Rock  of  Cashell,"  a  high,  craggy,  and,  in  those  times, 
inaccessible  fortress.  His  great  work,  together  with  that  of  Tigernach, 
and  a  few  others,  are  the  principal  and  the  fullest  manuscript  histories 
of  ancient  Ireland  that  remain. 

But  it  is  not  alone  as  an  elegant  historian,  that  this  brilliant  scholar 
shines,  like  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude,  from  the  dim,  distant  horizon  of 
the  past.  He  was,  besides,  a  scientific  and  accomplished  archhect, 
devoting  the  revenues  of  his  see,  while  yet  a  bishop,  to  works  of  taste 
and  art.  He  erected  on  the  Rock  of  Cashell  that  splendid  specimen 
of  pure  Irish  architecture,  which  has  borne  his  name  to  us  for  a  thousand 
years,  and  which  attests  at  this  day,  by  its  admirable  proportions,  its 
scientific  construction,  and  its  tasteful  richness,  the  science  and  skill  of 
the  classic  architect,  and  the  wonderful  degree  of  perfection  to  which 
(he  art  had,  in  his  time,  arrived  in  Ireland.  It  is  admitted  that  "  Cor- 
inac's  Chapel "  is  the  purest  specimen  of  that  style  of  architecture,  erro- 
neously called  Gothic,  that  can  be  found  in  Europe,  of  so  eiarly  a  date 
as  the  ninth  century. 

In  the  neighboring  pages  I  shall  devote  some  remarks  specially  to  the 
subject  of  Irish  architecture,  to  which  I  refer  the  reader  for  this  branch 
of  Cormac's  performances.  The  wars  of  Cormac,  all  unecclesiastical 
as  they  were,  seem  to  have  been  forced  upon  him  by  two  conspiring 
circumstances,  —  first,  the  refusal  of  the  Leganians  (Leinster  men)  to 
pay  some  tribute  or  subsidy  demanded  by  the  crown  of  Munsfer,  and 
second,  the  fiery  impetuosity  of  Flaherty,  the  abbot  of  Iniscathy,  who 
may  have  been  a  layman,  with  feelings  of  high  family  resentments  un- 
subdued. It  is  evident,  from  all  the  circumstances  of  those  unhappy 
wars,  that  the  untamable  spirit  of  Flaherty  was  the  direct  cause  of  this 


WARS    OF    KING    CORMAC.  479 

great  man's  troubles  and  sudden  death,  as  we  may  gather  from  the 
history  of  the  last  of  his  battles. 

A  few  days  before  the  fatal  battle  of  Magh  Abhe,  the  bishop-king, 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  times,  made  his  will,  which,  with  much 
self-possession,  he  wrote  in  verse.  To  various  ecclesiastics  he  be- 
queathed more  or  less  of  his  personal  effects,  rare  books,  &;c. ;  and 
then  he  singled  out,  from  the  young  nobility  of  Munster,  Lorcan,  —  the 
four  and  fortieth  in  descent  from  the  great  Olioll  OUwn,  —  a  layman, 
to  whom  he  committed,  in  case  of  his  fall  in  the  approaching  battle,  the 
civil  or  kingly  affairs  of  Munster.  This  is  a  circumstance  of  great 
weight,  in  proving  to  us  that  the  good  man  himself  felt  the  impropriety 
of  one  of  his  dignities,  which  appears  to  have  been  thrust  upon  him  to 
silence  contending  claimants  for  the  Munster  crown,  and  to  preserve  the 
peace  of  the  province. 

When  all  these  things  were  completely  arranged,  the  army  of 
Munster  marched  to  the  frontier  plains  of  Leinster,  to  enforce  their  king's 
demands.  The  abbot  of  Iniscathy,  clothed  in  steel  as  a  field  marshal, 
rode  through  and  encouraged  the  troops  ;  and  Cormac,  laying  aside  his 
sacerdotal  robe,  clad  himself  superbly  in  a  similar  costume,  and  waved 
his  truncheon  of  command  over  his  brilliant  legions.  Arrived  at  the 
confines,  they  found  the  king  of  Leinster  with  a  numerous  array  ready 
to  contest  the  claim.  The  "  herald  of  Munster "  was  sent  to  the 
opposite  army  to  demand  tribute  or  declare  war.  During  his  absence, 
the  warlike  Abbot  Flaherty  gallopped  through  the  ranks,  animating  the 
troops  for  the  coming  struggle.  His  horse,  affrighted  by  the  glitter  of 
spears,  plunged,  and  flung  the  gallant  marshal  to  the  earth,  depriving 
him  nearly  of  life.  This  was  deemed  a  most  unpropitious  omen  by  the 
troops:  many  of  them,  panic-stricken,  fled  from  the  field.  The  herald, 
having  returned  from  the  camp  of  the  king  of  Leinster,  brought  prop- 
ositions for  peace,  or  at  least  for  a  suspension  of  hostilities  until  the 
harvest,  then  ready  for  the  sickle,  should  be  saved.  This  proposal  was 
accompanied  by  many  presents  to  the  Munster  chiefs,  not  the  smallest 
of  which  was  sent  to  the  militant  abbot. 

This  proposal  seemed  so  reasonable,  that  King  Cormac,  who  was 
from  the  beginning  averse  to  the  war,  declared  his  readiness  to  accept 
it.  At  the  council-board,  however,  the  insatiable  abbot  of  Iniscathy 
rose  up  in  an  indignant  passion,  charging  the  king  with  cowardice,  even 
in  presence  of  the  Leinster  herald.  The  harangue  delivered  by  the 
abbot  to  the  chiefs  had  the  -efFect  of  causing  them  to  decline  the  terms 
of  peace.   The  king,  mortified  deeply  by  this  unseemly  conduct,  retired 


480  DEATH  OF  KING  CORMAC. 

to  his  tent,  humbled  himself  m  prayer,  and  resigned  himself  to  a 
seemingly  uncontrollable  fate.  Having  sent  for  his  confessor,  he  added 
a  codicil  to  his  will,  in  case  he  fell,  of  which  he  had  a  lively  presenti- 
ment, directing  his  body  to  be  laid  beneath  the  altar  of  his  own  ca- 
thedral. 

The  leaders  of  either  army  now  drew  up  their  troops  in  the  order  of 
battle.  Fresh  reenforcemeuts  arrived  to  the  ranks  of  the  Leinster  men, 
sent  by  Flan,  the  then  chief  monarch  of  Ireland.  By  mutual  consent, 
both  armies  moved  to  the  plains  of  Magh  Albhe,  which,  I  believe,  is 
in  the  Queen's  county. 

The  Leinster  army,  with  its  allies,  appeared  to  be  five  to  one  over 
those  of  Cormac.  "  Defeat "  was  written  on  his  commander's  brows ; 
yet  the  militant  abbot  of  Iniscathy  scorned  all  proposals  for  compromise. 
At  the  first  charge,  the  Munster  men  fell  back,  and  were  thrown  into  dis- 
order :  one  of  the  chiefs,  at  this  instant,  ordered  his  men  to  fly  from  the 
ranks  of  the  abbot,  and  let  him  fight  it  out.  The  battle  was  soon  ter- 
minated. Great  numbers  of  the  flying  Munster  men  were  killed,  and 
the  author  of  all  this  mischief  was  taken  prisoner  by  .his  triumphant 
foes.  Cormac  showed  himself  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  and  thus 
confronted  the  insinuation  of  cowardice  made  by  Iniscathy.  The 
accounts  tell  us,  he  fell  and  broke  his  neck  in  the  battle ;  and,  though 
some  of  his  infuriate  enemies  cut  off  his  head,  and  carried  it  to  the 
victor  prince,  that  high-minded  man  reproved  them  with  tears  in  his 
eyes,  and,  like  Caesar,  on  viewing  the  head  of  Pompey,  kissed  the 
clotted  hps  of  his  fallen  but  illustrious  opponent. 

The  remains  of  the  bishop-king  were  buried,  according  to  his  request, 
under  the  altar  of  his  magnificent  cathedral  of  Cashell.  The  following 
lines  from  his  will  are  characteristic  of  the  scholar,  the  divine,  the 
architect,  and  the  king :  — 

^' My  PSALTER  which  preserves  the  earliest  records 
And  monuments  of  this  my  native  country, 
Which  are  transcribed  tviih  great  fidelity, 
I  leave  to  Ronal  Cashell,  to  he  preserved 
To  after  times  and  ages  yet  to  come." 

[He  has  also  left  a  glossary  of  the  Irish  language,  which  is  much 
esteemed  by  scholars.] 

Catholic  writers  have  condemned  in  the  person  of,  Cormac  the 
mixture  of  the  monarch  and  the  divine.  A  man  who  could  have 
shone  in  the  utmost  splendor,  in  ^either  character,  has  been  disparaged 


PSALTER    OF    CASHELL.  481 

by  uniting  both  in  his  own  person.  Such  writers  have  an  adautted 
privilege,  if  they  see  grounds  for  it,  to  condemn  in  their  own  clergy  any 
addictions  towards  military  enterprise  that  may  appear ;  but  I  will  take 
on  me  to  say,  that  it  is  not,  at  least,  good  taste  in  writers  belonging  to 
the  "church  of  England,*'  to  do  the  same  thing,  seeing  that,  within  our 
own  memory,  in  these  enlightened  times,  the  Duke  of  York,  while 
commander  of  the  British  forces,  was  solemnly  installed  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  '•  Bishop  of  Osnaburgh ; "  and  remem- 
bering, too,  that  her  present  Majesty,  Victoria  the  First,  is  at  once 
head  of  the  army,  the  navy,  and  the  church  of  England. 

The  Psalter  of  Cashell  was  a  collection,  says  the  learned  Irish 
scholar  O'Reilly,  of  Irish  records  in  prose  and  verse,  transcribed  from 
niore  ancient  documents,  such  as  the  Psalter  of  Tara,  Sic.  It  contained 
also  many  original  poems,  some  of  them  written  by  Cormac  himself. 
This  book  was  extant  in  Limerick  in  the  year  1712,  and  indeed  much 
later,  for  we  find  the  learned  Mr.  O'Halloran,  who  wrote  his  history  in 
that  city,  in  quoting  from  it,  says,  "  the  Psalter  of  Cashell,  now  before 
me;"  and  this  is  further  attested  by  a  large  folio,  in  manuscript,  which 
was  transcribed  in  the  Irish  language,  from  the  great  original.  The 
original  work,  in  the  hand-writing  of  the  illustrious  author,  is  now,  accord- 
ing to  the  assertion  of  the  Iber no- Celtic  Society,  in  the  British  Museum. 
In  the  time  of  Sir  James  Ware,  this  work  was  referred  to,  and  held  in 
high  esteem ;  and  Astle,  the  author  of  the  Origin  of  Writing,  says, 
*' The  oldest  Irish  manuscript  which  we  have  discovered  is  the  Psalter 
of  Cashell,  written  in  the  tenth  century.  In  the  Library  of  Trinity  Col- 
lege, Dublin,  says  Ware,  there  is  a  manuscript  history  of  Ireland  by 
M'Geohegan,  translated  from  an  old  book,  which  was  compiled  by 
Columb  Kille,  O'More,  and  othei-s  that  were  professed  Irish  chroniclers, 
which  states  that  Brien,  observing  into  what  ignorance  the  kingdom 
was  fallen,  by  the  devastations  and  outrages  of  the  Danes,  having 
assembled  all  the  nobility,  bishops,  and  great  men,  at  Cashel,  caused 
all  their  history,  from  the  time  in  which  it  had  been  left  off,  to  be 
recorded  in  the  Psalter  there,  which  they  all  signed ;  copies  of  which 
were  sent  into  every  province  for  the  use  of  each  provincial  king ;  and 
no  credit  was  to  be  given  to  any  other  relations  of  public  affairs,  than 
what  were  contained  in  those  chronicles." 

I  imagine  the  reader  will  thank  me  for  inserting  here  part  of  an  inter- 
esting letter,  written    from    Maynooth,  in   Ireland,  by  the   celebrated 
English  divine,  Dr.  Milner,  to  one  of  his  friends  in  England,  bearing 
date  June  29,  1807.     Milner' s  Letters  from  Ireland. 
61 


482  IRISH    CLERGY    SPREAD    OVER    EUROPE. 

"  For  who,  sir,  were  the  luminaries  of  the  western  world,  when  the 
sun  of  science  had  almost  set  upon  it  ?  Wiio  were  the  instructors  of 
nations  during  four  whole  centuries,  but  the  Irish  clergy  ?  To  them  you 
are  indebted  for  the  preservation  of  the  Bible,  the  fathers,  and  the  clas- 
sics ;  in  short,  of  the  very  means  by  which  you  yourself  have  acquired 
all  the  literature  you  possess.  In  whatever  part  of  this  extensive  island 
St.  Patrick  preached  the  gospel,  he  founded  convents  and  schools  of 
instruction,  by  means  of  which  he  enlightened  and  civili?^  the  inhabit- 
ants at  the  same  time  that  he  converted  them.  These  schools  soon 
became  so  famous,  that  they  were  frequented  by  crowds  of  students  from 
France,  Flanders,  and  Geitnany,  as  well  as  frou)  the  different  parts  of 
Britain.  Gildas,  the  most  ancient  of  our  British  writers  whose  works 
are  extant,  studied  for  a  long  time  at  St.  Patrick's  seminary  of  Armagh, 
as  did,  in  the  following  century,  St.  Agilbert,  a  Frenchman,  the  second 
bishop  of  the  West  Saxons.  Soon  after  this,  namely,  in  the  seventh 
century,  we  find  great  numbers  of  our  countrymen,  |X)or  as  well  as  rich, 
flocking  to  Ireland  as  to  a  general  mart  of  literature,  where  the  hospita- 
ble Scots,  as  the  ihhabitants  were  then  called,  with  a  generosity 
unknown  in  every  other  nation,  not  only  instructed  tl)em  giatis,  but  also 
fed  them  gratis.  At  length  a  residence  in  Ireland,  like  a  residence  now 
at  a  university,  was  considered  as  almost  essential  to  establish  a  literary 
character.  I  cannot  forbear  quoting  here  the  often-repeated  lines  which 
Camden  extracted  from  the  Life  of  St.  Sulgenius,  who  flourished  in  the 
eighth  century :  — 

'  Exemplo  patnim,  commotus  amore  leg^endi, 
Ivit  ad  Hibernos  sophia  inirabile  claros.' 

"  Not  content,  however,  with  teaching  the  foreigners  who  came  to  them 
for  instruction,  the  Irish  clergy,  in  the  seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth,  centu- 
ries, spread  themselves  over  the  greater  part  of  Europe  for  the  sake  of 
converting  and  civilizing  the  remaining  pagans  in  the  northern  parts  of  it, 
and  of  instructing  the  unlettered  Christians,  as  was  the  case  with  most 
of  them  every  where.  St.  Killian  became  the  apostle  of  Franconia, 
St.  Rumold  of  Brabant,  St.  Virgilius  of  Carinthia,  St.  Columban  of  the 
Swiss,  St.  Gallus  of  the  Grisons,  being  all  of  them  Irishmen ;  not  to 
speak  of  St.  Donatus,  bishop  of  Fesuli,  and  St.  Cataldus,  bishop  of 
Tarentum,  who  illuminated  the  church  of  Italy,  nor  of  St.  Fui-sy,  St. 
Fiacre,  St.  Firmin,  St.  Rupert,  &.C.,  who  illustrated  the  churches  of 
France  and  Germany.  In  a  word,  there  is  hardly  a  diocese  in  the 
countries  here  mentioned  which  does  not  record  the  learning  and  sane- 


FOREIGN    SEMINARIES    OF    LEARNING    FOUNDED    BY    IRISH.         483 

tity  of  several  illustrious  missionaries  from  Ireland  who  formerly  served 
it.  The  most  celebrated  nurseries  of  learning  in  those  ancient  times, 
both  in  our  own  country  and  abroad,  were  all  instituted  by  Irish  schol- 
ars. It  was  the  learned  Irish  bishop  St.  Aidan  who  instituted  that  of 
Lindisferne,  which  enlightened  the  northern  and  midland  parts  of  Eng- 
land. It  was  the  venerable  monk  Maidulph  who  opened  the  famous 
school  of  Malmsbury,  from  which  sacred  and  profane  literature,  Greek 
as  well  as  Latin,  was  diffused  over  the  southern  and  western  parts  of  it. 
St.  Columb  Kille  founded  the  learned  monastery  of  lona,  in  the  Western 
Isles ;  St.  Columban.  those  of  Luxieu  and  Bobbio ;  St.  Gall,  the  cele- 
brated one  which  bore  his  name  amongst  the  Alps.  In  short,  we  are 
equally  indebted  to  the  Irish  for  the  most  renowned  universities  of  mod- 
ern times.  Claudius  Clemens  was  the  first  professor  of  the  university 
of  Paris,  as  Joannes  Scotus  was  of  the  one  at  Ticinum,  or  Padua. 
Even  our  boasted  university  of  Oxford  is  greatly,  if  not  chiefly,  indebted 
for  its  foundation  to  the  last-mentioned  acute  and  eloquent  scholar,  who 
first  opened  an  academy  for  the  instruction  of  English  children  upon  the 
plan  of  the  aforesaid  foreign  universities,  and  who  excited  the  great 
Alfred  to  institute  one  equal  to  them  in  his  own  dominions.  [Usher 
Primord.]  The  centuriators  of  Magdeburg  make  Joannes  Scotus  the 
first  professor  at  Oxford  ;  but  he  seems  to  have  died  a  little  before  the 
schools  were  actually  opened  there.  —  N.  B.  It  is  agreed  amongst  the 
learned,  and  it  is  evident  by  comparison,  that  our  ancient  English  or 
Saxon  characters  are  boiTowed  from  those  of  Ireland. 

"  True  it  is,  the  calamity  which  almost  extinguished  the  flame  of 
literature  in  England,  —  I  mean  the  destruction  of  the  monasteries  by  the 
Danes, — was  productive  of  the  same  effect  in  Ireland.  Nevertheless,  it 
is  easy  to  prove  that  the  Irish  clergy  did  not  fall  into  total  ignorance 
during  the  dark  period  which  succeeded  this  storm ;  as,  likewise,  that 
they  soon  recovered  a  considerable  degree  of  their  former  literary  credit ; 
and,  in  short,  that  there  was  an  uninterrupted  succession  of  men  eminent 
for  their  learning  and  talents  amongst  them,  even  down  to  the  second 
destruction  of  monasteries  by  the  tyrant  Henry  the  Eighth.  Even 
under  the  cruel  and  almost  uninterrupted  persecution  which  they  have 
endured  till  within  these  few  years,  they  have  contrived  to  acquire, 
not  only  professional,  but  also  classical  and  ornamental  literature. 
Several  of  them  have  studied  the  classics  and  sacred  literature  under 
hedges,  for  want  of  schools,  and  others  have  spread  themselves 
over   the   continent   of  Europe,  in   order   to   acquire  that  knowledge 


484  EXTRACT  FROM  PROFESSOR  GORRES. 

which  their  predecessors  originally  diffused  throughout  it.  Tlie  suc- 
cess which  they  have  generally  met  with  in  their  studies  has  been 
equal  to  the  ardor  with  which  they  have  applied  to  them.  Accordingly, 
sir,  you  will  find,  upon  inquiry,  that  the  Irish  students  in  the  foreign 
universities,  down  to  the  very  period  of  the  late  revolution,  carried  off 
more  than  their  due  proportion  of  prizes  and  professorships  by  the  sheer 
merit  of  superior  talents  and  learning,  and  a  much  greater  proportion 
than  fell  to  the  lot  of  all  other  foreigners  in  tlie  countries  in  question 
put  together." 

Professor  Gorres,  of  Munich,  one  of  the  most  eminent  philosophers 
of  Europe,  in  the  present  day,  has,  in  his  profound  discourse  on  mystic 
theology,  beautifully  expressed  his  admiration  of  Christian  Ireland.  Re- 
ferring to  the  Gothic  irruptions  of  the  fifth  century,  he  writes,  "  All  not 
engaged  in  the  combat  took  refuge  in  the  ark  of  the  church ;  which, 
amid  the  mighty  swell  of  waters,  floating  hither  and  thither,  guarded  the 
treasures  concealed  within  it ;  and  while,  amid  the  general  tumult  of  the 
times,  it  secured  a  peaceful  asylum  to  religious  meditation,  it  continually 
promoted  the  contemplative  as  well  as  heroic  martyrdom.  Such  an  asy- 
lum was  found  from  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  in  the  green  Eme- 
rald Isle,^  the  ancient  Erin,  —  whose  secluded  situation  and  watery 
boundaries,  as  they  had  once  served  to  protect  her  from  the  disorders  of 
the  Roman  empire,  now  sheltered  her  from  the  storms  of  the  migration 
of  nations.  Thither,  seeking  protection  with  St.  Patrick,  the  church  had 
migrated,  to  take  her  winter-quarters,  and  had  lavished  all  her  blessings 
on  the  people,  who  had  given  her  so  hospitable  a  reception.  Under  her 
influence,  the  manners  of  the  nation  were  rapidly  refined  ;  monasteries 
and  schools  flourished  on  all  sides  ;  and,  as  the  former  were  distinguished 
for  their  austere  discipline  and  ascetic  piety,  so  the  latter  were  conspic- 
uous for  their  cultivation  of  science.  While  the  flames  of  war  were 
blazing  around  her,  the  Green  Isle  enjoyed  the  sweets  of  repose.  When 
we  look  into  the  ecclesiastical  life  of  this  people,  we  are  almost  tempted 
to  believe  that  some  potent  spirits  had  transported  over  the  sea  the 
cells  of  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  with  all  their  hermits ;  its  monasteries, 
with  all  their  inmates  ;  and  had  settled  them  down  in  the  Western  Isle  — 
an  isle  which,  in  the  lapse  of  three  centuries,  gave  eight  hundred  and 
fifty  saints  to  the  church,  won  over  to  Christianity  the  north  of  Britain, 
and,  soon  after,  a  large  portion  of  die  yet  pagan  Germany  ;  and,  while 
it  devoted  the  utmost  attention  to  the  sciences,  cultivated,  with  especial 
care,  the  mystical  contemplation  in  her  religious  communities,  as  well  as 
in  the  saints  whom  they  produced." 


PATRIARCHAL     TEMPLES.  485 


IRISH   ARCHITECTURE. 

There  is  not  one  of  the  national  attributes  of  Ireland,  which  her  jealous 
rivals  have  endeavored  more  vehemently  to  snatch  from  her,  and  assume 
as  their  own,  than  her  sublime  style  of  architecture.  Many  and  many  a 
volume  has  been  written  to  prove  her  ignorant,  barbarous,  super- 
stitious, or  savage,  before  the  happy  period  of  her  political  connection 
with  Britain,  from  which  alone,  as  some  people  will  have  it,  she  may 
date  the  commencement  of  her  literature,  civilization,  religion,  architec- 
ture, and  constitutional  government. 

A  writer,  who,  like  myself,  maintains  the  converse  of  all  this,  is  put 
unceremoniously  on  his  proofs,  whilst  those  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
question  seem  to  think  they  are  not  called  upon  for  any  ;  and,  having  it 
in  their  power  to  point  to  the  admitted  opulence  of  England  for  the  last 
four  hundred  years,  think  that  length  of  inheritance  sufficient  to  build 
up  a  claim  to  ages  of  national  greatness.  Happily,  there  is  a  third 
nation  growing  up  in  the  world,  thoroughly  impartial  in  its  predilections, 
and  sufficiently  important  in  the  commonwealth  of  mind,  to  be  appealed 
to,  —  whose  fiat,  when  finally  pronounced  through  her  historians  and 
philosophei-s,  will  place  the  image  of  Ireland  in  its  proper  niche  in  the 
temple  of  intellectual  fame.  That  country  is  America,  —  young 
America,  —  whose  empire  grows  with  each  diurnal  revolution  of  the 
earth.  To  her  sons  of  intellect  and  enterprise  I  commit  the  claims  of 
Ireland  to  a  due  station  in  the  commonwealth  of  mind. 

I  propose  now  to  show  that  Ireland  originated  neariy  all  the  styles  of 
architecture  which  were  celebrated  through  Europe  for  so  many  ages  as 
"  Gothic."  In  doing  this,  I  will  first  sketch  a  few  general  outlines  of 
the  earliest  architecture  of  the  ancients ;  then  show  the  nature  of  the 
varied  erections  of  Ireland,  from  the  dawn  of  Christianity  to  the  fall  of 
that  country,  in  the  twelfth  century,  which  I  shall  sustain  by  dates  and 
diagrams  ;  and  then  I  will  trace  the  Irish  missionaries  and  architects, 
introducing  their  circular  and  pointed  architecture  into  Britain,  France, 
Portugal,  Italy,  Switzeriand,  and  Germany.  I  will  name  the  churches 
they  built  and  the  dales  of  their  erection,  point  to  their  style,  and  trace 
their  origin  to  Ireland  ;  and  then  I  will  ask  the  impartial  reader  for  that 
verdict  which  I  do  not  fear  to  hear  pronounced. 

If  we  go  back  to  what  may  be  termed  the  second  creation  of  man, 
we  shall  find  that  the  first  act  of  Noah,  after  descending  from  the  ark, 
was  to  build  an  altar.     Abraham  built  altars  at  various  times,  and  so  did 


486  THE    ANCIENT    CAVES. 

Jacob.  The  latter  is  the  first  who  set  up  a  stone  under  the  circum- 
stances detailed  in  the  twenty-eighth  chapter  of  Genesis.  On  awaking 
from  his  remarkable  dream,  he  said,  "  Surely-  the  Lord  is  in  this  place  ;  " 
and  he  took  the  stone  which  he  had  put  for  his  pillow,  and  set  it  up  for 
a  pillar,  and  poured  oil  on  the  top  of  it ;  and  he  called  the  name  of  the 
place  Bethel;  and,  dedicating  it  to  the  Deity,  said,  "And  this  stone 
which  I  have  set  for  a  pillar  shall  be  God's  house."  In  many  other 
parts  of  the  Old  Testament  we'  find  stones  or  pillars  set  up  as  memo- 
rials of  sacred  engagements.  Joshua  said  at  the  covenant  of  Shechem, 
"  Behold,  this  stone  shall  be  a  witness  unto  us,  for  it  hath  heard  all  the 
words  of  the  Lord."  We  find  Samuel,  and  others  of  the  patriarchs 
of  the  Old  Testament,  frequently  set  up  stones  as  marks  of  something 
solemn  or  sacred  ;  and  it  is  a  remarkable  circumstance,  coinciding  so 
wonderfully  with  the  religious  practices  of  the  very  first  settlers  in 
Ireland,  that  large  stones  were  raised  in  secluded  spots,  as  the  centres 
round  which  they  gathered  to  worship  the  Deity,  those  very  stones  being 
called  by  the  Irish  Bothal,  or  house  of  God,  which  has  the  same 
signification  of  the  Hebrew  Bethel.  Moses  erected  twelve  upright 
stones,  because  of  the  number  of  the  tribes.  The  ancient  Egyptian 
"  worship  stones,"  or  "  temples,"  were  rude,  unsquared,  unchiseled,  and 
of  great  size.  These  upright  stones  were  sometimes  crossed  with 
others. 

In  those  ages,  men  dwelt  in  caverns.  Men  first  burrowed  habitations 
into  hills  and  rising  slopes.  These  were  the  primeval  houses  of  the 
great ;  and  cool  and  very  comfortable  houses  they  were  in  warm  coun- 
tries. At  this  day,  the  inhabitants  of  New  York,  poor  and  rich,  and 
those  of  some  other  American  cities,  live  mostly  in  the  basement  story, 
or  cellars,  of  their  houses,  being  the  coolest  in  summer,  and  the  warmest 
in  winter. 

The  generations  immediately  following  Noah  inhabited  caverns.  We 
find  the  remains  of  extensive  towns,  and  almost  cities,  cut  in  the  Nubian 
rocks,  which  run  along  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  There  are  deserted 
cities  still  to  be  seen  in  the  solid  rocks  in  some  parts  of  India*^  The 
excavations  at  Salcette,  ten  miles  north  of  Bombay,  must  have  em-' 
ployed  in  the  cutting  forty  thousand  men  for  forty  years. 

The  massive  blocks  of  stone,  cut  out  of  the  caverns  in  the  valley  of  the 
Nile,  were,  in  the  beginning,  raised  into  great,  unshapen  mounds,  which 
became  naturally  nienioiials  conunemorative  of  the  great  work.  Under 
these  mounds  the  chief  men  were  buried ;  and  succeeding  kings,  finding 


PVRAJttlDS. CAVERNS. ROUND    TOWERS.  487 

that  the  veneration  of  the  people  was  called  up  towards  these  gigantic 
memorials,  began  to  employ  vast  numbers  of  their  vassals  to  erect  those 
conical  monuments,  under  which,  at  their  death,  they  were  to  be  en- 
tombed. The  first  pyramids  erected  were  the  smallest.  Each  succeed- 
ing Pharaoh  excelled  his  predecessor  in  the  size  of  his  tomb ;  and  hence 
the  number  and  greatness  of  these  stupendous  monuments  of  a  proud 
and  powerful  people. 

The  caves  and  caverns  were,  therefore,  cut  out  before  the  pyramids 
were  begun.  The  caves  of  Egypt,  India,  Greece,  and  Ireland,  are 
nearly  of  equal  age.  There  are  no  marks  upon  the  face  of  Ireland  so 
ancient,  and  so  deservedly  venerable,  as  her  numerous  caves  and  exca- 
vations. They  proclaim,  better  than  books,  her  high  antiquity.  What 
a  splendid  monument  of  primeval  ages  is  the  cavern  of  New  Grange, 
near  Drogheda  !  Why  it  is  still  called  Neiv  Grange,  I  am  sure  I  can- 
not tell.  It  is,  at  the  least,  three  thousand  five  hundred  years  old.  It 
might  be  proved  older,  but  cannot  be  proved  younger.  It  is  of  an  age 
with  the  excavations  of  India,  and  was  dug  before  many  of  the  pyra- 
mids of  Egypt  were  begun.  There  have  been  some  other  caves  dis- 
covered in  Ireland  of  less  magnitude  than  New  Grange,  but  all  of 
nearly  the  same  character,  though  not  of  equal  extent.  How  many 
more  of  these  ancient  abodes  there  may  be  yet  undiscovered  in  that 
country,  no  one  can  tell.  New  Grange  was  discovered  by  accident, 
about  seventy  or  eighty  years  ago.  There  were  many  carved  pillai*s 
found  at  the  entrance  ;  and  we  find  from  Kholl,  who  visited  the  cave, 
that  paralleled  curved  lines,  clearly  Egyptian,  are  to  be  seen  on  the 
stone  altar.  It  may  have  been  the  habitation  of  a  tribe,  —  at  once  the 
fortress,  abode,  and  place  of  worship,  of  a  hardy  band,  into  which  neither 
cold  nor  heat,  wild  beast  nor  marauder,  could  enter ;  or  it  may  have  been 
the  treasury  or  tomb  of  some  mighty  chief,  some  unsung  Agamemnon. 
A  laborious  exploit  it  must  have  been,  for  it  was  arched  with  massive 
flat  blocks,  and  ornamented  within.  How  many  cities  have  been  built 
and  swept  clean  from  the  earth  since  New  Grange  was  hewed  out  and 
fashioned ! 

Of  an  age  with  the  pyramids  were  the  great  temples  found  in  the 
valley  of  the  Nile,  in  Persia  and  India,  also  the  round  towers  spread 
through  the  latter  country,  so  nearly  resembling  those  which  are  remain- 
ing in  Ireland,  and  in  China.  In  the  latter,  round  towers  are  found  in 
every  market  town.     The  first  of  the  excavations,  and  of  the  rude  stone 


488  FIRST    CITIES. TENTS. 

pillars,  are  four  thousand  years  old  ;  the  first  of  the  pyramids,  about 
three  thousand  seven  hundred ;  the  first  of  the  round  towers,  about  three 
thousand  five  hundred  years. 

The  conical  hills  through  Bretagny,  Britain,  Scotland,  and  Ireland, 
are  all  of  one  family,  were  used  for  the  same  purpose,  and  are  of  a  date 
exceeding  three  thousand  five  hundred  years  old,  at  least.  The  first 
stone  pillars  erected  for  religious  purposes  are  of  the  same  age. 

The  next  stage  in  building  was  the  circular  hut,  made  of  trees, 
branches,  and  clay.  These  were  very  simply  constructed,  in  the  midst 
of  flat  plains  and  forests,  by  the  shepherd  class,  who  lived  in  the  interior 
of  countries.  A  number  of  those  huts  were,  for  mutual  protection,  built 
together,  surrounded  by  circular  trenches,  and  otherwise  fortified,  with 
trees,  stones,  turf,  fee,  for  the  defence  of  cattle  against  wild  beasts,  or 
marauding  tribes. 

Those  were  the  first  cities. 

Of  an  age  with  those  were  the  tents  and  marquees,  covered  with  the 
skins  of  beasts,  these  being  the  material  not  only  of  their  tents,  but  of 
their  boats,  and  sometimes  of  their  clothes.  Those  characteristics  apply 
to  the  early  swarms  of  men  who  departed  from  the  shores  of  the 
Euphrates  and  the  Nile,  east,  north,  and  west,  to  repeople  the  earth. 
As  I  have  shown  in  another  place,  those  early  movers  were  called 
Celts,  or  Celta ;  and  wheresoever  they  went,  whether  into  India,  China, 
America,  or  Europe,  they  brought  with  them  the  same  first  general 
notions  of  every  thing,  whether  of  heaven  or  of  earth. 

It  is  one  of  the  great  mystic  attributes  of  the  Deity,  in  reference  to 
man,  that,  from  the  beginning,  he  has  permitted  him  to  range  about  from 
opinion  to  opinion,  in  respect  to  his  own  divine  power,  nature,  and  will. 
The  first  families  that  succeeded  Noah  and  his  children  observed  the 
general  form  of  divine  worship  instituted  by  him.  They  assembled 
around  great  upright  stones,  to  acknowledge  their  obedience  to  God,  and 
reflect  on  their  crimes. 

A  few  ages  only  passed,  when  offshoots  from  those  families  scattered 
into  distant  lands,  and  adopted  novelties  in  language,  customs,  and 
religion.  It  appears  that  they  every  where  worshipped  one  supreme 
Spirit,  though  great  diversity  of  opinion  grew  up  as  to  the  nature  of 
that  Spirit,  his  attributes^  or  identity.  But  all  acknowledged  there  was 
a  Supreme  Being,  and  all  worshipped  that  Being  under  some  name  or 
symbol. 

Hence  the  universal  enthusiasm  with  which  men,  in  all  countries  and 


FIRST    ARCHITECTS. PHffiNICIANS.  489 

ages,  devoted  life,  wealth,  power,  every  thing,  to  the  erection  of  temples 
to  this  Supreme  Being. 

This  induced  study,  invention,  and  improvement,  in  the  art  of 
building,  which  has  grown  to  a  science,  and  is  called  architecture. 
Endeavoring  to  be  brief,  I  must  cut  off  from  the  reader's  view  an 
extensive  Eastern  plain,  covered  with  the  most  varied  specimens  of 
temple  ruins,  built  in  the  course  of  unnumbered  generations,  exhibiting 
the  various  ideas  of  man  under  dissimilar  influences.  We  would  doubt 
the  most  creditable  historian,  who  should  relate  to  us  that  men  performed 
such-  prodigies  of  labor  as  tlie  pyramids,  caverns,  temples,  and  sphinxes 
of  Egypt ;  the  magnificent  cities  of  Assyria,  with  their  walls  three  hun- 
dred feet  high,  their  hundred  brass  gates,  and  their  streets  fifteen 
miles  long  ;  the  excavations  in  India,  in  which  thousands  upon  thou- 
sands resided ;  the  great  wall  of  China,  forming  a  road  and  bounda- 
ry two  thousand  miles  long,  and  other  wonderful  works ;  —  did  not  many 
of  the  deeds  themselves  remain  above  the  earth  to  speak  for  their 
architects. 

I  would  come  at  once  to  the  architectural  labors  of  that  great  people, 
to  whom  all  history,  sacred  and  profane,  yields  the  honor  of  establish- 
ing the  science  of  architecture,  as  followed  up  and  developed  by  the 
most  civilized  of  the  succeeding  nations,  —  I  mean  the  Phoenicians. 
Though  I  have,  in  my  early  pages  on  ancient  architecture,  proved  the 
preeminence  of  the  Phoenicians  in  this  respect,  yet  I  will  here  insert  a 
few  words  extracted  from  the  works  of  Elmes,  who  is  considered  by  the 
most  eminent  architects  of  England  a  good  authority. 

"  The  Phoenicians  are  generally  supposed  to  be  those  descendants 
of  Noah  who  settled  on  the  coast  of  Palestine,  and  are  the  same 
people  who  are  called,  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  Canaanites,  —  a  word 
signifying  merchants,  —  and  afterwards,  by  the  Greeks,  Phanicions. 
Sidon,  their  capital,  so  often  spoken  of  by  Homer,  was  eclipsed  by  its 
own  colony.  Tyre.  These  primitive  people  occupied  the  coast  of  Asia 
eastward  of  Egypt,  and  extending  from  Arabia  Deserta  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea.  It  is  but  a  small  territory,  but  its  people  have  been  greatly 
celebrated  as  the  inventors  of  navigation,  arithmetic,  and  writing.  In- 
habiting a  barren  soil,  they  applied  themselves  to  commerce  and  the 
arts,  and  appear  to  have  been  distinguished  for  their  excellence  in 
manufactures  and  works  of  taste.  Their  first  advanced  posts,  in  the 
march  of  civilization,  were  the  Isles  of  Cyprus  and  Rhodes ;  from  thence 
successively  into  Greece,  Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  Italy  ;  afterwards  into 
62 


490 


JEWISH    TEMPLES. 


Gaul ;  and,  always  advancing,  discovered  the  southern  and  western 
coasts  of  Spain,  and  onwards  into  the  British  isles. 

Of  their  beautiful  city  Tyre,  the  twenty-seventh  and  twenty-eighth 
chapters  of  Ezekiel  give  a  grand  and  a  poetical  description,  describing 
it  as  of  "  perfect  beauty  in  the  midst  of  the  sea." 

"  Thy  borders  are  in  the  midst  of  the  seas.  Thy  builders  have  per- 
fected thy  beauty.  They  have  made  all  thy  shipboards  of  fir-trees  of 
Sener.  They  have  taken  cedars  from  Lebanon  to  make  masts  for  thee. 
Of  the  oaks  of  Bashan  have  they  made  thine  oars.  The  company  of 
the  Ashurites  have  made  thy  benches  of  ivory.  Fine  linen,  with 
broidered  work  from  Egypt,  was  that  which  thou  spreadest  forth  to  be 
thy  sail.  Blue  and  purple,  from  the  isles  of  Elishah,  was  that  [the  gar- 
ments] which  covered  thee.  The  inhabitants  of  Zidon  and  Arvad 
were  thy  mariners.  Thy  wise  men,  O  Tyrus,  were  thy  pilots.  The 
ancients  of  Gebal,  and  the  wise  men  thereof,  were  thy  calkers.  All  the 
ships  of  the  sea,  with  their  mariners,  were  in  thee  to  occupy  thy  mer- 
chandise. Tarshish  was  thy  merchant  by  reason  of  the  multitude  of 
all  kind  of  riches.  With  silver,  iron,  tin,  and  lead,  they  traded  in  thy 
fairs,"  &tc.  &;c. 

The  sacred  text  continues  to  describe  the  merchants  of  Javan, 
Tubal,  Meshech,  Togormach,  Deden,  Syria,  Judah,  Damascus, 
Dan,  Arabia,  Sheba,  Asshur,  Chilma,  —  which  are  the  names  of 
nations  or  kings,  whose  merchants  traded  in  the  city  of  Tyre,  for 
horses,  mules,  oxen,  horns,  ivory,  ebony,  emeralds,  purples,  and  em- 
broidered work,  fine  linen,  coral,  agate,  minnith,  pannag,  honey,  oil, 
and  balm,  wine,  white  wool,  bright  iron,  cassia,  (mirrors,)  and  cala- 
mus, precious  cloths  for  chariots,  spices,  precious  stones,  and  gold,  blue 
cloths,  broidered  work,  chests  of  rich  apparel  bound  with  cords ;  all 
these,  with  "  multitudes  of  rich  wares,"  were  sold  in  the  fairs  of  Tyre. 

The  Phcenicians  had  several  other  cities,  distinguished  for  their  mag- 
nificence, wealth,  manufactures,  and  extended  commerce :  among  the 
principal  were  Joppa,  Damascus,  and  Baalbec.  The  Egyptians 
would  allow  no  other  nation  than  the  Phoenicians  to  trade  with  them. 
Hence  the  knowledge  of  Egypt  was  accessible  only  to  the  latter,  and 
by  them  was  communicated  to  their  colonies.  —  Elmes^s  Lectures  on 
Architecture,  p.  112. 

The  Jews,  by  a  residence  of  four  hundred  years  in  Egypt,  anterior 
to  the  time  of  Moses,  became  acquainted  with  the  arts  and  sciences 
then  known  in  that  country.     After  their  deliverance,  they  led  a  wan- 


CHINESE    ARCHITECTURE.  491 

dering  life  for  forty  years.  They  dedicated  a  temple  to  God,  after  the 
manner  of  the  Egyptians,  who  worshipped  visionary  deities.  Being 
necessary  to  carry  it  with  them  through  the  wilderness,  they  constructed 
it  in  tiie  form  of  a  spacious  tent ;  this  was  called  "  the  tabernacle ; "  it  was 
one  hundred  and  fifty  cubits  long  by  fifty  wide,  five  cubits  high,  formed  of 
wooden  columns,  with  brass  bases,  and  silver  capitals,  having  curtains 
of  tapestry  suspended  between  them.  These  columns  were  sixty  in  num- 
ber, twenty  on  each  side,  and  ten  on  each  end,  which  faced  the  east  and 
west.  The  Jews  used  this  temple  for  a  length  of  time  after  the  conquest 
of  Palestine;  but,  under  the  reign  of  Solomon,  constructed  a  permanent 
temple  at  Jerusalem,  which,  together  with  several  palaces  for  King  Da- 
vid and  King  Solomon,  were  built  by  Tyrian  artists  and  workmen. 

The  architectural  structures  of  the  Chinese  are  very  ancient,  and  have 
been,  according  to  Sir  William  Chambers,  modeled  after  tents  and  pavil- 
ions. From  this  arises  its  essential  character  —  lightness;  and  its  de- 
fect—  weakness.  The  materials  are  wood,  brick,  and  tiles;  the  latter 
are  dried  in  the  sun  or  burnt.  They  are  regulated  in  their  buildings  by 
very  strict  municipal  laws,  which  prescribe,  with  the  greatest  accuracy, 
even  to  feet  and  inches,  how  the  Lon,  or  palace  of  the  prince,  of  the 
first,  second,  or  third  order,  of  the  imperial  family,  should  be  built ;  then, 
of  a  grandee  of  the  empire  ;  and  lastly,  of  a  mandarin.  .They  also 
regulate  the  size,  proportion,  and  style,  of  the  buildings  of  second,  third, 
or  fourth  rate  cities  and  towns,  through  the  empire.  These  laws  are 
very  ancient.  The  gradations  in  their  buildings,  lengths  of  the  terraces, 
heights  of  the  roofs,  are  marked  distinctly ;  from  the  simple  citizen  to 
the  man  of  letters,  from  the  man  of  letters  to  the  mandarin,  from  him  to 
the  prince,  from  the  prince  to  the  emperor.  The  common  houses  are 
mere  huts  of  a  single  floor.  The  fronts  of  their  houses,  next  the  street, 
have  no  windows,  and  they  hang  a  mat  before  their  doors  to  prevent 
passers-by  looking  in.  Their  palaces  are  grand  though  somewhat  fantas- 
tical. They  have  lofty  lowers,  in  the  market  towns,  all  through  China, 
which  are  not  unlike  the  round  towers  of  Ireland.  They  are  used 
for  astronomical  and  atmospherical  observations,  or  as  sepulchral  tombs, 
and  are  isolated,  round,  square,  hexagonal,  or  octagonal,  and  built 
with  several  materials.  They  place  "umbrellas"  on  their  towers,  which 
are  in  some  degree  related  to  the  apex  of  the  round  tower  of  Ireland. 
They  have  also  triumphal  arches  erected-  to  innumerable  distinguished 
men,  and  some  women.  Their  canals  exceed  in  extent  any  thing  con- 
ceived by  Europeans,  and  their  great  wall  of  two  thousand  miles'  length, 
with  its  forty  thousand  towers,  defies  all  imitation. 


492  '  ETRUSCAN    ARCHITECTURE. 

Etruria,  (the  present  Italy,)  lying  on  the  north  side  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea,  a  few  days'  sail  from  Tyre,  was,  as  I  have  before  shown, 
the  most  considerable  of  the  Phoenician  colonies.  Its  cities  were  built 
upon  the  same  plans,  its  architects  constructed  on  the  same  principles ; 
its  merchants  were  as  rich,  and  its  artists  were  as  celebrated,  as  those 
of  Tyre,  Sidon,  or  Damascus.  Of  the  former  cities  not  a  vestige 
remains :  the  chief  memorial  of  their  opulence  and  celebrity  is  to  be 
found  in  holy  writ.  The  remains  of  Etruria  fill  the  tombs  and  caverns 
of  ancient  Italy,  and  establish  the  science,  art,  and  opulence,  of  its 
Phoenician  inhabitants. 

The  Etrurians,  and,  I  presume,  the  Phoenicians,  were  the  only  nations 
amongst  the  ancients  who  understood  the  principles  of  architecture, 
according  to  our  ideas  of  the  science.  The  stone  pyramids  of  Egypt 
are  built  without  cement ;  the  huge  stones  fitted  together  so  closely 
that  a  knife  could  not  be  thrust  between  them.  The  brick-built  pyra 
mids  are  not  so  old  as  those  erected  of  uncemented  stones ;  and,  in  the 
temple  of  Belus,  built  of  brick,  by  the  Assyrians,  we  are  informed  that 
they  used  a  sort  of  vegetable  tar ;  from  which  we  may  conclude,  they 
were  then  ignorant  of  the  means  of  converting  stones  and  earth  into 
lime  —  a  most  important  discovery,  and,  like  most  others_,  made  by 
accident.    • 

The  finar  and  arch  were  used,  in  their  erections,  by  the  Etruscans, 
and  they  have  left  behind  an  order  or  style  of  architecture  which  is 
called  Doric,  and  sometimes  Tuscan.  There  has  been  a  long  contro- 
versy between  antiquarians,  about  the  true  fathers  of  the  arch.  One 
class  contends  that  the  Egyptians,  and  another,  that  the  Etruscans 
originated  it.  It  is  maintained,  by  Elmes.  that  the  Egyptians,  in  their 
early  career,  were  ignorant  of  the  principle  of  the  arch,  or  they  certain- 
ly would  not  have  transported  the  roof  of  the  temple  of  Latona,  at  Butis, 
from  the  Island  of  Philoe,  a  distance  of  nearly  six  hundred  miles.  It 
was  the  most  enormous  block  of  stone  ever  moved  by  human  power. 
It  contained  above  one  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand  cubic  feet,  and 
weighed  above  twenty  millions  of  pounds  —  eight  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred tons. 

The  Etruscans  have  left  specimens  of  very  ancient  methods  of  con- 
struction. To  them  has  been  attributed  the  invention  of  building  with 
small  pieces  of  stone  joined  together  by  calcareous  cements,  because  in 
their  country  are  found  the  earliest  examples  of  this  method  of  con- 
struction. —  Elmes's  Lectures,  p.  281.  —  The  ruins  of  Etruria,  its  arched 


PRINCIPLE    OF    GRECIAN    ARCITECTURE. 


493 


shores  and  gateways,  composed  of  cemented  stones,  and  far  more 
ancient  than  those  of  Rome,  (which  rose  upon  its  fall,)  leave  no  doubt 
whatever  that  its  inhabitants  were  acquainted  with  the  principles  and 
use  of  the  arch.  The  largest  entrance  into  the  Vola  Terra  is  a  mag- 
nificent arch,  called  the  Gate  of  Hercules,  built  by  the  Etrurians. 
They  built  several  theatres,  where  the  supposed  actions  of  their  deities 
in  heaven  were  represented  :  the  entertainment  formed  part  of  their 
religious  worship.  The  capitol  at  Rome,  the  temple  of  Jupiter,  and 
many  other  public  buildings  in  that  city,  were  built  by  the  Etrurian 
architects. 

From  Etruria,  as  I  have  already  incontestably  proved,  in  my  early 
pages.  No.  132  to  146,  marched  forth  science  to  the  east  and  to  the 
west.  Its  journey  to  Ireland,  through  the  medium  of  Etrurian  com- 
merce, has  also  been  proved,  and  its  approach  to  the  Isles  of  Hellas, 
(Greece,)  though  later,  is  as  distinctly  observable. 

And  this  brings  us  to  the  development  of  the  two  great  principles  on 
^\hich  the  various  styles  and  orders  of  architecture  have  been  raised. 
These  two  principles  in  architecture  are  called  the  arched  and  the 
columnar.  Greece  seems  to  have  cultivated  the  columnar,  and  Ireland 
the  arched  style.  In  these  opposite  decisions  the  inhabitants  were 
influenced  by  their  respective  climates.  In  Greece,  and  in  the  East 
generally,  they  have,  or  had,  no  rain.  Their  vegetation  was  nourished 
by  dewy  exhalations  from  the  earth  ;  therefore  their  flat  roofs  and  their 
square  style  of  architecture,  as  we  may  symbol  in  the  following  out- 
line —  two  upright  pillars  and  a  cross-beam  : 


The  architecture  of  Ireland  was   fashioned  by  the  influence  of  the 
Climate,  —  which  is  generally  rainy.     It  will  be  found,  by  the  ancient 


494 


PRINCIPLE    OF    IRISH    ARCHITECTURE. 


ruins,  to  have  been  raised  according  to  the  principle  symboled  in  the 
following  outline  —  two  upright  pillars  and  a  pointed  arch  : 


Keeping  distinctly  these  two  fundamental  principles  continually  in 
view,  we  shall  be  able  to  trace  the  two  great  styles  of  architecture, 
Grecian  and  Irish,  through  the  labyrinth  of  styles,  orders,  and  innu- 
merable technicalities,  with  which  science  and  caprice  have  invested 
them.  The  elegant  superstructures  called  Grecian  are  raised  in  square 
or  angular  pieces,  with  vertical  columns,  and  horizontal  beams.  Arched 
architecture  is  the  opposite  of  this.  It  is  raised  by  a  series  of  arches, 
starting  from  columns,  or  clusters  of  columns,  which  sometimes  Ave  again 
intersected  by  other  arches,  in  a  transverse  direction,  forming  beautiful 
groins,  or  quarter  arches,  admitting  the  most  romantic  and  endlessly 
various  embellishments.  "  Both  styles,"  says  Hazlitt,  "  are  founded  in 
the  indestructible  principles  of  human  nature." 

The  Greeks  improved  the  style  which  they  adopted.  They  divided 
their  improvements  into  stages,  which  they  called  after  the  persons  by 
whom,  or  the  cities  in  which,  the  improvements  were  made.  The  first 
was  simple  and  unadorned,  called  the  Doric :  its  column  is  fluted  along 
the  shaft,  and  terminates  at  the  top  by  a  capital,  called  a  tile.  The 
second  was  called  Ionic,  the  column  of  which  was  generally  fluted, 
taller,  and  more  slender ;  the  shaft  placed  upon  a  pedestal,  and  topped 
by  a  capital,  with  volutes  as  ornaments,  in  the  form  of  the  crooked 
horns  of  the  ram. 


GREEK  ORDERS.  ROMAN  ARCHITECTURE.  495 

The  CorinOiian  was  the  third  or  last  order  of  the  Greeks,  and  did  not 
appear  until  long  after  the  other  two  had  been  in  use.  Its  character- 
istics are  richness,  in  all  its  carvings,  flutings,  and  ornaments.  The 
capital  of  the  column  is  fashioned  after  a  flower-basket,  set  on  a  tomb, 
surrounded  by  foliage.  These  orders  are  distinguishable  from  each 
other  by  the  fashion  of  the  column,  with  which  all  the  accessories  and 
appurtenances  of  the  building  must  correspond. 

The  Greeks,  like  their  masters,  the  Phoenicians,  first  used  wood  in 
their  erections,  then  brick,  stone,  and  lastly,  marble.  Occasionally, 
bronze  pillars  are  found  in  their  ruins.  They  never  allowed  more  than 
three  orders.  The  Romans  admitted  five.  Nature,  says  Elmes,  dictates 
but  three,  viz.,  robust,  chaste,  elegant.  These  the  Greeks  had  imbodied 
in  the  Doric,  Ionic,  and  Corinthian.  The  Romans  would  have  one 
more  elegant  than  the  elegant,  and  one  more  robust  than  the  robust, — 
hence  their  Tuscan  and  Composite,  —  without  any  fixed  law,  depending 
merely  upon  taste  or  caprice. 

The  Greeks  had  splendid  public  temples,  but  miserable  private 
dwellings.  Statues  and  pictures  filled  their  galleries ;  but  they  had 
no  public  bridges  —  not  even  over  the  stream  which  coursed  through 
the  far-famed  Athens,  through  which  the  citizens  were  obliged  to 
wade. 

The  Romans  compounded  an  order  from  the  vertical  and  horizontal 
style  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  arched  style  of  the  Etruscans.  They 
jumbled  both  together  with  much  tawdry  ornament.  "  The  architec- 
ture of  Rome,"  says  Elmes,  "  possesses,  in  its  various  superabiandant 
ramifications,  heaps  of  affectations  and  conceits,  solely  arising  from  the 
error  of  employing  the  orders,  columns,  pediments,  and  cornices,  merely 
as  ornaments,  whereas  the  Greeks  used  them  as  principal  and  necessary 
parts.  Their  architecture  gave  to  posterity  the  swollen  composite; 
their  sculpture,  the  exaggerated  style  of  the  gladiator."  For  the  first 
six  or  seven  hundred  years  of^  the  Roman  republic,  they  built  their 
private  dwellings,  their  great  temples,  and  theatres,  of  wood.  Those 
that  remain,  in  stone,  and  marble,  and  brick,  in  such  colossal  ruins, 
were  built  from  about  fifty  years  before  Christ  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  after.  When  the  Romans  had  reduced  the  Greeks  com- 
pletely under  their  rule,  and  earned  home  their  learned  men  as  captives, 
whom  they  compelled  to  instruct  their  youth,  —  then  commenced  the 
rise  of  what  is  called  Roman  architecture,  massive,  grand,  irregular, 
extravagantly  ornamented.  The  private  dwellings  of  both  Greek  and 
Roman  citizens  were,  however,  miserable  huts,  of  only  one  floor.     The 


496  THE    GOTHS. 

pure  Greek  architecture,  from  the  same  period,  declined,  and  never  after- 
wards revived.  Such  as  were  afterwards  erected  in  Greece,  were  of  the 
compound  Roman  character. 

The  celebrated  Roman  writer  Vitruvius  has  left  behind  a  work  on 
Roman  architecture,  in  which  he  endeavors  to  establish  a  series  of 
canons  and  a  grammar.  As  it  was  the  first  work  which  specially 
treated  of  architecture  as  a  science,  it  was  considered,  for  a  long 
time,  a  safe  guide  in  erecting  works  of  strength  and  grandeur;  but 
other  men  have  long  since  entered  the  field  of  architectural  debate, 
and  have  analyzed  the  axioms  of  Vitruvius,  condemned  the  most  of 
them  by  the  test  of  science  and  time,  and  returned  back  on  the  Greek 
school  for  the  laws  and  models  of  columnar  architecture.  It  must  be 
confessed  that  no  nation  can  vie  with  Greece  in  the  construction  of 
that  class  of  erections  denominated  the  elegant  public  buildings  of 
a  city  ;  viz.,  theatres,  palaces,  senate-houses,  and  the  like.  Courts  of 
justice,  jails,  and  other  grave  works,  have  been  built  in  the  massive  or 
Doric  order ;  while  the  true  order  for  churches,  and  all  buildings  devoted 
to  religion,  is  the  Irish,  alone,  characterized  by  the  circular  or  pointed 
arch,  with  pillars  and  buttresses,  tapering  upwards,  with  pyramidal  or 
spire-like  terminations.  This  style  had  been  called  Gothic  for  the 
first  time  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  by  that  style  has  been  distin- 
guished, though  most  improperly,  to  the  present  time.  Although  the 
Greeks  were  admitted  as  elegant  in  their  style  of  architecture,  yet 
Hoskings  has  the  following  remarks  in  reference  to  them  :  "  Ignorance 
of  the  use  of  the  arch,  inferior  carpentry,  the  absence  of  glass,  and  the 
ignorance  of  the  use  of  chimneys,  were  disadvantages  which  the  Greeks 
labored  under,  in  the  construction  of  their  houses,  that  no  degree  of  taste 
and  elegance  could  completely  countervail. 

"  Architecture,"  says  Hoskings,  page  16,  "  was  already  extinct  among 
the  Romans,  when  the  seat  of  empire  was  transferred  to  Constantinople, 
by  Constanline,  about  three  hundred  and  seventy  yeare  after  the  birth  of 
Christ.  The  change  of  religion,  which  then  took  place,  led  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  many  of  the  noblest  structures  of  Rome.  The  materials  of  her 
decaying  temples  were  converted  into  the  new  churches  ;  and  these  wGire 
built  without  any  order  or  architectural  principle  vvhatever."  The  first 
Christian  church  erected  by  Justin,  at  Byzantium,  [Constantinople,] 
called  San  Sophia,  was  built  partly  of  columns  brought  from  Rome,  and 
in  a  compound  style,  in  which  no  distinct  order  was  prominent.  This 
model,  in  compliment  to  the  emperor,  was  that  which  nearly  all  the 
Christians  around  the  seat  of  power  followed  in  their  erections ;  and 


THE    ARCHITECTURE    OF    IRELAND.  497 

those  in  Rome,  Greece,  Italy,  and  other  places,  where  the  new  religion 
took  root,  followed,  as  near  as  they  could,  the  same  example. 

Now,  about  this  style  all  writers  are  agreed  —  all  architects,  all  noen 
of  science  and  taste,  —  that  it  was  utterly  and  absolutely  absurd,  un- 
architectural,  barbarous. 

During  the  Gothic  irruptions  over  all  Europe,  in  the  two  hundred 
years  from  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  to  the  close  of  the  sixth  century, 
all  science,  art,  and  literature,  were  trampled  under  foot.  The  Latin 
language,  as  I  have  before  remarked,  was  absolutely  lost.  Egypt  had 
long  previously  become  a  vast  ruin.  Greece  was,  for  centuries,  reduced 
to  bondage  ;  and  now,  the  mighty  Rome  herself,  the  mistress  so  long 
of  all  the  world  but  Ireland,  was,  in  turn,  reduced  to  a  shapeless  ruin ; 
her  temples  tumbled,  her  palaces  inhabited  by  cattle,  her  theatres 
tenantless,  and  desolation  weeping  over  the  fanes  of  her  greatness. 

During  this  period  of  chaos  and  ignorance,  all  idea  of  architec- 
tural construction  had  vanished  from  the  continent  of  Europe.  We 
shall  see  in  the  case  of  architecture,  as  in  those  of  literature  and  music, 
that  in  Ireland  alone  was  its  principle  purely  cultivated,  so  far,  at 
least,  as  the  arched  style. 

"  To  Ireland,"  in  the  eloquent  language  of  Professor  Gorres,  the  Ger- 
man philosopher,  —  "  To  Ireland  the  affrighted  spirit  of  truth  had  flown 
during  the  Gothic  irruptions  in  Europe ;  and  there  made  its  abode  in 
safety  until  Europe  returned  to  repose,  when  those  hospitable  philoso- 
phers, who  had  given  it  an  asylum,  were  called  by  Europe  to  restore 
its  effulgent  light  over  her  bedarkened  forests." 

I  have  already  made  the  reader  aware  that  Ireland  kept  pace,  in 
knowledge,  with  her  kindred  race  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean, 
until  about  the  time  of  Julius  Caesar,  fifty  years  before  Christ.  Caesar's 
wars  in  Gaul  and  Britain,  and  the  occupation  of  those  countries,  broke 
up,  for  four  centuries,  all  communication  between  Ireland  and  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe. 

Ireland  improved  her  architecture  during  all  this  time.  The  progress 
of  art  is  like  that  of  the  scarce-noticed  fountain  which  silently  glides 
along  an  humble  watercourse.  By  degrees  it  becomes  a  rivulet,  and 
increases  to  a  brook.  Capable  now  of  utility,  it  rises  into  consequence, 
spreads  on  like  a  swelling  river,  and  rolls  majestically  to  the  ocean, 
giving  power  to  machinery,  and  employment,  utility,  and  blessings  to 
the  people. 

It  was  thus  the  arched  architecture  of  Ireland  stole  onwards  to  im- 
portance ;  it  was  thus,  as  we  shall  see,  that  the  arched  principle  was 
63 


498 


ARCHED    STYLE    OF    ARCHITECTURE. 


conducted  into  Europe  by  those  indefatigable  Irish  missionaries,  who 
spread  literature  and  Christianity  over  the  western  part  of  that  continent, 
in  the  sixth,  seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth  centuries. 

I  respectfully  and  earnestly  solicit  the  patient  attention  of  the  reader 
to  the  proofs  which  I  shall  now  lay  before  him  in  support  of  this 
proposition. 

I  am  fully  aware  of  the  danger  of  entering  on  this  profound  question, 
and  feel  my  incapability,  wanting  as  I  do  that  knowledge  of  the  science, 
and  of  many  of  the  technicalities  which  belong  to  it.  There  are 
general  principles,  however,  which  belong  to  nature,  and  are  governed 
by  its  laws  alone,  with  which  I  feel  myself  competent  to  deal ;  and 
there  are,  besides,  historical  facts  on  my  side,  which  cannot  be  perverted 
or  converted  to  the  purposes  of  delusion  in  this  enlightened  age. 

The  English  and  Scotch  writers,  who  have  entered  on  this  question, 
have  claimed  the  merit  of  arched  architecture  for  England  or  for  Scot- 
land, according  as  their  partialities  impelled  them  ;  others  have  given 
the  honor  to  the  Eastern  nations,  and  some  to  the  black  Moors  who 
overran  Spain  in  the  eighth  century.  To  any  and  to  every  nation  was 
the  honor  offered,  but  to  the  right  owner,  down-trodden  Ireland ;  for, 
during  the  last  seven  hundred  years, 

"It  was  poverty  to  honor, 
Treason  to  love, 
And  death  to  defend  her." 

The  ages  of  the  caverns  had  passed  away,  the  ages  of  the  round 
towers,  and  square,  vaulted  castles,  succeeded.  See  the  engravings 
at  pages  133  and  143.  These  latter  gave  place  to  the  arched  and 
gable-roofed  buildings,  which  have  prevailed  in  Ireland  for  better 
than  two  thousand  years.  It  is  historically  true  that  the  ancient 
Irish  built  their  private  and  many  of  their  public  structures  of  oak, 
wattle,  and  clay,  like  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans.  The  round 
towers,  and  square,  vaulted  castles,  that  yet  remain,  cannot  be  less 
than  two  thousand  five  hundred  to  three  thousand  years  old.  There 
are  comparatively  few  of  those  remaining.  Very  many  of  them 
have  been  swept  from  the  earth  by  time,  like  the  cities  of  Tyre, 
Babylon,  Nineveh,  Carthage,  and  others  of  coeval  ages.  The 
Druidical  temples  of  Ireland  were  generally  built  in  a  masculine  Doric 
style,  to  insure  durability.  The  fragments  of  broken  cornices  and 
architraves,  as  well  as  the  sculptured  figures  that  enriched  the  friezes 
of  those  edifices,  which  are  still  to  be  seen  in  Ireland,  afford  an  indu- 


FIRST    CHRISTIAN    CHURCHES    OF    IRELAND.  4S9 

bitable  proof  of  the  perfection  to  which  the  pagan  Irish  carried  the 
arts  of  sculpture  and  architecture.  The  palaces  of  Tara  and  Emania 
were  immense  piles,  whose  vaulted  domes  rested,  to  use  the  language  of 
Dr.  Harris,  "on  a  forest  of  marble  columns."  These  have  perished 
beneath  the  hand  of  time,  and  also  beneath  the  withering  curse  of  the 
church.  We  are  told  that,  in  the  sixth  century,  a  chief  of  note  com- 
mitted murder  on  his  antagonist  in  the  national  assembly  of  Tara,  and 
fled,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  time,  for  sanctuary,  to  a  neighbor- 
ing monastery.  The  king's  guards  pursued  him  thither,  dragged  him 
forth  in  defiance  of  the  usage,  and  warning  voice  of  the  holy  directors 
of  the  abbey,  and  carried  him  back  to  Tara,  where  he  was  punished 
with  death. 

The  bishop  and  monks  of  this  abbey  then  came  in  procession  before 
the  walls  of  Tara,  and  pronounced  against  it  a  curse ;  and  from  that 
day  its  opulence  and  authority  ceased.  No  man  ventured  within  its 
precincts.  Its  arched  roofs  and  thickly-columned  walls  fell  to  decay  by 
degrees,  and,  in  the  course  of  a  few  ages,  the  spot  where  it  reared  its 
ornamented  head  can  alone  be  seen.  The  feo,  or  parliament,  met  in  a 
place  near  to  it,  and  the  bards  filled  their  songs  with  mournings  for 
its  fall. 

Before  Christianity  was  introduced  into  the  island,  the  Druids  were  the 
architects.  They  built  their  places  of  worship  of  stone  and  cement, 
and  in  the  very  form  of  that  gahle  represented  by  the  oudine,  page 
494.  Usher  tells  us,  and  Father  Colgan  before  him,  that  there 
were  eleven  hundred  stone  churches  in  Ireland  in  St.  PatricJc^s  time. 
These  were  all  built  on  the  round  arch  or  pointed  arch  principle  ;  and 
the  church  writers  affirm  that  the  Christian  apostle  converted,  in  all 
cases,  the  Druid  temples  into  churches.  Are  we  to  doubt  Primate 
Usher,  who,  as  an  antiquarian,  stands  coequal  with  Newton  and  Sir 
William  Jones  ?  There  are  a  few,  a  very  few,  of  the  ruins  of  these 
primitive  churches  yet  to  be  seen  in  Ireland. 

The  antiquarian  is  referred  to  the  Island  of  Iniscathy,  near  the  mouth 
of  the  River  Shannon  —  described  in  the  Boole  of  Ballimote,  as  "the 
wonder  of  Ireland"  —  for  material  to  ponder  on.  St.  Senanus,  in 
490,  built  no  fewer  than  eleven  small  churches  of  stone  and  cement  on 
this  celebrated  spot,  which,  for  countless  generations  before  his  time, 
had  been  the  scene  of  Druid  rites  and  worship ;  for  here  is  also  found, 
looking  down  upon  those  Christian  ruins,  one  of  the  largest  and  most 
remarkable  of  the  pagan  round  towers,  which  was  built,  at  least,  fifteen 
hundred  years  before  the  time  of  St.  Senanus.     It  measures  one  hun- 


500  ANCIENT    SPECIMENS. IRISH    ANTK^UITIES    NEGLECTED. 

dred  and  twenty  feet  liigh,  and  springs  from  a  base  twenty-two  feet  in  cir- 
cumference. Although  scathed  and  rent  by  lightning,  the  original  roof 
remains  in  the  form  of  a  conical  cap,  or  barred,  which,  Walker  says, 
the  national  architects  and  sculptors  of  Ireland  regarded  as  a  dress 
becoming  even  to  angels. 

The  word  church,  thirteen  hundred  years  ago,  had  a  very  different 
meaning  from  the  import  of  the  word  at  present.  It  was,  then,  a 
mere  cell,  hermitage,  or  sanctuary.  Although,  as  it  is  recorded,  eleven 
churches  were  built  upon  the  island  by  St.  Senanus,  the  remains  of 
seven,  only,  are  now  to  be  traced.  The  chief  or  cathedral  church 
called  St.  Mary's,  and  one  other,  are  in  pointed  style,  but 
possess  no  other  attraction.  The  "seven  churches,"  built  by  St. 
Kevin,  in  the  county  of  Wicklow,  on  the  gloomy  rock  of  Gknda- 
lough  —  whose  very  name  calls  up  an  echo  of  the  grandest  antiquarian 
associations  —  about  the  same  time,  (the  fifth  century,)  the  ruins  of 
which  yet  remain,  are  similar  evidences  in  favor  of  the  great  proposi- 
tion. 

These  ruins  are  the  oldest  remaining  in  Europe  of  the  pointed  style. 
There  is  no  doubt  whatever  about  their  date  or  history.  They  are  the 
indexes  to  the  bed  of  that  ancient  current  of  architecture,  which 
flowed  on  from  century  to  century,  expanding  in  dimensions,  beauty, 
and  magnificence. 

I  will  quote  an  entire  article  on  this  topic  from  the  London  Athe- 
neeum  of  June,  1844. 

"  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  society,  lately  established  in 
Eno-land,  having  for  its  object  the  preservation  of  British  antiquities, 
did  not  extend  its  design  over  those  of  the  sister  island,  which  are 
daily  becoming  fewer  and  fewer  in  number.  That  the  gold  ornaments, 
which  are  so  frequently  found  in  various  parts  of  Ireland,  should  be 
melted  down  for  the  sake  of  the  very  pure  gold  of  which  they  are 
composed,  is  scarcely  surprising ;  but  that  carved  stones,  and  even 
immense  Druidical  remains,  should  be  destroyed,  is,  indeed,  greatly  to  be 
lamented.  At  one  of  the  late  meetings  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy, 
a  communication  was  made  of  the  intention  of  the  proprietor  of  the 
estate  at  New  Grange  to  destroy  that  most  gigantic  relic  of  Druidical 
times,  which  has  justly  been  termed  the  Irish  pyramid,  merely  because 
its  vast  size  '  cumbereih  the  ground.'  At  Mellifont,  a  modern  corn-mill 
of  large  size  has  been  built  out  of  the  stones  of  the  beautiful  monastic 
buildings,  some  of  which  still  adorn  that  charming  spot.  At  Monaster- 
boice,  the  churchyard  of  which  contains  one  of  the  finest  of  the  round 


IRISH    ANTIQUITIES    NEGLECTED.  501 

towers,  are  the  ruins  of  two  of  the  little  ancient  stone  Irish  churches, 
and  three  most  elaborately  carved  stone  crosses,  eighteen  or  twenty  feet 
high.  The  churchyard  itself  is  overrun  with  weeds,  the  sanctity  of  the 
place  being  its  only  safeguard.  At  Clonmacnoise,  where,  some  forty 
years  ago,  several  hundred  inscriptions  in  the  ancient  Irish  character 
were  to  be  seen  upon  the  gravestones,  scarcely  a  dozen  (and  they  the 
least  interesting)  are  now  to  be  found  ;  the  large,  flat  stones,  on  which 
they  were  carved,  forming  excellent  slabs  for  doorways,  the  copings  of 
walls,  &;c. !  It  was  the  discovery  of  some  of  these  carved  stones  in 
such  a  situation  which  had  the  effect  of  directing  the  attention  of  Mr. 
Petre  (then  an  artist  in  search  of  the  picturesque,  but  now  one  of  the  most 
enlightened  and  conscientious  of  the  Irish  antiquaries)  to  the  study  of 
antiquities  ;  and  it  is  upon  the  careful  series  of  drawings  made  by  him 
that  future  antiquarians  must  rely  for  very  much  of  ancient  architectural 
detail  now  destroyed.  As  to  Glendalough,  it  is  so  much  a  holiday 
place  for  the  Dubliners,  that  it  is  no  wonder  every  thing  portable  has 
disappeared.  Two  or  three  of  the  seven  churches  are  levelled  to  the 
ground ;  all  the  characteristic  carvings  described  by  Ledwich,  and 
which  were  '  quite  unique  in  Ireland,''  are  gone.  Some  were  removed 
and  used  as  key-stones  for  the  arches  of  Derrybawn  bridge.  Part  of 
the  churchyard  has  been  cleared  of  its  gravestones,  and  forms  a 
famous  place,  where  the  villagers  play  at  ball  against  the  old  walls  of 
the  church.  The  little  church,  called  'St.  Kevin's  Kitchen,' is  given 
up  to  the  sheep.  The  abbey  church  is  choked  up  with  trees  and 
brambles,  and,  being  a  little  out  of  the  way,  a  very  few  of  the  carved 
stones  still  remain  there,  two  of  the  most  interesting  of  which  I  found 
used  as  coping-stones  to  the  wall  which  sun'ounds  it.  The  connection 
between  the  ancient  churches  of  Ireland  and  the  north  of  England 
renders  the  preservation  of  the  Irish  antiquities  especially  interesting  to 
the  English  antiquarian ;  and  it  is  with  the  hope  of  drawing  attention 
to  the  destruction  of  those  ancient  Irish  monuments  that  I  have  written 
these  few  lines.  The  Irish  themselves  are,  unfortunately,  so  engrossed 
with  political  and  religious  controversies,  that  it  can  scarcely  be  hoped 
that,  single-handed,  they  will  be  roused  to  the  rescue  even  of  these  evi- 
dences of  their  former  national  greatness.  Besides,  a  great  obstacle 
exists  against  any  interference  with  the  religious  antiquities  of  the 
country,  from  the  strong  feelings  entertained  by  the  people  on  the 
subject,  although  practically,  as  we  have  seen,  of  so  little  weight. 
Let  us  hope  that  the  public  attention  directed  to  these  objects  will  have 
a  beneficial  result,   and   insure  a  greater  share  of  'justice  to  Ireland;' 


502  ANCIENT    SPECIMENS    OF    THE    POINTED    ARCH. 

lor  will  it  be  believed  that  the  only  establishment  in  Ireland  for  the 
propagation  and  dilFusion  of  scientific  and  antiquarian  knowledge  —  the 
Royal  Irish  Academy  —  receives  annually  the  munificent  sum  of  three 
hundred  pounds  from  the  government !  And  yet,  notwithstanding  this 
miserable  pittance,  the  members  of  that  society  have  made  a  step  in  the 
right  direction,  by  the  purchase  of  the  late  dean  of  St.  Patrick's  Irish 
Archaeological  Collection,  of  which  a  fine  series  of  drawings  is  now 
being  made  at  the  expense  of  the  academy,  and  of  which  they  would, 
doubtless,  allow  copies  to  be  made,  so  as  to  obtain  a  return  of  a  portion 
of  the  expense  to  which  they  are  now  subjected.  Small,  moreover,  as 
this  collection  is,  it  forms  a  striking  contrast  with  our  own  National 
Museutn,  which,  rich  in  foreign  antiquities,  is  almost  without  a  single 
object  of  native  archa3ological  interest,  if  we  except  the  series  of  Eng- 
lish and  Anglo-Saxon  coins  and  manuscripts." 

St.  Brendan  erected  a  superb  abbey  in  Ardferd,  in  the  sixth  century. 
It  was  partially  destroyed  by  fire  in  1080,  and  rebuilt,  together  with 
a  cathedral,  on  the  arched  principle.  In  the  mouldering  choir  of 
the  cathedral,  is  to  be  found  an  alto  relievo,  exquisitely  sculp- 
tured. 

The  great  abbey  and  cathedral  of  Clanmacnoise,  in  the  King's 
county,  were  built  in  549.  It  is  a  magnificent  ruin,  attesting  great 
knowledge  in  the  design  and  construction.  From  two  thousand  to  three 
thousand  students  were,  for  many  ages,  accommodated  within  its 
capacious  walls.  "  The  gray  pinnacles,"  says  Pepper,  "  and  time- 
tinged  turrets  of  these  vast  ruins,  look  out  upon  the  majestic  Shannon 
in  awful  sublimity."  In  Roscarbery,  in  the  south  of  Ireland,  are  ruins 
of  the  sixth  century,  and  near  the  spot  are  several  great  caves,  divided 
into  chambers,  discovered  in  1791. 

The  round  tower  of  Roscrea,  built  in  the  early  Druid  ages,  is  eighty 
feet  high,  and  fifteen  feet  in  diameter,  with  two  steps  round  it  at  the 
bottom.  At  fifteen  feet  from  the  ground  is  a  window  with  a  regular 
ARCH,  and  at  an  equal  height  is  another  window  with  a  pointed  arch. 
The  ruins  of  the  old  church,  built  near  it  by  St.  Cronan  in  the  sixth 
century,  are  all  in  the  old  pointed  or  gable  style. 

Eraly,  now  a  poor  village,  was  the  spot  on  which  St.  Alhc  erected 
his  first  cathedral,  or  bishop's  church,  in  501.  It  is  fourteen  miles  west 
of  Cashell,  in  the  south  of  Ireland.  In  the  close  of  the  sixth  century, 
a  university  was  built  here,  which,  until  the  city  was  plundered  and 
burnt  by  the  Danes,  in  the  ninth  century,  afforded  accommodation,  as 
recorded  by  Colgan,  for  fifteen  hundred  students  at  a  time.     "Here," 


SPLENDIB    RUINS.  503 

says  Pepper,  "  is  still  to  be  seen  a  wilderness  of  architectural  ruins 
worthy  the  pen  of  a  Byron  or  the  pencil  of  a  Rosa." 

"  The  ancient  Damliag,  or  House  of  Stone,^'  says  Moore,  "  erected 
by  St.  Kienan  as  early  as  the  fifth  century,  some  of  the  ruins  of 
Glendalough,  and  parts  of  the  small  church  of  St.  Donlach,  near 
Dublin,  present  features  of  remote  antiquity,  and  prove  them  to  be  of  a 
much  earlier  date  than  the  chapel  of  Cormac,  at  Cashell,  (anno  880 ;) 
this  latter  structure  being  clearly  a  specimen  of  the  more  ornate  stage 
of  that  old  circular  style  of  architecture,  which,  in  the  church  of  St. 
Donlach,  is  seen  in  its  ruder  and  yet  undecorated  form.  It  may  be 
remarked,  as  peculiar  to  these  ancient  Irish  churches,  that  their  roofs 
are  of  stone  bound  by  cement,  and  that  the  ciypts,  instead  of  being 
subterranean,  as  in  some  of  the  ancient  British  churches,  are  situated 
aloft  between  the  ceiling  and  the  angular  roo/" of  stone." 

The  splendid  cathedral,  erected  by  St.  Patrick,  in  Armagh,  in  the 
fifth  century,  as  the  chief  church  of  Ireland,  has  been  so  often  battered 
by  invaders,  and  so  often  repaired  by  the  native  Irish  in  the  fashion  of 
the  age  in  which  the  new  alterations  took  place,  that  we  cannot  make 
any  use  of  it  as  evidence.  We  are  told  by  the  church  annalists,  A.  D. 
838,  that  it  was  originally  built  of  stone  and  cement  in  the  cruciform 
shape,  with  many  pillars  and  arches,  having  a  square  tower  fifty  feet  high. 
Being  the  chief  seat  of  power  for  many  ages,  it  has  suffered  more  alterations 
than  almost  any  other  edifice  in  Ireland.  It  was  repaired  about  sixty  or 
seventy  years  ago  by  the  then  Protestant  primate  Lord  Rokeby,  who  not 
only  restored  the  cathedral,  but  erected  a  splendid  portico,  in  the  old  arch 
style,  in  conformity  with  the  genius  and  style  of  the  old  building.  To  him 
Armagh  is  indebted  for  its  reassuming  the  appearance  of  a  city,  which  it 
may  now  be  denominated  —  the  most  beautiful  inland  city  of  Ireland. 

The  magnificent  abbey  of  St.  Francis,  near  Sligo,  erected  in  the  seventh 
century,  in  that  peculiar  style  of  arch,  and  spirally  carved  column,  which 
prevailed  in  Ireland  in  that  age,  yet  remains,  in  its  colossal  ruins,  the  ad- 
miration of  all  travellers.*  There  are  forty  arches  of  stone  raised  on 
massive,  but  well-carved  columns,  yet  remaining,  that  support  the  long, 
arched  roof  of  stone,  which  is  in  very  good  preservation. 

But  I  feel  myself  going  too  far  into  this  question,  and  must  stop 
abruptly ;  for,  indeed,  there  is  much  more  to  be  said  in  support  of  my 
proposition,  than  I  have  said,  or  can  find  room  to  say  in  these  pages. 
I  will  at  once  allow  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  modern  English 
architects    (Mr.    Elmes)    to    give    his    opinion    on    the    point.       Mr. 

*  The  erection  of  this  vast  building  is  by  some  erroneously  attributed  to  Maurice 
Fitzgerald,  lord  justice  of  Ireland,  A.  D.  1252. 


504  OPINIONS    OF    ENGLISH    ARCHITECTS. 

Elmes,  as  he  says  in  the  preface  to  his  book,  had  prepared  a  course  of 
lectures  on  ancient  and  modern  architecture.  Having  spent  many 
years  of  his  hfe  in  the  study  of  the  art  abroad  and  at  home  ;  having 
been  enlightened  by  a  high  classical  education  ;  and  feeling  competent 
to  come  before  the  learned  of  England,  to  criticise  the  various  styles 
and  orders  of  the  present  and  the  past  of  their  own  nation,  besides  the 
prevailing  and  exploded  styles  of  the  polite  nations  of  Europe,  —  he  was 
well  able  to  present  the  question,  in  all  its  bearings,  to  his  countrymen. 

He  did  so.  He  delivered  two  or  three  courses  of  these  lectures^  in 
London,  in  1819.  But  he  never  had  been  in  Ireland  ;  had  looked  but 
slightly,  if  at  all,  into  her  history  ;  nor  can  we  blame  him  for  this.  The 
genius  of  every  British  government,  that  ruled  for  the  last  seven  hun- 
dred years,  has  excluded  Ireland  from  the  study  of  youth,  has  tended 
to  decry  her  old  institutions,  to  deny  her  former  fame,  and  to  destroy 
every  vestige  of  her  history.  "  It  was,  till  the  time  of  James  the 
First,"  says  Mr.  Webb,  "  an  object  of  government  to  discover  and 
destroy  every  literary  remain  of  the  Irish,  in  order  the  more  fully  to 
eradicate  from  their  minds  every  trace  of  their  ancient  independence." 

Mr.  ElmeSj  like  most  young  Englishmen,  was  taught,  from  the  nursery 
to  the  village  school,  from  the  university  to  the  parliament,  to  despise 
Ireland  and  the  Hirish.  He  prepared  his  lectures  on  architecture, 
therefore,  without  as  much  as  thinking  of  that  country.  But  his  curi- 
osity led  him  at  last  to  Ireland.  He  saw  and  examined  for  him- 
self, and  confesses,  honestly,  that,  after  his  visit  to  that  country,  he  saw 

REASON  TO  ALTER  A  GREAT  PART  OF  HIS  BOOK. 

But  we  will  hear  himself:  — 

"  The  following  lectures  were  originally  written  for,  and  dehvered  at, 
the  Surrey  Institution,  in  the  winter  of  1819.  They  were,  secondly, 
with  muck  alteration,  and,  with  many  additions  made,  after  a  tour 

THROUGH  PARTS  OF  IRELAND,  INTERESTING  FOR  ARCHITECTURAL  AN- 
TIQUITIES, delivered  at  the  Russell  Institution,  in  the  winter  of  1820. 
—  Preface  to  Elmes's  Lectures  on  Architecture. 

"  From  tours,"  he  says,  "  which  I  have  recently  made  through  some 
of  the  most  interesting  parts  of  Ireland  for  architectural  antiquities,  and 
from  considerable  investigation  into  its  history,  I  conceive  that  country 
to  have  been  peopled  originally  and  directly  from  the  East ;  the 
ancient  architecture,  the  ancient  religion  and  language  of  Ireland,  and 
those  of  the  inhabitants  of  Hindustan  and  other  Oriental  countries, 
coinciding  in  a  wonderful  manner. 

"The  pyramids  of  Egypt  have  narrow  passages  beneath.  At 
Benares,  in  India,  there  are  also  long  caves  under  the  ground  ;  and  that  at 


OPINIONS    OF    ENGLISH    ARCHITECTS.  505 

New  Grange,  near  Drogheda,  in  Ireland,  is  of  the  same  character.  I 
doubt  not  but  that  this  interesting  work  is  of  as  great  antiquity  as  any  in 
Europe,  and  was  a  burying-place  for  the  ancient  Irish.  No  one  ac- 
quainted with  the  subject  could  avoid  being  struck  with  the  likeness 
between  one  of  the  round  towers  of  Ireland,  at  Kilkenny,  measured 
by  myself,  and  one  of  the  ancient  towers  or  pillars  of  India,  near 
Allahabad. 

"The  first  letter  of  the  Irish  alphabet  is  called  ailirti;  that  of  the 
Hebrew,  aleph ;  —  the  second,  b,  beith  ;  Hebrew,  beth  ;  —  m  in  Irish  is 
muin ;  in  Hebrew,  mem  ;  —  n  in  Irish  is  nuin ;  in  the  latter,  nun ;  —  r  is 
ruis  in  Irish ;  in  Hebrew,  eus ;  —  boodh  also  is  Irish  ;  and  boodh,  or 
hoodha,  in  Sanscrit,  means  the  same  unhewn  upright  stone  of  worship  ;  — 
heth  signifies,  in  Irish  and  Hebrew,  a  house ;  coph,  a  curve;  daleth  in 
Hebrew,  and  durres  in  Irish,  a  door. 

"Mr.  Lynch,  the  secretary  to  the  Gaelic  Society  of  Dublin,  says,  in 
his  Grammar,  that  the  names  of  the  Irish  letters  are  very  ancient,  and 
seem  to  have  been  derived  from  the  language  spoken  by  Noah,  from 
which  they  were  adopted  by  the  Chaldeans,  Egyptians,  and  Canaanites, 
or  Phoenicians,  and  by  these  introduced  into  Greece  and  the  south-west 
of  Europe.  This  is  also  the  opinion  of  Eupolemus,  Eusebius,  St. 
Jerome,  St.  Augustine,  and  Bellarmine,  with  most  of  our  modern 
philosophers." 

Mr.  Elmes,  after  devoting  some  of  his  pages  to  the  round  towers  and 
cromleaghs,  and  giving  his  conjectures,  all  of  which  must  merge  in  Sir 
William  Betham's  profound  and  scientific  examination,  to  which  I  have 
devoted  some  early  pages,  proceeds — "The  architectural  antiquities  of 
Ireland  present  a  fine  unexplored  field,  to  which,  I  trust,  I  may  have 
leisure  to  turn  more  of  my  attention.  There  are  ruins  of  between 
thirty    and  forty    abbeys  of  splendid   architecture.      Those  of  Jer- 

POINT,  AND  OF  THE  BlACK  AbbEY  IN  THE  COUNTY  OF  KlLKENNY, 
ARE  FINER  THAN  ANY  I  EVER  WITNESSED  IN  EnGLAND,  NOT  EVEN 
EXCEPTING   THE    FAR-FAMED    NeTLEY    AbBEY    IN    HAMPSHIRE. 

"Then  there  are  their  mounts,  their  cairns,  and  their  caves,  their  round 
towers,  their  ancient  cathedrals,  and  the  modern  Baalbec — the  de- 
serted city  of  Kilmalloch,  in  the  county  of  Limerick :  likewise  the 
remains  of  the  seven  churches  at  Glendaloch,  in  the  county  of  Wick- 
low,  and  the  bed  of  St.  Kelvin,  immortalized  by  the  muse  of  the  Irish 
melodist,  together  with  their  cromleaghs,  which  rival  any  in  England. 

"A  very  singular  specimen  of  ancient  Irish  architecture,  which  is  cer- 
tainly ONE  OF  THE   MOST    CURIOUS  FABRICS    IN  THESE    KINGDOMS,  mUSt 

64 


506  CORMAC'S    CHAPEL. WILLIs's    OPINION. 

be  noticed  —  the  stone-roofed  chapel  ol  the  ancient  King  Connac,  at 
Cashell,  who  was,  after  the  patriarchal  mode,  both  king  and  bishop,  and 
flourished  about  the  year  900.  It  is  a  regular  ecclesiastical  edifice, 
divided  into  a  nave  and  choir,  the  latter  narrowing  its  breadth,  and 
separated  from  the  nave  by  a  wide  arch.  Under  the  altar  tradition 
rejwrts  the  remains  of  St.  Connac  to  be  deposited.  There  is  a  strikmg 
7-cscmblancc  between  this  chapel  and  the  church  of  St.  Fcter,  at  Oxford, 
ivith  Grimbauld's  crypts  beneath  ity  —  Elmes's  Lectures.  —  JNow  we 
know  St.  Peter's,  at  Oxford,  was  not  built  until  the  restoration  of  King 
Alfred,  nearly  a  century  after  the  erection  of  Cormac's  Chapel.  To 
this  magnificent  testimony  1  will  add  that  of  another  Englishman  of 
literary  fame.  Sir  R.  C.  Hoare. 

"  The  stone  chapel  of  Cormac,  at  Cashell,  is  nowhere  to  be  sur- 
passed, and  is  itself  a  host,  in  point  of  remote  and  singular  antiquity  ; 
and  though  her  monastic  architecture  may  fall  short,  both  in  design  and 
execution,  to  those  of  the  sister  kingdoms,  [the  author  meant,  of  course, 
the  grand  structures  of  England,  built  in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth 
centuries,]  yet  Ireland,  in  her  stone-roofed  chapels,  round  towers,  and 
rich  stone  crosses,  may  justly  boast  of  singularities  unknown  to  either  of 
them.  Of  the  two  crosses  at  Monasterboyce,  they  are  by  far  the  finest 
examples,  and  the  richest,  in  their  sculpture,  of  any  I  have  ever  seen." — 
Tour  in  Ireland. 

As  this  book  is  chiefly  written  with  a  view  of  making  American  citi- 
zens acquainted  with  Ireland,  I  shall  now  adduce  the  testimony  of  their 
own  talented  Willis :  "  The  prominent  association  with  the  name  of 
Ireland,  to  one  who  does  not  draw  his  ideas  of  the  country  from  the 
English  newspapers,  is  that  of  a  prolific  mother  of  orators,  warriors, 
patriots,  and  poets.  Out  of  sight  of  the  froth  that  is  thrown  up  from  the 
angry  caldron  of  political  strife,  and  out  of  hearing  of  the  bitter  con- 
tentions of  party  spirit,  the  inhabitant  of  another  country  looks  upon  the 
small  space  occupied  by  Ireland,  on  the  map  of  the  world,  with  feelings 
of  mingled  wonder  and  admiration.  The  veil  that  obscures  her  past 
glory  is  withdrawn  ;  the  cloud  that  lowers  over  her  social  horizon  melts 
away  ;  and  the  distant  observer,  opening  the  volume  of  her  mournful 
history,  counts  the  long  roll  of  her  illustrious  names,  and  reads  in  those 
pages  of  shame  and  sorrow  —  blotted  by  the  best  blood  of  her  children 
—  the  true  character  of  an  enthusiastic  people.  An  undying  love  of 
liberty,  and  an  untamed  and  restless  genius,  make  them  turbulent,  excita- 
ble, and  vindictive,  under  real  or  imaginary  wrongs ;  while  the  natural 
warmth  and  kindness  of  their  disposition  make  us  willing  to  forget  the 


CORMAC'S    CHAPEL.  507 

faults  which,  under  more  favorable  ch"cu instances,  would  never  have  had 
existence.  In  a  work  like  this,  however,  of  a  pictorial  character,  and 
intended  for  circulation  among  all  parties,  the  great  question  at  issue  in 
Ireland  can  only  be  thus  far  adverted  to ;  and  in  recording  my  own  ob- 
servations while  travelling  in  the  country,  I  feel  convinced  that,  by 
avoiding  the  irritating  topics  of  political  and  religious  discussion,  my 
readers  will  journey  along  with  me  more  pleasantly  through  the  wild 
and  beautiful  scenery  of  this  Western  Eden.  Nor  do  I  fear  that  we 
shall  tire  on  the  way  for  lack  of  objects  worthy  the  attention  of  the  anti- 
quary and  the  poet,  where  every  valley  boasts  the  remains  of  some  old 
abbey  or  monastery  —  the  fast-decaying  relics  of  the  faded  grandeur  of 
the  ancient  Irish  church ;  and  where  the  romantic  legends  of  an  imagi- 
native peasantry  have  peopled  every  hill-side  with  the  fantastic  and 
graceful  creations  of  Fairy-land.  Let  me,  then,  in  the  language  of  Ire- 
land's favorite  bard,  invite  those  who  love  Nature  in  her  wild  and  simple 
attire,  to  follow  me  in  my  pilgrimage  through  those  lovely  scenes ;  for 

'Never  did  Ariel's  plume, 
At  golden  sunset,  hover 
O'er  such  scenes  of  bloom 
As  I  will  waft  tliem  over.' "  * 

And  now  let  us  gaze,  with  such  emotions  as  our  hearts  may  be  capa- 
ble of  feeling,  upon  this  miniature  perspective  sketch  of  the  far-famed 
CoRMAc's  Chapel,  erected  anno  880,  the  oldest  specimen  in  Europe  of 
true  arched  architecture. 

I  am  tempted  to  insert  here  a  stanza  from  Lord  Byron's  Address 
to  Greece,  in  1809,  slightly  paraphrased,  which  applies  to  Ireland  as 
accurately  as  it  applied  to  Greece  ;  and  may  be  conducive  in  waking  up 
a  spirit  equally  inimical  to  slavery  with  that  called  up  by  his  lordship's 
inspiriting  muse:  — 

"£rin,  how  lovely,  in  thine  age  of  woe, 
Land  of  heroes,  sages,    godlike  men,  art  thou! 
Thy  vales  of  evergreen,  thy  hills  of  snow, 
Proclaim  thee  Nature's  varied  favorite  now. 
Thy  shrines,  thy  temples,  to  thy  surface  bow, 
Commingling  slowly  with  heroic  earth, 
Broke  with  the  share  of  every  rustic  plough ; 
And  nought  remains  save  Avell-recorded  worth, 
And  the  proud  spirit  which  thy  race  gives  forthJ'^ 

*  Scenes  in  Ireland. 


508  IRISH    STYLE. ART    OF    STAINING    GLASS. 

This  singularly-beautiful  church  is  the  most  perfect  specimen  of  iho 
genuine  arched  style  in  Europe.  This  erection  was  not  the  consequence 
of  any  sudden  light  which  broke  in  upon  the  nation.  It  could  have 
grown  only  from  hundreds  upon  hundreds  of  experiments  and  improve- 
ments, in  Irish  architecture,  for  several  ages.  Nor  is  it  to  be  attributed 
to  some  happy  design  of  King  Cormac,  the  illustrious  architect.  Its 
varied  excellences  in  construction ;  its  well-poised  stone  roof,  so  scien- 
tifically balanced  and  cemented;  its  graceful  arches  and  groins;  the 
columns,  so  chaste  and  rich  in  shaft  and  capital ;  the  carvings,  so 
minute  and  varied,  —  proclaim  that  the  numerous  workmen  employed 
were  educated  in  a  school  devoted  to  the  art.  And  let  it  be  further 
borne  in  mind,  that  the  columns  of  this  edifice  are  not  copied  after  those 
of  either  Greece  or  Rome.  They  appear  to  be  a  distinct  order,  peculiar 
to  Ireland. 

Mr.  Ehnes  says  that  "  want  of  knowledge  in  the  workmen  cannot 
be  compensated  for  by  any  skill,  art,  or  science,  in  the  architect. 
Hence  a  nation  must  be  liberal  patrons  of  the  art,  and  train  up  by 
practice,  experiments,  and  scientific  teaching,  her  artisans,  ere  she  can 
hope  to  establish  a  national  style,  or  a  reputation  for  architecture." 

There  does  not  appear  in  this  entire  church  a  single  piece  of  wood. 
How  well  they  understood  the  laws  of  gravity  and  equilibrium  is  attested 
by  the  enduring  edifice  itself,  which  has  lived  a  thousand  years,  and 
promises  to  live  for  a  thousand  years  to  come.  The  arch  of  Cormac 
will  live  forever !  To  erect  the  arched  architecture,  requires  a  knowl- 
edge of  what  the  French  call  stereoiomy,  and  the  nicest  balancing,  or 
equilibrium,  and  calculations  of  gravity.  The  principle  of  construction 
in  the  arch,  as  artists  call  it,  is  the  very  acme  of  architectural  sci- 
ence. In  this  even  Michael  Angelo  failed,  in  the  erection  of  the  cupola 
of  St.  Peter's.  In  latter  years,  there  were  discovered  very  serious  fissures, 
which  were  repaired  by  the  extraordinary  skill  of  Zahaglio,  who  encir- 
cled the  cupola  with  a  stupendous  iron  chain,  after  the  example  of  Sir 
Christopher  Wren,  at  St.  Paul's,  London. 

We  find,  about  the  age  which  succeeded  that  of  Cormac,  that  the 
art  of  staining  glass  had  arrived  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection.  I  will 
adduce  one  or  two  illustrations  from  Pepper's  valuable  Notes,  and 
Brewer's  Beauties  of  Ireland. 

"  The  art  of  staining  glass  was  carried  to  the  highest  point  of  perfection 
by  our  ancient  artists,  as  the  scanty  but  elegant  specimens  still  to  be  seen 
in  the  cathedrals  of  Limerick,  Kilkenny,  Raphoe,  Armagh,  and  several 
other  of  our  antique  ecclesiastic  edifices,  amply  testify.     In  the  infancy 


ART    OF    STAINING    GLASS.  509 

of  the  art  in  Ireland,  in  the  fourth  century,  the  process  of  painting  glass 
was  very  simple ;  it  consisted  in  the  mere  arrangement  of  glass,  tinged 
with  different  colors,  in  a  symmetrical  order,  like  the  dyes  delineated  on 
a  mosaic  ceiling.  Our  churches  were  adorned  with  stained  glass  win- 
dows, exhibiting  scriptural  and  martyrological  history,  and  religious  and 
clerical  symbols,  two  centuries  before  the  church  of  St.  Mark,  in  Venice, 
was  decorated  with  this  species  of  embellishment.  We  are  told  by 
Bishop  Burke,  in  the  history  of  the  Irish  abbeys,  that  St.  Kenan's  Ca- 
thedral, built  at  Duleek,*in  thecounty  of  Meath,  A.  D.  489,  was  enlight- 
ened by  stained  glass  windows,  representing  the  sufferings  of  Christ. 
In  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  the  art  made  rapid  strides  to  perfection  ; 
the  painters  became  more  spirited  in  design,  and  more  skilful  and  ex- 
quisite in  execution  ;  but  tliough  they  delineated  figures  enlightened  with 
their  shades,  yet  they  could  not  fill  up  their  contours  with  fine  groupings, 
or  graphic  elegances  of  detail.  When  they  were  called  upon  to  adorn 
palaces  or  churches,  they  had  glass  of  every  color  of  the  rainbow  pre- 
pared, out  of  which  they  cut  the  pieces  they  wanted  to  fill  up  the 
window  frame  or  sash.  But  after  a  short  lime,  they  discovered  a  more 
improved  method,  of  incorporating  the  colors  in  the  glass  itself,  by  heat- 
ing it  in  a  strong  fire  to  the  desired  degree.  We  believe  that  the  art  is 
partially  lost,  for  the  modern  attempts  have  neither  the  boldness  of 
design  nor  the  vivid  freshness  of  coloring  which  our  old  abbeys  and 
churches  yet  exhibit.  The  atrocious  myrmidons  of  Cromwell,  after  the 
massacre  at  Drogheda,  proceeded  to  the  once  magnificent  abbey  of 
Melefont,  in  the  county  of  Louth,  and,  in  the  rage  of  the  diabolical  spirit 
of  their  fanaticism,  broke  and  demolished  the  gorgeously  stained  glass 
windows,  which  even  the  ravaging  Huns  of  Elizabeth  had  spared.  On 
these  windows,  which  were  presented  to  the  abbot  by  O'Rourke,  prince 
of  BrefFeny,  A.  D.  1169,  were  beautifully  painted,  at  full  lengths,  the 
twelve  apostles,  the  four  evangelists,  and  the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. Harris  has  asserted  that,  if  these  windows  were  in  existence  in 
his  day,  1763,  they  would  be  worth  six  thousand  guineas."    Pepper. 

"  The  cathedral  of  St.  Canice  is  an  extensive  and  commanding  pile, 
seated  on  a  gentle  eminence,  whence  are  obtained  fine  views  over  the 
city,  and  along  the  winding  banks  of  the  River  Nore.  This  church  is  of 
a  cruciform  shape,  surmounted  with  a  low  tower.  The  length  from  east 
lo  west  is  two  hundred  and  twenty-six  feet,  in  the  clear  ;  and  the  breadth 
of  the  cross,  from  north  to  south,  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  feet. 

"  The  eastern  part  of  the  church,  comprising  the  choir  and  chancel, 
is  seventy-seven  feet  in  length.     The  bishop's  throne,  the  seats,  and  the 

*  Stone  House. 


510  chieftains'  castles. 

gallery,  are  of  varnished  oak  ;  the  whole  being  conspicuous  for  a  sedate 
simplicity.  At  the  east  end  is  a  very  lofty  window,  divided  into  three 
lights  of  the  lancet  form  on  the  exterior,  but  each  compartment  finishing, 
internally,  with  a  trefoil  head.  We  are  informed  by  Ware,  that  Bishop 
Ledred,  soon  after  the  year  1318,  expended  large  sums  in  embellishing 
his  cathedral,  and  particularly  in  filling  the  windows  with  stained  glass. 
His  liberality  was  eminently  displayed  in  this  eastern  window,  the  paint- 
ings of  which  represented  the  history  of  Christ,  from  the  birth  to  the 
ascension.  Rinuncini,  legate  to  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  during  the 
troubles  of  the  seventeenth  century,  is  said  to  have  offered  seven  hundred 
pounds  for  the  glass  of  this  window,  which  offev  was  declined ;  but, 
unhappily,  the  glass  was  destroyed,  in  1650,  by  the  fanatics  of  that 
gloomy  period.  Some  mutilated  fragments  were  afterwards  collected 
by  Bishop  Pococke,  and  placed  in  two  ovals  over  the  western  door. 

"  The  nave  is  divided  from  its  side  aisles  by  pointed  arches,  unoma- 
mented,  and  supported  by  pillars  composed  of  black  marble.  The 
side  aisles  are  lighted  by  pointed  windows,  and  the  body  of  the  church 
by  windows  of  quatrefoil  shape,  placed  in  a  clerestory.  In  the  side 
aisles,  and  between  the  pillars,  are  numerous  altar-monuments.  The 
long  succession  of  these  sepulchral  memorials  adds  greatly  to  the  impres- 
sive effect  of  this  division  of  the  structure  ;  and  we  have  rarely  seen  tjje 
interior  of  an  ecclesiastical  building,  which  at  the  same  time  was  so  little 
indebtel  to  architectural  effort,  and  possessed  so  imperative  a  sway  over 
the  feelings."  —  Brewer'' s  Beauties  of  Ireland.  —  Killala  Church,  built 
1160,  by  Daniel  O'Brien,  king  of  Limerick,  a  venerable  pile,  erected 
in  the  form  of  a  cross  —  two  hundred  feet  in  length,  and  in  every  respect 
proportioned.  The  large,  pointed,  arched  window,  over  the  eastern 
portal,  is  elaborately  enriched  with  sculptural  mouldings  and  ornaments. 
The  venerable  ruin  is  m  fine  preservation,  and  is  surrounded,  like  the 
temples  of  Thebes,  with  countless  ruins  that  date  back  before  its  time 
several  centuries.  The  stone  cross  of  Tuam,  a  part  of  which  still  exists ; 
the  statues  of  the  twelve  apostles,  at  the  cathedral  of  Cashell ;  the 
grand  archway  of  Mellefont  Abbey,  and  the  beautiful  tracery  and  enrich- 
ments of  many  other  ruins  in  Ireland,  remain  yet  as  proofs  that  the 
ancient  Irish  artists  carried  sculpture  to  a  perfection,  in  the  tenth  centu- 
ry, "which  no  nation  in  Europe,"  says  Pepper,  ^^ could  then  equal." 

Chieftains'  castles  lie  about,  in  magnificent  ruins,  on  every  hill :  to 
particularize  them  would  fill  many  pages :  they  bear  date  of  the 
eighth,  ninth,  tenth,  and  eleventh  centuries.  The  principal  cathedrals 
that  still  exist  entire,  which  may  be  referred  to  as  to  the  matured  age  of 


HOLT    CROSS    ABBEY.  511 

Insh  architecture,  are,  besides  Cormac's  Chapel,  built  880, — Christ's 
Church,  Dubhn,  built  1038  ;  St.  Patrick's,  Dublin,  1070;  Holy  Cross, 
1110 ;  and  the  cathedrals  of  Waterford,  Limerick,  and  Cork,  about  1104. 
The  monastic  ruins  of  Ardfert,  in  the  county  Kerry,  are  amongst  the 
noblest  in  Ireland.  We  are  told,  by  Colgan,  that  when  St.  Brandon 
taught  there,  in  935,  it  accommodated  nine  hundred  students,  six  of 
whom  were  foreign  princes  ;  and  at  the  far-famed  abbey  of  Benchoir, 
there  was  room  for  three  thousand. 

The  engraving  now  before  the  reader  represents  an  accurate  sectional 
view  of  the  interior  of  Holy  Cross  Abbey,  in  the  county  of  Limerick.* 
This  is  a  specimen  of  the  improved  or  pointed  architecture,  which, 
in  the  twelfth,  thirteenth,  and  fourteenth  centuries,  spread  so  rapidly 
over  Europe,  from  this  very  model.  Look  upon  it,  reader,  with  an 
inquiring  and  a  reverential  eye.  It  is  all,  every  particle,  of  pure  cut 
stone.  The  abbey  was  begun  about  1080,  and  finished  1110, — 
one  hundred  years  before  this  style  was  introduced  into  continental 
Europe.  Examine  its  proportions  with  the  eye  of  science,  and  try 
— can  any  part  of  it  be  improved  1  You  may  adorn  it,  —  you  may 
heap  ornament  upon  ornament  on  this  splendid  pile;  but  show  where 
you  can  add  one  limb  or  feature  to  its  architectural  beauty. 

All  beauty  in  architecture,  as  laid  down  by  the  best  authorities,  must 
grow  from  utility ;  any  limb,  or  part  of  a  limb,  put  up  merely  for  orna- 
ment, is  false  —  is  tawdry.  You  may  ornament  a  buttress,  a  jamb,  a 
column,  a  capital,  an  entablature,  an  arch,  a  ceiling,  or  a  window  ;  but 
when  any  of  these  great  limbs  are  put  up  as  ornaments,  they  become 
absurd  and  vulgar,  contrary  to  good  taste,  and  proclaim  the  architect 
incompetent.  Look  again,  reader,  upon  that  picture  !  The  men  who 
erected  that  pile  are  accounted  barbarous.  Be  it  so ;  the  day  of  their 
vindication  is  coming. 

*  Holy  Cross  Abbey,  according  to  Dr.  Milner,  the  learned  English  divine,  was  built 
in  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  by  Donald  O'Brien,  king  of  Limerick,  to 
receive  a  piece  of  the  identical  cross  on  which  the  Savior  was  crucified.  The  cross 
was  buried,  in  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Adrian,  under  the  temple  of  Venus,  in  Rome, 
and  dug  out  by  the  empress  St.  Helena,  and  distributed  among  the  Christians  of  the 
universe.  The  piece,  about  three  inches  long,  which  was  brought  to  Ireland,  was 
placed  in  a  wooden  case  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  and  deposited  in  the  altar  of  this 
church  after  it  was  built ;  where  it  remained  till  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Eighth, 
when,  owing  to  the  many  sacrilegious  acts  perpetrated  in  that  reign  upon  every 
shrine  in  which  aught  that  was  held  sacred  by  the  people  was  deposited,  it  was 
placed,  for  safety,  in  the  custody  of  a  member  of  the  Kavanagh  family,  by  whose 
descendants  it  is  still  preserved. 


512  HABITATIONS    OF    THE    ANCIENT    BRITONS. 

We  sliall  now  inquire  into  the  state  of  architecture  in  Britain,  Scot- 
land, Wales,  Germany,  Italy,  and  France,  during  the  early  ages  of 
Christianity.  We  shall  try  to  discover  which  of  those  nations  originally 
possessed  the  germ  of  that  grand  church  architecture,  which,  in  its  ad- 
vanced stages,  filled  the  minds  of  the  whole  world  with  such  admiration ; 
—  which  so  infatuated  kings,  queens,  lords,  and  ladies,  with  its  beauty, 
that  lands,  crowns,  jewels,  and  all  else  that  men  and  women  hold  dear, 
were  yielded  up  to  amplify  and  establish  it. 

The  inhabitants  of  Britain,  before  Csesar's  invasion,  50  B.  C,  lived 
in  caves  and  thickets.  The  caves  were  their  winter  habitations,  and 
places  of  retreat  in  time  of  war.  They  were  formed  and  rendered  se- 
cure and  warm  by  art,  like  those  of  the  ancient  Germans,  as  described 
by  Tacitus,  who  wrote,  "  They  are  used  to  dig  deep  caves  in  the 
ground,  and  cover  them  with  earth,  where  they  lay  up  their  provisions, 
and  dwell  in  winter  for  the  sake  of  warmth.  Into  those  they  retire  also 
from  their  enemies,  who  plunder  the  open  country,  but  cannot  discover 
these  subterranean  recesses."  —  Royal  English  Encyclopcedia. 

Their  summer  houses  consisted  of  a  few  stakes,  wattles,  and  boughs 
of  trees ;  and  this  was  the  custom  in  Britain  down  to  the  invasion  of 
Caesar.  In  fact,  England  and  Germany,  being  the  continental  interior 
of  the  newly-discovered  west  of  Europe,  bore  that  relation  to  Ireland 
which  the  countries  and  inhabitants  west  of  the  Mississippi  now  bear 
to  Massachusetts  or  New  York.  Nature  and  history  both  agree  in 
assuring  us  that  Ireland  was  the  land  first  peopled,  reclaimed,  and 
adorned,  by  the  eastern  tribes  who  moved  westward  in  search  of  land 
and  adventure.  It  was  the  first  land  they  met  as  they  sailed  from  the 
Mediterranean.  Hence  it  was  the  centre  from  which  all  intellectual 
light  radiated  on  Western  Europe. 

The  ancient  Britons  had  no  cities,  according  to  our  idea  of  a  city. 
Their  dwellings,  consisting  of  circular  huts,  were  scattered  about  the 
country,  and  generally  situated  at  the  skirt  of  some  forest,  or  on  the 
banks  of  some  river ;  for  they  were  governed  in  this  matter  more  by  the 
convenience  of  their  cattle  than  their  own.  And  these  remarks  will 
apply  equally  to  Gaul  as  to  Britain,  and  to  Germany  as  to  either. 
"  In  those  early  periods  of  our  history,"  says  Elmes,  "  which  are  before 
the  Roman  invasion,  our  ancestors  appear  to  have  had  scarcely  any 
other  dwellings  than  thickets,  dens,  and  caverns ;  and,  according  to 
Tacitus  and  Caesar,  could  have  been  little  better,  in  point  of  civilization, 
than  many  of  the  recently-discovered  inhabitants  of  the  South  Seas. 


STONE    HUTS.  513 

The  earliest  style  of  architecture,  practised  in  Britain,  appears  to  have 
been  similar  to  that  which  is  still  used  in  the  smaller  hamlets  of  England, 
called,  by  village  architects,  wattle  and  dab,  being  a  daubing,  or  rude 
plastering,  with  clay,  over  the  chinks  and  crevices  of  the  wattled  walls 
of  their  wicker-worked  cabins,  filling  up  the  interstices  with  moss. 
The  roofs  were  formed  as  they  are  at  present,  with  boughs  of  trees,  and 
thatched  with  straw,  to  protect  the  inmates  from  the  weather.  The  form 
of  the  huts  was  conical,  with  a  hole  in  the  apex  or  top.  to  admit  light 
and  emit  smoke.  We  can  trace  this  simple  style  from  the  ancestors  of 
the  polished  Greeks  to  the  aboriginal  Britons ;  and  the  villages  of  the 
Hottentots  and  CafFres  exhibit  it  to  this  day.  What  the  ancient  Britons 
called  a  toivn,  was  merely  an  enclosure,  by  a  sort  of  circular  ditch  and 
mound,  of  a  tract  of  woody  land ;  within  which  an  assemblage  of  huts, 
of  the  above  description,  was  erected,  to  protect  themselves  and  cattle 
from  the  incursions  of  border  tribes ;  for  the  inhabitants  of  the  island 
were  then  divided  into  about  forty  contending  tribes. 

"  Stone  huts,  in  imitation  of  the  '  wattle  and  dab,'  were  erected  in  the 
course  of  time,  circular  in  their  plan,  and  conical  in  their  elevation,  with 
circular  apertures  at  the  top ;  so  that,  what  was  a  mansion  among  the 
ancient  Britons,  and  served  the  noblest  of  our  ancestors  for  withdrawing- 
rooras,  boudoirs,  parlors,  &ic.,  would  make  an  excellent,  though  small- 
sized,  tile-kiln  of  the  present  day."  —  Elmes's  Lectures,  354.  —  When 
Caractacus,  the  old  British  chief  and  monarch,  was  taken  captive,  and 
sent  in  triumph  to  Rome,  he  exclaimed,  as  he  gazed  in  wonder  on  their 
palaces,  "  How  is  it  that  a  people  having  such  houses  can  envy  my 
humble  cottage  in  Britain?"  During  the  occupation  of  Britain  by  the 
Romans,  we  are  told  they  built  many  towns  and  cities,  besides  the  great 
wall  to  keep  out  the  Picts  and  Irish.  The  latter  monument  is  the 
principal  remnant  that  remains  of  their  erections.  We  are  told  the 
Roman  wall  was  fortified  with  several  hundred  military  towers,  at 
short  distances  from  each  other,  like  those  on  the  great  wall  of 
China.  These  were  battered  down  by  the  hardy  bands  under 
O^Neill  and  Dathy,  who  drove  the  Roman  eagles  out  of  Britain. 
Their  wooden  towns  have  all  perished.  That  immense  pile  of  an- 
tiquity, Stonehenge,  in  Wiltshire,  is  not  of  Roman  erection  ;  the  con- 
jecture of  the  antiquarians  is,  that  it  is  the  remains  of  a  colossal 
Druid  temple,  raised  and  destroyed  anterior  to  the  recollection  of 
history  or  tradition.  Neither  Gildas  nor  Bede  allude  to  it,  though  both 
lived  within  forty  miles  of  it. 

The  Anglo-Saxons,  who  succeeded  the  Romans  as  conquerors  in 
Britain,  were  the  greatest  enemies  to  architecture.  They  battered 
65 


514  ARCHITECTURE    OF    THE    PICTS. 

down  every  town  and  castle  which  the  Romans  erected ;  and  both 
"  Saxon  and  Briton  were  again,"  say  the  chroniclers,  "  obliged  to  resort 
to  dens,  caves,  and  thickets,  for  shelter." 

This  loas  the  condition  of  England  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  cen- 
turies. 

"  The  truth  is,"  say  the  English  editors  of  The  Royal  Encyclo- 
paedia, —  "  The  truth  is,  that  the  Anglo-Saxons,  at  their  arrival  in  this 
island,  [Britain,]  were  almost  totally  ignorant  of  those  arts,  and,  like 
all  the  other  nations  of  Germany,  had  been  accustomed  to  live  in 
wretched  hovels  built  of  wood  or  earth,  or  covered  with  straw  or  the 
branches  of  trees ;  nor  did  they  much  improve  in  the  knowledge  of 
architecture  for  two  hundred  years  after  their  anival,  (A.  D.  670.) 
During  that  period,  masonry  was  quite  tmknown  and  unpractised  in 
this  island,  and  the  walls  even  of  cathedral  churches  were  built  of 
wood." 

"  There  does  not  seem  to  have  been  so  much  as  one  church  of  stone, 
nor  any  artists  who  could  build  one,  in  all  Scotland,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  eighth  century ;  for  Naitan,  king  of  the  Picts,  in  his  famous 
letter  to  Ceolford,  abbot  of  Weremouth,  A.  D.  710,  earnestly  entreats 
him  to  send  him  some  masons  to  build  a  church  of  stone  in  his  king- 
dom, which  he  promises  to  dedicate  to  the  honor  of  the  apostle  Peter, 
to  whom  the  abbey  of  Weremouth  was  dedicated ;  and  we  are  told  by 
Bede,  who  was  then  living  in  that  abbey,  that  the  reverend  abbot 
granted  this  pious  request,  and  sent  masons  according  to  his  desire." 

There  are  found,  in  Scotland,  two  or  three  circular  stone  buildings,  in 
a  state  of  complete  ruin,  which  resemble  large  lime-kilns,  with  stories 
of  windows  up  to  the  top,  at  which  the  walls  nearly  close  together : 
these  were  evidently  built  in  the  age  of  the  round  towers  by  the  first 
Milesian  adventurers,  or  by  some  of  the  Firbolgs,  or  even  earlier  tribes^ 
(from  the  valley  of  the  Nile,)  that  preceded  them. 

The  vitrified  forts,  to  be  found  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  were 
evidently  erected  by  the  ancient  Irish  Dalriadians,  who  first  peopled 
Scotland.  It  is  nonsense  to  attribute  them  to  the  Romans,  who  were 
never  suffered  by  their  indomitable  enemies  to  build  any  thing  north  of 
the  great  wall.  The  fact  that  the  stones  were  fastened  together  by 
vitrification,  viz.,  melted  into  one  another  by  the  action  of  fire,  and 
not  by  mortar  or  cement,  proves  the  degree  of  science  which,  in 
remote  ages,  prevailed  in  the  parent  country,  Ireland. 

"In  other  parts  of  this  island,  [Britain,]  architecture  was,  as  might 
naturally  be  imagined,  in  a  still  less  flourishing  state.    It  appears,  indeed, 


ANCIENT    ITALIAN    ARCHITECTURE.  515 

to  have  been  almost  entirely  lost  among  the  posterity  of  the  ancient 
Britons,  after  they  retired  to  the  mountains  of  Wales.  The  chief  palace 
of  the  king  of  Wales,  where  the  nobility  and  wise  men  assembled  for 
making  laws,  was  called  White  Palace,  because  the  walls  of  it  were  woven 
with  white  wands,  which  had  the  bark  peeled  off.  Even  the  castles  of 
Wales,  at  this  period,  [eighth  and  ninth  centuries,]  that  were  built  for 
the  security  of  the  country,  appear  to  have  been  constructed  of  the 
same  materials  ;  for  the  old  laws  required  the  king's  vassals  to  come  to 
the  building  of  these  castles  with  no  other  tools  but  an  axe."  —  Royal 
English  EncyclopiBdia. 

If  we  open  the  early  histories  of  France,  we  shall  see  nought  but 
ignorance,  wretchedness,  and  the  grossest  incivilization  prevail  in  that 
country,  from  the  third  to  the  seventh  century.  The  condition  of 
wretchedness  and  ignorance  to  which  the  Roman  emperors  Diocletian 
and  Maximilian  had  reduced  the  Gauls,  in  the  third  century,  was  not 
in  the  slightest  degree  alleviated  by  their  next  masters,  the  Franks, 
who  rushed  in  upon  them,  in  the  sixth  century,  from  the  wild,  uncivilized 
forests  of  Germany.  The  chiefs  of  these  latter  bands  are  described  to 
us  as  "  ferocious,"  and  their  serfs  "  slavish  and  ignorant." 

In  Italy,  architecture  was  completely  destroyed  by  the  Goths, — 
savages  from  the  north  of  Germany,  —  who  sacked  Rome,  A.  D.  412 
to  460.  Ignorance,  brutality,  revenge,  destroyed  nearly  all  the  beau- 
tiful structures  ;  and,  in  the  succeeding  two  or  three  centuries,  the 
Saracens  destroyed  all  the  Christian  edifices,  and  even  those  of  the 
ancient  treasury  of  arts,  —  the  beautiful  Italian  cities  Messina  and 
Cuma.  Roman  architecture,  which  flourished  from  Augustus  to  the 
time  of  Hadrian,  declined  about  the  third  century  ;  and,  during  four  or 
five  hundred  years,  the  taste  for  building  grew  barbarously  worse  in 
that  country.  ( Whittington,  p.  3.)  Nearly  all  the  churches  built  by 
Constantine  and  the  early  Christians  about  and  immediately  following 
his  time,  have  been  pulled  down  and  rebuilt.  One  old  church,  "  St. 
Paul's,"  of  the  latter  end  of  the  fourth  century,  yet  exists  outside  the  walls 
of  Rome;  it  is  entirely  walled;  the  windows  are  very  small.  Some 
others  of  the  fifth  century  yet  remain,  described  by  Whittington  as 
mean  and  without  taste,  but  not  one  of  them  is  in  the  pointed  style. 
Architecture  continued  in  a  depressed  state  through  Italy  nearly  five 
hundred  years. 

The  Italians,  long  before  the  fall  of  Rome,  gave  up  the  study  of 
architecture,  or  its  prosecution,  and  must  have  long  before  forgotten  how 
to  erect  arched  stone  roofs  ;  for  the  old  church  of  St.  Peter's,  at  Rome, 


«• 


516         EUROPE    FROM    THE    FOURTH    TO    THE    EIGHTH    CENTURY. 

was  covered  with  gilt  bronze  tiles,  roofed  with  wood,  the  timbers  un- 
covered, and  above  them  were  laid  layers  of  shingles.  I  do  not  deny 
but  that  the  Italian  Christians,  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  erected 
churches  of  a  peculiar  style,  of  mixed  orders ;  but  they  clearly  were 
not  of  that  pointed  and  arched  style  which  I  claim  for  Ireland,  and  to 
establish  which  my  general  arguments  are  directed.  I  defy  any  man 
to  point  out  one  Italian  church,  or  ruin,  or  even  the  authentic  draught 
of  one,  of  an  age  ranging  between  the  first  and  the  eighth  centuries, 
which  bears  the  germ  of,  or  a  resemblance  to,  pointed  architecture. 

Now,  then,  having  cleared  away  all  the  rotten  pretensions  to  pointed 
ARCHITECTURE  sct  up  for  the  ancient  Saxons,  Germans,  French,  Italians, 
Welsh,  or  Scotch,  I  shall,  like  a  true  workman,  lay  the  foundation  of 
our  prior  claim  to  that  style  wide  and  deep  in  the  minds  of  the  un- 
prejudiced and  the  enlightened. 

Every  architect,  every  artist,  every  scholar,  will  at  once  admit  that 
great  public  edifices,  whether  civil,  military,  or  ecclesiastical,  and  the 
richly-constructed  palaces  of  princes  and  wealthy  men,  can  alone  come 
under  the  denomination  of  "  architecture."  In  the  erection  of  all  such 
edifices,  a  knowledge  of  arithmetic,  geometry,  and  mathematics, — of  the 
laws  of  gravity  and  equilibrium, — of  chemistry  and  the  nature  of 
metals,  —  is  absolutely  required,  not  only  in  the  master-workman,  hut  in 
his  men ;  and  this  remark  applies  more  especially  to  the  erection  of 
arched  Irish  architecture ;  in  the  whole  of  which,  as  we  have  shown, 
nothing  but  stone  -is  used,  even  to  the  window  frames,  mullions,  and 
diminutive  intersections.  The  starting  of  those  stone  arches  from  side 
walls,  and  buttresses,  and  columns  ;  the  intersecting  of  them,  again  and 
again,  with  flying  arches  of  the  same  solid  material ;  the  poising  in 
the  air  hundreds  of  tons  of  stones,  supporting  one  another  by  the 
nicest  calculated  powers  of  gravity  and  equilibrium,  —  poising  and 
binding  them  together,  that  the  shocks  of  a  thousand  years  are  not  suffi- 
cient to  disturb ;  —  these  are  requirements  which  such  semi-savage 
tribes  as  the  inhabitants  of  the  continent  of  Europe,  in  the  fourth,  fifth, 
sixth,  and  seventh  centuries,  did  not,  it  is  admitted,  possess.  They 
could  not  write,  and  knew  nothing  of  mathematical  calculations.  Men 
living  in  a  semi-savage  state  are  slow  to  bend  the  mind  to  study. 
Ages  and  ages  pass  over  the  heads  of  an  ignorant  race  before  they  can 
be  brought  to  the  condition  of  learners,  reasoners,  thinkers,  or  calculators. 

Architecture  could  not  have  grown  amongst  the  inhabitants  of 
the  west  of  Europe  until  they  were  first  educated,  because  it  is  the 
result  of  a   combination    of   learned  acquirements.       And   now  let  us 


IRISH    MONKS    THE    ARCHITECTS    OF    EUROPE.  517 

look  back  upon  those  pages  I  have  already  devoted  to  the  splendid 
labors  of  the  Irish  missionaries  through  every  state  of  Western  Europe, 
from  the  fifth  to  the  ninth  century,  when  swarms  of  educated  monks 
went  out  of  Ireland  in  every  dii'ection,  carrying  with  them  knowledge, 
piety,  and  industry,  which  they  devoted,  agreeably  to  the  precepts  of 
iheir  religion,  to  the  exaltation  of  their  fellow-men. 

Every  architect  and  scholar  knows  that  these  monks  were  the  work- 
men who  built  all  the  churches  of  Europe  for  five  hundred  years ;  they 
were  the  architects,  the  masons,  the  carpenters,  the  plumbers,  the 
smiths,  glass-makers,  sculptors,  painters.  A  great  many  societies  of 
these  holy  men  joined  together  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  churches 
and  bridges,  from  motives  of  pure  charity  to  others,  in  obedience  to  a 
strong  religious  feeling :  of  course  this  is  incredible  to  the  great  masses 
of  vulgarity,  who  continue  to  call  the  monks  "  lazy,"  in  defiance  of  the 
literary  and  scientific  monuments  they  have  left  behind.  But  scholars 
know  that  the  stone  bridges  and  churches  through  Europe,  which  were 
erected  before  the  tenth  century,  were  all  built  by  the  hands,  and  under 
the  direction,  exclusively,  of  the  monks  ;  nay,  more,  there  was  not  a 
single  want  of  mankind,  or  a  mode  by  which  they  could  be  benefited, 
that  these  calumniated  men  did  not  combine  into  associations  to  supply. 
Were  youth  to  be  educated,  they  were  the  teachers ;  were  books  to 
be  written,  or  translated,  or  multiplied,  they  performed  the  work ;  were 
the  poor  to  be  relieved,  they  were  the  almoners  ;  were  the  sick  to  be 
tended,  they  were  the  physicians  and  visitors ;  were  widows  and  orphans 
to  be  provided  for,  the  monks  were  their  guardians  ;  were  travellers  to 
be  protected,  guided,  and  entertained  in  the  midst  of  wildernesses,  and 
on  the  tops  of  mountains,  the  monks  formed  associations  to  perform 
this  humane  duty  ;  were  bridges  to  be  erected  over  impassable  fords  and 
rivers,  these  men  combined  to  build  them  —  the  noblest  bridge  in  all 
Europe,  that  of  Avignon,  over  the  Rhine,  was  erected  by  the  labor  and 
collections  of  these  charitable  monks :  were  churches,  monasteries,  and 
schools,  to  be  built,  they  formed  into  holy  brotherhoods  for  the  purpose. 
If  this  be  not  true,  then  the  history  of  Europe  is  a  huge  lie !  Tho 
society  of  Freemasons,  for  the  building  of  bridges,  roads,  &c.  &c., 
was  first  heard  of  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  and  wa^ 
established  by  one  of  those  religious  orders,  though  it  has  long  sinci^. 
ceased  to  huiJcl. 

Now,  we  shall  trace  the  Irish  monks,  step  after  step,  through 
Europe,  erecting  churches  and  forming  religious  congregations  every 
where  throuo;h  that  continent. 


518       FIRST    MONASTERIES    ERECTED    IN    ENGLAND    BY    IRISHMEN. 

The  first  Christian  edifice  erected  for  divine  worship,  in  England,  was 
built  by  Irish  architects  at  Withtrn,  anno  603.  "  For  the  Anglo-Saxons," 
says  Bede,  "  were  partly  converted  to  Christianity  by  Irish  missionaries 
before  the  -arrival  of  St.  Austin,  in  597."  The  same  architects,  who 
built  Withern,  were  then  employed  to  build  old  St.  Paul's,  in  London, 
in  610,  on  the  site  of  the  temple  of  Diana.  We  have  the  authority  of 
Turner,  and  other  English  historians,  to  say  that  St.  Wilfrid,  bishop  of 
York,  who  built  the  church  of  Hexham,  in  674,  sent  to  Ireland  for 
architects  to  construct  it.  In  fact,  as  Dr.  Johnson  remarks,  "  Ireland 
was  then  the  school  of  the  west,  in  every  art  and  science  ; "  and  to  her 
taste  and  authority,  in  matters  of  style,  the  Saxons  and  Goths  of  Eng- 
land and  Germany  cheerfully  deferred. 

Dr.  Milner,  an  Englishman,  remarks,  "  Can  we  suppose  that  the 
tutors  of  the  English,  French,  and  Germans,  in  the  learned  lau' 
guages,  the  sciences,  and  music,  as  the  Irish  are  known  to  have  been 
during  four  centuries,  were  incapable  to  build  plain  round  towers 
of  stone  ?  "  And  the  doctor  might  have  added,  the  most  finished 
temples  of  arched  and  pointed  architecture.  In  the  Island  of  Hy, 
(lona,)  St.  Columbe  Kille  and  his  Irish  monks  built  that  famous  monas- 
tery, from  which  the  north  of  England  was  instructed  in  architecture, 
literature,  and  Christianity  ;  for  there  were  several  monasteries  erected  in 
connection  with  the  house  of  Hy,  and  after  the  same  model.  The 
style  of  that  architecture,  as  noticed  by  the  writer  in  the  London 
Athenceum,  whom  I  have  quoted,  is  "  directly  connected  with  the  archi- 
tecture of  Ireland."  "  The  monastery  of  Lindisfarne  was  built,"  says 
the  Royal  English  Encyclopaedia,  "  by  Irishmen,  under  St.  Finan,  in 
the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century."  It  was  built  of  split  oak,  but  the 
shape  was  afterwards  imitated  in  stone.  The  abbey  of  Malmesbury 
was  founded  and  built  by  the  L'ish  monk  Maildulphus,  in  the  seventh 
century.  It  is  the  oldest  existing  building  in  England  of  that  style, 
and,  according  to  the  English  Elmes,  displays  all  the  main  features  of 
arched  architecture,  which  is  now  called  Gothic.  The  English  Turner, 
in  his  History  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  says,  "  Aldhelm  had  continued  his 
studies  at  Malmesbury,  where  Maildulphus,  an  Irishman,  had  founded 
a  monastery."  *  —  Vol.  II . 

*  At  this  very  monastery  it  was  that  the  Irish  missionaries  first  presented  to  the 
illiterate  Saxons  the  rudiments  of  literature,  science,  architecture,  and  music,  and 
even  the  very  forms  of  the  letters  used  in  writing  the  English  language  to  this  day. 


IRISH    ARCHITECTS    THROUGHOUT    EUROPE.  519 

Gallus,  an  Irish  monk,  built  the  monastery  of  St.  Gall,  in  Switzerland, 
in  connection  with  which  several  other  monasteries  afterwards  subsisted, 
about  anno  630.  Dichuill,  an  Irish  monk,  built  the  monastery  o^Luttwa, 
in  France,  and  received  grants  of  land  from  the  French  monarch  Clotaire 
the  Second,  anno  650.  The  monastery  Centula,  in  Pontheed,  was 
built  by  Caidoc,  to  whom  a  splendid  tomb  was  erected,  on  which  was 
engraved,  with  golden  letters,  the  following :  "  To  whom  Ireland 
gave  birth,  and  the  Gallic  land  a  grave."  St.  Fursa,  from  Ireland, 
built  the  monastery  of  Lagny,  near  the  River  Marne,  in  France,  anno 
650.  In  Brabant,  the  brothers  of  St.  Fursa,  Ultan  and  Foillan, 
built  a  monastery  about  the  same  time,  which  was  long  called  the 
Monastery  of  the  Irish."  St.  Fridolin  fixed  himself  and  his  monks  on 
the  then  uninhabited  island  in  the  Rhine,  called  Seckingen,  where  he 
built  a  monastery,  anno  590.  The  Prince  Dagobert,  of  Strasburg, 
in  the  seventh  century,  who,  like  many  of  the  German  and  Saxon 
princes,  was  educated  in  Ireland,  brought  with  him  several  Irish  monks, 
who  built  churches  throughout  his  dominions.  The  Irish  Virgilius 
raised  the  splendid  Basali  of  Saltzburg,  anno  750. 

The  great  church  of  Europe,  erected  by  Charlemagne,  at  Aix-la- 
chapelle,  was  built  by  Irish  monks  brought  from  the  abbey  of  St.  Gall ; 
and  the  chief  architect,  feeling  a  deep  veneration  for  the  old  round 
towers  of  his  native  country,  erected  one  of  the  same  kind,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  church,  in  the  very  heart  of  Europe,  —  the  only  one, 
indeed,  to  be  found  throughout  that  continent. 

The  most  distinguished  specimen  of  old  Gothic  architecture,  in 
Portugal,  is  the  church  of  the  convent  of  Batallia,  which  was  con- 
structed by  AN  Irish  architect.  —  See  Hoskings,  in  Adams's 
and  Black's  Arts,  Edinburgh  edition,  page  21. 

Here  are  proofs,  and  I  have  many  more,  that  in  Scotland.  England, 
Germany,  France,  and  Portugal,  the  Irish  monks  erected  generally  the 
first  Christian  churches  and  monasteries.  The  very  forms  of  those 
churches,  so  closely  modeled  after  the  erections  in  their  native  land, 
wonderfully  coincide.  And  when  we  add  to  all  this  the  swarms 
of  foreigners  from  every  part  of  Europe,  who  came  to  Ireland,  for  four 
or  five  centuries,  to  be  educated,  and  who  returned  to  their  own  coun- 
tries with  vivid  impressions  of  her  architecture  and  science,  we  account 
for  the  spread  of  the  Irish  style  of  building  in  so  rapid  and  general  a 
manner  throughout  Europe. 

"  Who,  SIR,"  says  the  English  Dr.  Milner,  "  were  the  lumina- 
ries OF    the    western    world    when   the  SUN    of    science  had 

ALMOST    SET   UPON    IT  ?       WhO    WERE     THE    INSTRUCTORS    OF    NATIONS, 


520  DR.  milner's  opinion. 

DURING  FOUR  WHOLE  CENTURIES,  BUT  THE  IrISH  CLERGY  ?  To  THEM 
YOU  ARE  INDEBTED  FOR  THE  PRESERVATION  OF  THE  BlBLE,  THE 
FATHERS,  AND  THE  CLASSICS  ;  IN  SHORT,  OF  THE  MEANS  BY  WHICH 
YOU  YOLTISELVES  HAVE  ACQUIRED  WHATEVER  LITERATURE  YOU  POS- 
SESS." 

"  Gildas,  the  first  British  historian,  studied  for  a  long  time,  in  the 
sixth  century,  at  St.  Patrick's  Seminary,  at  Armagh,  as  did  Agilbert, 
the  French  divine,  in  the  succeeding  century,  who  was  the  second 
bishop  of  the  West  Saxons.  Soon  after  this,  we  find  great  numbers  of 
our  countrymen,  poor  as  well  as  rich,  flocking  to  Ireland  as  to  a  general 
mart  of  literature.  At  length,  a  I'esidence  in  Ireland,  like  a  residence 
now  at  a  university,  was  considered  as  almost  essential  to  establish  a 
literary  character. 

"  I  cannot  forbear  quoting  from  Camden  the  lines  which  he  extracted 
from  the  Life  of  St.  Sulgenius,  who  flourished  in  the  eighth  century :  — 

*Exemplo  patrum,  commotus  aniore  legendi, 
Ivit  ad  Hibernos,  sopliia  mirabile  claros.' "  * 

Such,  in  fact,  was  the  case,  and,  to  come  to  the  point,  we  chal- 
lenge Europe  to  show  so  old  and  such  beautiful  specimens  of  the 
arched  and  pointed  architecture,  as  we  can  show  in  these  two  churches 
I  have  adduced,  namely,  Cormac's  Chapel,  built  880,  and  Holy  Cross, 
built   1110,  and  in  others,  which  are  falling  to  ruin. 

"  Stone  buildings,"  says  the  Royal  Encyclopaedia,  "  were  very  rarely 
built  in  England  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  ages.  When  any  such 
buildings  were  erected,  they  were  the  objects  of  much  admiration," 
(wonder.) 

"  When  Alfred  the  Great,  towards  the  end  of  the  ninth  century, 
iormed  the  design  of  rebuilding  his  ruined  cities,  churches,  and  monas- 
teries, he  was  obliged  to  bring  many  of  his  artificers  from  foreign 
countries."  The  church  of  St.  Peter's,  at  Oxford,  built  by  him,  is  so 
evidendy  a  copy  from  Cormac's  Chapel,  of  Cashell,  that  we  need  but 
point  the  artist's  eye  to  the  form  and  features  of  both,  to  ascertain  from 
whence  Alfred,  who  was  educated  in  Ireland,  drew  his  architects, 
artisans,  and  models. 

"  It  was  not  till  after  the  Norman  conquest  that  the  English  began 
to  build  generally  with  stone  arches.  Stoive  relates  that  Mauritius, 
bishop  of  London,  about  the  eleventh  century,  began  the  foundation  of 
the  new  church  of  St.  Paul  upon  arches  of  stone  —  a  manner  of  work 
unknown  to  the  English." 

*  Letters  of  Dr.  Milner  from  Ireland;  Letter  L  1808. 


•     SALISBURY    CATHEDRAL    MODELED    AFTER    HOLY    CROSS.  521 

In  the  twelfth,  thirteenth,  and  fourteenth  centuries,  all  London  was 
built  of  wood,  and  covered  with  reeds  and  thatch ;  and  there  is  still,  or 
was,  not  long  ago,  the  remnant  of  one  of  these  preserved  for  its  singular 
antiquity,  and  converted  into  a  tavern,  called  the  "  Thatched-house 
Tavern."  The  old  "  Bow  Church "  of  London,  built  1077,  was  so 
called  because  it  was  built  upon  the  new  principles  of  arches  of  stone, 
and  was,  therefore,  called  St.  Mary-/e-6oi^.  And  Stradford  Bridge,  the 
first  stone  arched  bridge  built  in  England,  was,  from  the  same  circum- 
stance, called  Stradford-/e-6oM>.     See  Stoive's  Survey. 

After  the  Norman  conquest,  WiUiam  and  his  son  Rufus,  to  occupy 
the  minds  of  the  people,  began  in  every  direction  the  building  of  grand 
churches,  in  the  pointed  style. 

A  short  time  before  Murchard  O'Brien's  death,  William  Rufus  sent 
to  request  he  would  allow  him  to  cut  timber  in  the  Irish  forests. 
"  The  fair  green,  or  commune,"  says  Hanmer,  "  now  called  Ostmon- 
town  Green,  was  all  wood ;  and  bee  that  diggith,  at  this  day,  to  any 
depth,  shall  finde  the  ground  full  of  great  rootes.  From  thence,  anno 
1098,  King  WiUiam  Rufus,  by  license  of  Murchard,  had  that  frame 
which  made  up  the  roofe  of  Westminster  Hall,  where  no  English  spider 
wehheth  or  breedeth  to  this  day.''^  —  Chronicle  of  England. 

Salisbury  Cathedral  is  the  first  complete  erection  in  the  pointed  arched 
style  that  was  built  in  England,  finished  in  1258,  evidently  after  the 
style  of  Holy  Cross,  in  Ireland,  which  was  built  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  previously. 

Painted  glass  was  not  introduced  into  England  until  about  the  year 
1250,  nor  generally  till  1400,  though  it  was  common  in  Ireland  four 
hundred  years  before.  The  windows  of  the  cathedrals  then  began 
to  be  enlarged,  divided  into  several  lights  by  stone  muUions,  run 
ning  into  ramifications  above,  which  were  filled  v/ith  painted  representa- 
tions, on  the  glass,  of  saints,  martyrs,  kings,  which  made,  says  an  old 
writer,  "  a  most  glorious  history." 

It  will  not  do  to  tell  us,  that  this  arched  and  pointed  architecture,  was 
introduced  to  Europe  by  the  crusaders  or  the  knights  templars.  They 
had  it  in  Ireland  in  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  whereas  the  cru- 
saders did  not  return  from  the  East  till  the  twelfth ;  nor  were  the  knights 
templars  established  until  1148;  and  the  first  church  they  built  was 
their  own,  at  Paris,  1222,  which  was  paid  for  by  their  treasurer. 

Nor  can  this  style  be  credited  to  the  Saracens,  as  some  have  very 
unlearnedly  done  ;  for  Elmes  and  others  tell  us  that  the  oldest  specimens 
of  this  style,  of  Saracen  origin,  which  can  be  referred  to,  are  the  walls 
66 


522 


CHARACTER    OF    IRISH    ARCHITECTURE. 


of  Alexandria,  built  in  878  by  the  Caliph  Montatowakkel.  There  are 
some  buildings,  in  the  East,  of  the  twelfth  century,  erected  by  the 
Sultan  Saladin,  (whose  real  name  was  Joseph.)  The  Moorish  build- 
ings in  this  style  are  few  and  poor,  and  the  dates  of  their  erection  uncer- 
tain. There  are  no  buildings  of  this  character  to  be  found  in  the 
East  of  a  date  any  thing  so  early  as  those  to  be  found  in  Ireland.  If 
there  be,  let  them  be  pointed  out,  and  proof  of  their  age  be  given. 

After  the  conquest  of  Constantinople  by  the  Mahometans,  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  every  mosque  was  constructed  in  imitation  of  the 
Christian  churches,  to  which  they  added  adornments  of  their  own,  con- 
sisting of  slender,  lofty  minarets,  diversified  in  style  and  ornament  by 
each  succeeding  sultan.  Wherever  the  army  of  the  Mahometans 
triumph,  they  convert  the  Christian  churches  into  mosques  for  their  own 
use.  This  was  the  case  in  Portugal  and  Spain.  It  is  undeniable  that 
in  Asia  Minor,  Syria,  Arabia,  Persia,  and  on  to  India,  the  pointed  arch 
may  be  seen  occasionally.     But  they  are  modern  erections. 

The  Irish  cannot  claim  the  honor  of  originating  the  arch  and  column, 
which  were  in  use  in  Phoenicia  and  Egypt  before  Ireland  was  probably 
inhabited  ;  but,  as  he  who  improves  an  invention  is,  to  a  certain  extent, 
to  be  deemed  an  inventor  himself,  so  the  Irish,  having  brought  the  arch 
and  column  to  the  highest  degree  of  architectural  development,  con- 
sistent with  real  beauty,  and  as  no  other  nation  can  show  claims,  equal- 
ing theirs,  to  that  honor,  so  they  must  be  deemed  the  originators  of  that 
style  which,  from  the  eighth  to  the  fourteenth  century,  was  adopted 
by  all  Europe,  and  carried  to  such  extraordinary  degrees  of  refine- 
ment. 

If  the  structures  of  Ireland  were  not  as  colossal  as  those  of  her 
neighbors,  it  should  be  remembered  that  they  built  them  from  their  own 
resources,  and  by  their  own  labor.  The  palaces  of  pagan  Rome  were 
built  by  the  captives  she  dragged  thither  from  all  countries,  and  by  the 
plunder  of  defenceless  and  unoffending  nations.  Most  of  the  great 
temples  of  Europe  were  raised  by  leaning  on  communities  distant 
from  the  place  of  their  erection  ;  but  Ireland  never  built  her  temples 
by  the  pillage  of  any  nation.  Her  churches  and  temples  are  compara- 
tively small ;  but,  then,  how  beautiful  they  are !  They  were  built  to 
worship  in  them  the  true  God.  Their  aspect,  as  they  look  down 
upon  us  in  placid  grandeur,  is  sublime.  Every  aisle,  every  column, 
arch  and  porch,  every  window,  proclaim  them  houses  of  prayer. 
A  New  Zealander,  or  Hottentot,  if  brought  into  one  of  these  ruins, 
would  pronounce  it  a  house  of  the  "  Great  Spirit." 


CHARACTER    OF    IRISH    ARCHITECTURE.  523 

The  Grecian  was  the  style  for  state  or  revelry,  the  Irish  for  prayer. 
The  elements  of  the  Irish  are  spires,  pinnacles,  lofty  arched  and  pointed 
windows,  and  elevation,  as  opposed  to  the  square,  angular,  flat,  and 
horizontal  style  of  the  Greeks. 

"  It  is  difHcult,"  says  the  Royal  English  Encyclopaedia,  "  for  the 
noblest  Grecian  temple  to  convey  half  so  many  impressions  on  the 
mind  as  a  cathedral  does,  of  the  best  Gothic  [Irish]  character —  a  proof 
of  skill  in  the  architects  and  priests  who  erected  them.  The  latter 
exhausted  their  knowledge  of  the  passions  in  composing  edifices  whose 
pomp,  mechanism,  vaults,  tombs,  painted  windows,  and  perspectives, 
infused  such  sensations  of  exalted  devotion.  We  must  have  taste  to  be 
sensible  of  the  beauties  of  Grecian  architecture.  We  only  want 
passions  to  feel  and  appreciate  those  of  Gothic,  [Irish.]  In  St.  Peter's 
or  St.  Paul's,  we  are  convinced  they  were  built  by  great  princes.  In 
the  cathedrals  of  Gothic  [Irish]  construction,  we  think  not  of  the 
builders,  but  of  religion." 

In  truth,  Ireland,  before  her  fall  in  the  twelfth  century,  brought  this 
arched  and  pointed  style  to  the  highest  desirable  point  of  perfection, 
uniting  in  itself  the  three  great  essentials  in  architecture,  strength,  grace, 
and  richness. 

During  the  reigns  of  the  first  three  Henrys  of  England,  the  angles 
of  the  arch  were  formed  very  acute,  and  the  arch,  if  it  could  be  so 
called,  was  hardly  discernible.  During  the  reigns  of  the  first  three 
Edwards,  the  arch  was  formed  by  an  equilateral  triangle,  running  from 
the  points  where  the  arch  sprang,  to  its  key-stone.  During  the  period 
from  Henry  the  Sixth  to  Henry  the  Eighth,  the  arch  of  the  roofs  and 
windows  was  brought  down  again  to  Cormac's  standard.  Dr.  Whar- 
ton described  three  changes  in  style,  as  stages  in  this  style  of  architec- 
ture, viz.,  the  simple,  the  ornamental,  and  i\\e  jlorid. 

In  the  sixteenth  century,  during  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  when  the 
leaders  of  the  reformation  had  seized  upon  the  temples,  colleges,  and 
monasteries,  of  Ireland  and  England,  and  the  lands  attached  to  them, 
—  when  they  would  cry  down  the  former  occupants  of  these  venerable 
dwellings,  and  when,  indeed,  they  blew  up  many  of  them  from  the 
foundation  with  gunpowder,  —  then  the  Irish  style  of  building  was 
cried  down.  Sir  William  Wotton  wrote  against  it.  He  called  it 
Gothic,  which  word  meant,  in  England,  any  thing  ruffianly  or 
savage.  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  the  English  architect  of  the  seven 
teenth  century,  called  this  style    "  a   gross   concameration  of  heavy, 


524 


ITALIAN    ARCHITECTS    INVITED   TO    ENGLAND. 


melancholy,  and  monkish  piles."  How  intellectual  (his  man  was !  It 
was  he  who  frowned  upon  Westminster  Abbey,  St.  Stephen's  Chapel, 
York  Minster,  and  Salisbury  Cathedral,  and  who,  when  he  attempted 
to  imitate  this  style,  made  so  many  blunders.  See  his  works  in  this 
line,  and  those  of  Inigo  Jones,  in  Lincoln's  Inn  Chapel,  the  steeple  at 
Warwick,  King's  Bench  in  Westminster,  he. 

Italian  architects  were  about  this  time  encouraged  to  come  into 
England,  to  construct  ecclesiastical  buildings  upon  new  principles. 
There  was  no  new  principle  in  architecture,  but  there  were  some  com- 
pounds which  prevailed  in  parts  of  the  continent,  especially  in  Venice 
and  Rome.  These  compounds  were  classed  in  five  orders  by  the 
Romans,  and  revived  by  Palladio,  the  Italian  writer,  about  the  six- 
teenth century,  and  were  introduced  into  England  by  Inigo  Jones  soon 
after.  The  style  of  architecture  changed  in  England  with  each  new 
class  of  religious  reformers.  The  Roundheads  knocked  down  the 
erections  of  Elizabeth  and  Charles.  These  were  again  scouted  at  the 
restoration  of  Charles  the  Second,  and  from  that  period  to  the  time  of 
George  the  First,  all  was  a  blank  in  English  architecture. 

In  Ireland,  during  that  long  period  of  tears  and  blood,  —  a  period 
which  stains  the  blackest  annals  of  humanity,  —  no  progress  was  made  in 
architecture ;  no  progress,  alas  !  in  any  thing  but  the  works  of  confisca- 
tion   and    blood.       Her   venerable    piles    were  battered   down   by    the 
cannon    of   Elizabeth  and   Cromwell.      But   towards    the    middle   of 
the  eighteenth  century,    Ireland    began  again  to    put  forth   her  archi- 
tectural skill.     Her  classic  soil,  studded  over  by  the  mouldering  ruins  of 
her  greatness,  afforded  her  men  of  genius  schools  and  models  for  the  de- 
sign and  construction  of  piles  of  modern  beauty.     From  the  very  day  that 
Molyneux  emitted  the  spark  of  nationality  in  his  celebrated  "  Inquiry," 
(even  one  man  can  rouse  and  elevate  a  nation,)  the  architectural  genius 
of  Ireland  budded  forth  anew.     In  1727,  the  Parliament-House  o°f  Ire- 
land was  commenced.     It  was  completed  in  1787,  and  is  esteemed  the 
most  perfect  and  beautiful  Ionic  structure  in  Europe.     The  architects 
were  Irish,  and  so  were  the  workmen.*     The  Dublin  Custom-House 
was  commenced  in  1787.     This  is  considered  the  most  beautiful  public 
building  in   the  British   empire.     It  is  raised  in  a   very  grand   Doric 
style,  surmounted  by  a  magnificent  dome,  and  the  interior  groined  with 
arches.     It  covers  two  Irish  acres.     The  Four  Courts,  the  Royal  Ex- 
change, and  the  Rotunda,  are  all,  in  their  way,  unequalled  in  the  British 

*  A  front  view  of  this  noble  structure  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  this  lecture. 


IRISH    ARCHITECTS    OF    THE    PRESENT    DAY.  525 

dominions.  They  were  Irishmen  who  designed  and  erected  all  but 
one  of  those  splendid  monuments  of  genius  and  freedom.  These 
national  structures  grew  up  in  Ireland  under  the  sunshine  of  her  native 
parliament.  The  old  ones,  that  smile  on  us  with  the  wisdom  of  a 
thousand  years,  grew  up  under  her  kings.  They  are  all  the  growth  of 
a  NATION,  the  symbols  of  a  nation,  and  the  trumpets  which  call  the 
lifeless  into  action  for  their  restoration  to  national  purposes. 

The  Irish  architects  of  the  present  day  are  not  inferior  to  their  coun- 
trymen of  any  age,  as  evidenced  by  the  living  artists  now  at  the  head 
of  the  profession  in  Ireland,  England,  and  Ainerica. 

As  I  have  made  no  claim,  in  this  entire  work,  in  behalf  of  my 
countrymen,  without  having  substantial  grounds  for  it,  so,  when  I  allege 
that  Irishmen  are  at  the  head  of  the  profession  of  architects  in  England 
and  America,  I  mean  to  prove  it.  When,  about  five  years  ago,  the 
Parliament  House  of  England  was  burned  to  the  ground,  a  committee 
of  the  House  of  Commons  was  appointed  to  superintend  the  erection 
of  a  new  one  ;  designs  and  specifications  were  advertised  for  by  that 
committee ;  three  hundred  designs  and  plans  were  sent  them  by  as 
many  aspirants  for  the  honor.  These  plans  came  from  architects  of 
every  European  nation.  To  the  honor  of  Ireland,  the  preference  was 
given  to  the  plan  of  Mr.  Barry,  a  native  of  the  south  of  Ireland  ;  and 
the  execution  of  the  work  was  accordingly  placed  under  his  super- 
intendence. 

The  most  beautiful  piece  of  architecture  on  the  surface  of  America 
is  the  St.  Charles  Hotel,  in  New  Orleans.  This  has  been  admitted  by 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  natives  of  this  country.  It  was  erected,  in 
1837,  by  a  joint  stock'  company,  at  a  cost  of  nine  hundred  thousand 
dollars  ;  and  its  architect,  who  is  still  living,  is  an  excellent  Irishman, 
Mr.  Gallier,  {Gallagher,^  of  New  Orleans.  The  White  House,  at 
Washington,  was  erected  by  an  Irish  architect,  Mr.  Hoban,  father  of 
the  learned  and  eloquent  lawyer,  J.  Hoban,  Esquire,  of  that  city.  And 
here,  in  Boston,  I  find  the  granite  front  of  the  Exchange  has  been 
elegantly  sculptured  by  another  of  my  countrymen,  named  Barry. 

I  have  seen  the  brilliant  monuments  of  their  genius  in  many  of  the 
railroads  and  canals  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  York.  The  invention 
of  Mr.  John  Dougherty,  for  taking  boats,  full  of  merchandise  and 
passengers,  out  of  the  canal,  carrying  them  over  the  Alleghany  Moun- 
tains, and  lodging  them  safely  in  the  Western  Canal,  is  surely  one  of  the 
greatest  inventions  of  modern  times.  The  stupendous  works  between 
Philadelphia  and  Pottsville,  and    the   magnificent  locks  at  Lockport^ 


526  IRISH  ARCHITECTS  OF  THE  PRESENT  DAT. 

on  the  Erie  Canal,  erected  under  the  scientific  superintendence  of  Irish- 
men, are  evidence  that  the  unextinguishable  genius  of  Ireland  has  been 
transmitted,  in  the  buoyant  blood  of  her  children,  to  the  present  gener- 
ation, and  cause  me  to  exclaim,  in  the  language  of  one  of  her  brightest 
sons   in   exile,  John  Augustus  Shea,  — 

"Well  may  ye  exult  o'er  the  tyrannous  slaves 

Who,  crushing  your  freedom,  would  rob  ye  of  fame ; 
Would  curse  the  fair  sunlight  that  blesses  your  waves, 
And  deny  ye,  'mid  nations,  tlie  right  of  a  name. 

"  Look  down  with  contempt  on  their  impotent  hate ! 

Show  the  world  tliat  beholds  ye,  that,  even  in  chains, 
Far  more  of  the  genius  that  raaketh  men  great. 
With  you,  than  with  tkem  in  their  gloiy,  remains. 

"When  the  Saxon,  degraded  and  trampled,  lay  down, 
And  trembled  to  every  foeman  that  came,* 
The  universe  rang  with  your  lofty  renown. 

And  Fancy  stood  mute  in  the  light  of  your  fame. 

"  Disdaining  the  barriers,  —  fetters  and  fire. 

And  malice  and  prejudice,  —  all  that  could  bind, 
With  what  strength  does  Hiberma  still  upward  aspire. 
Supreme  in  the  proud  competition  of  mind ! 

"Day  by  day  do  thy  great  ones  go  down  to  the  grave, 
But  thy  genius  expires  not ;  but  soars  like  the  morn, 
When  it  rises,  pavilioned  in  light,  from  the  wave. 
As  glorious  as  though  but  that  moment  'twere  bom. 

"Where,  where  through  the  universe,  varied  and  vast. 
Can  empire,  or  kingdom,  or  nation,  present 
Such  genius  as  even  in  bondage  thou  hast. 

Which  brightened,  like  sunlight,  wherever  it  went? 

"By  reedy  Eurotas  no  braver  e'er  trod. 

When  Greece,  'gainst  all  Persia,  stood  up  in  her  pride, 
And  Pallas  awoke  in  each  bosom  a  god. 

Than  at  Liberty's  summons  can  rise  at  thy  side. 

"  Nor  e'er  did  Castalia's  fountain  of  song 
More  soul-stirring  rapture  of  melody  pour, 
Than  beareth  the  spirit  of  Erin  along 

In  the  music  and  light  of  the  genius  of  Moore. 

*  Nee  fult  inventus  quispiam  qui  hostibus  obviaret.  —  Matthew  of  Westminster. 


POEM  OF  JOHN  AUGUSTUS  SHEA.  5^7 

"And  Painting  and  Sculpture  live,  breatlie,  at  thy  will; 
And  the  Drama,  which  mankind's  dark  history  unscrolls, 
Which  readeth  our  hearts  with  mysterious  skill; 
The  Priest  of  her  Universe  Temple,  is  Knowles. 

"And  doth  it  not  quicken  the  pulse  and  tlie  blood 
Of  an  Irishman's  heart,  to  remember  the  day 
When  Grattan,  Burke,  Sheridan,  Curran,  and  Flood, 
In  supremacy  shone  —  a  refulgent  array  ? 

"In  poetry,  eloquence,  learning,  our  land 

Retaineth  her  empire,  and  these  shall  live  on. 
Like  the  nature-built  ramparts  that  circle  her  strand, 

When  tlie  whirlwinds  that  sweep  round  her  glory  are  gone. 

There's  a  cheering  vitality  o'er  and  within 

Her  children  and  her,  that  defietli  decay; 
And  what  may  we  hope  not  from  that  which  has  been, 

Which  no  treasure  could  buy,  and  no  Judas  betray  ? 

"But  who  can  look  over  the  billows'  bright  foam. 
And  cast  his  glad  eyes  on  that  cluster  of  men 
Who  are  struggling  to  give  back  to  Erin  a  home, — 
A  dwelling  for  orators,  jurists,  —  again;  — 

"But  must  feel  that  the  days  of  her  glory  return, 
Revived  by  O'Connell,  O'Brien,  O'Neill; 
O,  cold  is  the  heart  that  won't  vividly  bum, 
In  patriot  flame,  for  the  cause  of  repeal. 

"Then,  Erin,  exult  o'er  the  tyrannous  slaves 

Who,  crushing  your  freedom,  would  rob  you  of  fame; 
Would  curse  the  fair  sunlight  tliat  blesses  yoiu*  waves, 
And  deny  ye,  'mid  nations,  the  right  of  a  name." 


528 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


LET    ERIN    REMEMBER    THE    DAYS    OF    OLD. 


BY    MOORE. 


Grand  and  Spirited. 


-^-e- 


-~~i — J 


1.     Let       E    -    rin       re-mem-ber     the     days    of    old, 


ifZdzzz  ~~r 1 —  9 1 


Ere   her       faith  -  less  sons      be  -  trayed     her;     When 


^i=J 


-1  ) i^ 

9~^ — ^ 


"S?~ 


lz» 


—^ — 


5-  "~     ^ 


^~ 


rtiiziip 


Mai  -  a  -  chy  wore    the      col  -  lar     of    gold,*  Which  he 


"6-P=P=F 


s; 


mm 


~Gi , 


won    from    her    proud     in    -    va 

:H^-n'-r-t 


der. 


When  her 


:n. 


3 


lBBBi^aHr~ 


*  "  This  brought  on  an  encounter  between  Malachy,  the  monarch  of  Ireland,  in 
the  tenth  century,  and  the  Danes,  in  which  Malachy  defeated  two  of  their  cham- 


MUSIC   AND   POETRY. 


529 


-P 


£ 


8: 


kings,  with  stand  -  ard    of    green      un  -  furled,      Led    the 


--f^ 


'r~ 


em  -  erald      gem        of      tlie      west    -    ern 


world 


8-7=^ 


^^ 


F— ^=q==d 


** — ^- 


ti^Ep 


Was    set 

— N- 


the     crown     of 


stran  -  ger. 


'¥-'- 


m 


3: 


l^alS 


2. 
On  Lough  Neagh's  bank,  as  the  fisherman  strays,* 
When  the  clear,  cold  eve's  declining, 

pions,  whom  he  encountered  successively,  hand  to  hand,  —  taking  a  collar  of  gold 
from  the  neck  of  one,  and  carrying  off  the  sword  of  the  other,  as  trophies  of  his 
victory." —  Warner's  History  of  Ireland,  vol.  i.  book  9. 

*  It  was  an  old  tradition,  in  the  time  of  Giraldus,  that  Lough  Neagh  had  been 
originally  a  fountain,  by  whose  sudden  overflowing  the  country  was  inundated,  and 
a  whole  region,  like  the  Atlantis  of  Plato,  overwhelmed.  He  says  that  the  fisher- 
men, m  clear  weather,  used  to  point  out  to  strangers  the  tall  ecclesiastical  towers 
under  the  water. 

67 


5S0 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


He  sees  the  round  towers  of  other  days 
In  the  wave  beneath  him  shining! 

Thus  shall  memory  often,  in  dreams  sublime, 
Catch  a  glimpse  of  the  days  that  are  over; 

Thus,  sighing,  look  through  the  waves  of  time 
For  the  long-faded  glories  they  cover! 


YOUGHALL    HARBOR. 


r-#- 


"O      •'t»- 


t^- 


■3     i     I     ^""  ^S"^*ZJ?" 


-r-r-r-r--FF=^ 


~"#~i — \ — 1    \0~^~jir.i — I — I — I — 


±zii?:jz:rizc»Tt?f&f:f^ri#r 


'd^ 


-j    I     r~r 


^-« 


gli 


(9    .m    (»     r    » 


'W^n      l*"r 


^-^, 


r-^- 


^  » 


-\ — I — r~ 


I      r 


:P2EtiES^§: 


WJ 


-~r--\ — r 


i 


MUSIC. 


531 


THE    LAMENTATION    OF    CONNAUGHT. 


(gair   na   conactnac.) 


«z^#: 


"PT^r"^    rj — 1^ 


tr 


rfr 


^ 


fr 


DZJ 


Lrp:i_^#|?_ 


■l^^-f-rn 


r^ 


tet^iP 


115 


i<s-=-- 


-fl=F^ 


>»     1" 


-tir-^^- 


:fe:in\r 


V^i 


-#-1> 


q— FTR' 


-#- 


^nz]-nn:D=iiz:  linirTi^zp 


T~^-l-| — •^ 


r^Ei^s 


^f 


>-nV 


•*^zr#r^: 


ID — ^^ 


J r 


532 


MUSIC. 


THE    YOUTH  WITH  THE   FAIR  FLOWING   LOCKS. 


(CAIL     FIONN,     OR    COULIN.) 


-I — U^ 


s 


^ 


5£5^^ 


i^^ifr: 


i 


.-J 


g — h<r' 


r#" 


f 


;y»-^f 


^^U^ 


'I    r  r-ri — rpri — riir^f' 
T;-rTiiirxlT  "I — f — r^T" 


1 


f-r 


-^r-p» 


^r 


i 


i^£^ 


-(S>'- 


THE    HUMORS    OF    LEINSTER, 


(SPECA     GAXLLINAC.) 


m- 


^4~S? 


rfl- 


'S?' 


:^^^^^ 


'#" 


-S)'- 


si 


~«5~ 


;# 


f^i— 


"DH" 


""szir^: 


r-i— f1- 


:sz3'i 


^*: 


"Q-^ — r — i=a=q~g-T-g^ i^-r-f"! — «" 

^^        rziml-pFr^g^:nii±nz:gznn: 
@— ^L-^^ — rr|:rpr^#g,|igzjg_,gn 


-, — f\~ 


^pStris, 


gl 


MUSIC. 


533 


JACKSON'S    DELIGHT. 


±-_-2r-i--r:-i>»- 


iin — inn" 


rri    rrr^ 


:£rp^ 


r-#- 


-fm- 


F^^^^ 
—w^ 


r-#- 


^pSiF^^F^feF^'PfFr^ 


(90 »m 


"I — ~£ 


"FT 


fl 


I  I      rr~ 


"vrv 


~^    ^ 


i 


ROKEBY,  OR  CAPTAIN  WYAKE. 


rrr. 


0      I      w 


3: 


1T 


JV_ 


?Z=I)^-!zr 


:?« 


izrrtszzc 


D^~^: 


3^^i 


f—     r 


^^^-F^^ 


1      g" 


irrr 


D*rp~i* 


rrr~fry 


TTi    I  I  r 


1       suzz^' 


"1^    ^" 


-i— ^-;^— t^ 


)^ 


J r 


"rrr' 


rn     rrsp- 
"rri    rrr~ 


R^n>^ZfF 


**• 


534 


MUSIC. 


I    rrr^ 


^i 


?E5 


??p= 


:rr[ 


:ffl 


1 


jiCr 


^w Da  Capo. 


-|    rrr 


WOOD'S    LAMENTATION. 


BY     CAROLAN. 


-#- 


:;^i# 


tzt 


I     I     r 


rzr^     ^  n  r 


'I r 


r — — rr'r~i — f ^ 


SS^Ii^ 


-1— 1^^ 


□JXZX 


FpHg^EpEggJEEEjg 


I        r 


:i^ 


JT^W^- 


i 


1         I 


IJT 


Tf"rr 

TTTT 


ST 


-#- 


—     I         I — -^ — r-n 


'^zr 


ZZZir 


P= 


r^#-4 


gpri    I     r crrrrzB^zirc: 


rru — I — 1 — 


ff'-f^H-^ 


"c — I 
'g~ri 


"rrri — rrr 


"I ar"#i»r 


T~rr 


-rrn — ^rrr-r* — ^ — rrri — • — 


MUSIC   AND   POETRY. 


EILEEN    A    ROON, 


B=?= 


^^^£^E^-=~=f 


fs* — =■ 


1.     Blind  to      all      else     but  thee,  Ei  -  leen      a     Roon 


Roon ;  My      ears     ban  -  quet      on        thy  praise, 

My      dove    of    all  the   grove   thou  art ;  With 


r# 


1^^=15^ 


:fc: 


P£ 


:t 


Pride     and      pleas  -  ure  of     my  days !   Source  of         all    my 
-     out      thee       sickness  wastes  my  heart ;  Who  can  a  -  lone  the 


1^^-^^.=?= 


^is=i 


hap   -   pi  -  ness  1        Ei    -    leen      a  Roon ! 

cure      im  -  part  ?       Ei    -    leen      a  Roon ! 


2. 

Break  not,  for  king  or  throne, 

Eileen  a  Roon, 
The  vows  that  made  thee  mine  alone, 

Eileen  a  Roon ! 
Venus  of  my  every  vow ! 
Brightest  star  on  heaven's  brow ! 
My  Helen,  without  stain,  art  thou, 

Eileen  a  Roon ! 
My  rose,  my  lily,  both  confessed ; 
My  treasure,  all  I  wish,  possessed, 


536  MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 

The  hearted  secret  of  my  breast, 

Eileen  a  Roon ! 
3. 
With  thee,  o'er  seas  Pd  sport  my  way, 

Eileen  a  Roon ! 
Never,  never  from  thee  stray, 

Eileen  a  Roon ! 
I'd  wander  o'er  thy  honeyed  lip ; 
With  love  tales  charm  thee  on  the  deep; 
Then  lull  thee  on  my  breast  to  sleep, 

Eileen  a  Roon ! 
To  valleys  green  I'd  stray  with  thee; 
By  murmuring  rill,  and  whispering  tree ; 
The  birds  will  our  wild  minstrels  be, 

Eileen  a  Roon  ! 
4. 
With  more  than  human  passion  warms, 

Eileen  a  Roon, 
I'd  fold  thee  in  these  raptured  arms, 

Eileen  a  Roon  ! 
Press  thee,  kiss  thy  bosom's  snow ; 
Round  thee  all  my  fondness  throw, 
Joys  that  only  lovers  know, 

Eileen  a  Roon  ! 
Heaven  beams  in  all  thine  eye. 
Spotless  star  of  modesty  ! 
Ere  I  deceive  thee,  may  I  die, 

Eileen  a  Roon  ! 
5. 
A  hundred  thousand  welcomes,* 

Eileen  a  Roon ! 
A  hundred  thousand  welcomes, 

Eileen  a  Roon ! 
O !    welcome,  evermore. 
With  welcomes  yet  in  store. 
Till  life  and  love  are  o'er, 

Eileen  a  Roon ! 


*  Ceathe  Miela  Failthe,  which  means  a  hundred  thousand  welcomes,  is  a  frequent 
phrase  of  hospitality  used  in  Ireland. 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


537 


fAg  an  bealac* 

By  C.    G.    Duffy,    of  the  '■'■  J^ation." 


AlXEGRO. 


1.     "Hope  no  more  for     fa  -  ther  -  land ;      All    its  ranks  are 
y^^T^r^ ^^^' ^^1 


thinned  or  broken ; "     Long   a   base   and     coward     band 

id— d^-i ^---^ ^^- 


--j ^- 

-9 


~w 


'9     9      w 


3: 


1 i?  "^       ^" 

Re  -  creant  words  like  these  have  spoken  ;  But  we  preach  a 


*  Fdg  an  Bealac. '  "  Clear  the  road  !  "  or,  as  it  is  vulgarly  spelt,  Faugh  a  Bal. 
lagh,  was  the  cry  which  the  clans  of  Connaught  and  Munster  used  in  battle. 
The  regiments  raised  in  the  South  and  West  took  their  old  shout  with  them 
to  the  Continent.  The  87th,  or  Royal  Irish  Fusileers,  from  their  use  of  it,  went 
generally  by  the  name  of"  The  Faugh  a  Bollagh  Boys."  "Nothing,"  says  Napier, 
in  his  History  of  the  Peninsular  War,  —  "  nothing  so  startled  the  French  soldiery 
as  the  wild  yell  with  which  the  Irish  regiments  sprang  to  the  charge."  And 
never  was  that  haughty  and  intolerant  shout  raised  in  battle,  but  a  charge,  swift 
as  thought  and  fatal  as  flame,  came  with  it,  like  a  rushing  incarnation  of  Fdg 
an  Bealac! 

6S 


538 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


r## 


land   a  -  wo  -  ken  !         Father  -  land  is    true   and   tried, 


:i:q: 


"? 


i 


:tlf=^-3yE=fz=3E 


£.=3=; 


31 


-5i._ 


■^: 


QEE 


As  your  fears  are     false  and  hollow ;    Slaves  and    dastards, 


iZilTzzr^rzZfZ 


n 


^P=3 


"I        I      I    r 
--IS— ^— -     '       ^ 

stand  a  -  side  !       Knaves  and  traitors,  Fag   an    bea  -  lac ! 

±. 


r" 


^=£^^ 


r# 


*:=-r- 


:n: 


:^^ 


=4^=i 


— 1^ — rr — 
£:!EE3EiEE 


5 


Knaves  and  trai  -  tors.        Fag     an    bea  -  lac ! 


-M- 


-ST 


^1 

=3i 


Know,  ye  suffering  brethren  ours, 

Might  is  strong,  but  Right  is  stronger ; 

Saxon  wiles,  or  Saxon  powers. 
Can  enslave  our  land  no  longer 
Than  your  own  dissensions  wrong  her; 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY.  539 

Be  ye  one  in  might  and  mind; 

Quit  the  mire  where  cravens  wallow ; 
And  your  foes  shall  flee  like  wind 

From  your  fearless  Fag  an  bealac! 

3. 

Thus  the  mighty  multitude 

Speak,  in  accents  hoarse  with  sorrow:  — 
"  We  are  fallen,  but  unsubdued  ; 

Show  us  whence  we  hope  may  borrow, 

And  we'll  fight  your  fight  to-morrow  1 
Be  but  cautious,  true,  and  brave, 

Where  ye  lead  us  we  will  follow ; 
Hill  and  valley,  rock  and  wave. 

Shall  echo  back  our  Fag  an  bealac. 

4. 

"Fling  our  sun-burst  to  the  wind, 

Studded  o'er  with  names  of  glory; 
Worth,  and  wit,  and  might,  and  mind, 

Poet  young,  and  patriot  hoary. 

Long  shall  make  it  shine  in  story. 
Close  your  ranks  —  the  moment's  come  — 

Now,  ye  men  of  Ireland,  follow ! 
Friends  of  freedom,  charge  them  home! 
,     Foes  of  freedom,  Fag  an  bealac!" 


540 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


TAKE    HENCE    THE    BOWL. 


BY    MOORE . 


L  With  Melancholy  Peeling.       |' 


E=e^ 


p 


-fi 


-p 


£:: 


1 .     Take   hence    the    bowl ;      though      beam   -   ing 


'^-e = 


:E 


3= 


-# — 


js' 


:p=zrp__^: 


:» 


-F 


f — i: 


Bright  -  ly        as       bowl  e'er         shone, 


©± 


-&- 


-^- 


E=E^=^=i= 


^ 


O !      it       but       sets 


me        dream    -   ing         Of 


'& 


~^sr 


3— znl=^- 

-9--i -i-^' 1 


d^- 


"#        I" 


8± 


days,  of       nights,        now         gone. 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


541 


iiEr= 


^5=s=^=«F=f 


line: 


^ 


There,     in       its        clear  re   -   flee  -  tion,  As 


8± 


«s>- 


^ 


=P=^F 


--^ 


0 


Lost   hopes  and      dead 


af    -    fee     -     tion,      Like 


~^L 


~sr- 


"S^ 


shades         be  -  fore 


8± 


me 


pass. 


-n<S>- 


-st 


2. 
Each  cup  I  drain  brings  hither 

Some  friend  who  once  sat  by  ; 
Bright  lips,  too  bright  to  wither; 

Warm  hearts,  too  warm  to  die  ! 
Till,  as  the  dream  comes  o'er  me, 

Of  those  long-vanished  years, 
Then,  then  the  cup  before  me 

Seems  turning  all  to  tears ! 


542 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


ARABY'S    DAUGHTER. 


BY    MOORE. 


9 


£ 


p       ^  -    1^  ^  - .-   ^  p^ — -p — 

1.     Farewell,      farewell       to   thee,  Ar  -  a  -  by's  daughter; 


-*1- 


.l: 


f 


:f- 


Fi 

p 


Thus  warbled     a      pe  -  ri      be  -  neath  the  dark  sea ;    No 


rJcBz 


:j 


=Ji=i: 


^^E^ 


t\ 


-|»-: 


T» 


Si 


irizrzi- 9' 


i ^ ^- 


-b»— J^— L 


pearl     ev-er      lay      under      Oman's  green  wa-ter,  More 


5—5- 


^ 


zt-^: 


pure     in     its    shell   than     thy        spir  -  it     in  thee.     A 


-5-F 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


543 


P 


■     round  thee  shall  glis  -  ten    the     love  -  li  -  est    amber     That 


=R^ 


-^.9- 


-iV- 


sor  -  row  -  ing   sea-bird     has   wept,   With 


f-r^^-r-^-r^ 


in  whose  hoUow-wreath'd  chamber  We 


o  -  cean     by     moon  -  light  have  slept. 


ti; 


S 


m 


2. 

JNor  shall  Iran,  beloved  of  her  hero,  forget  thee, 
Though  tyrants  watch  over  her  tears  as  they  start; 

Close,  close  by  the  side  of  that  hero  she'll  set  thee, 
Embalmed  in  the  innermost  shrine  of  her  heart! 
Around  thee  shall  glisten,  &tc. 


LECTURE    XIV. 


PROM   A.  D.    1016   TO    1509. 


Resumption  of  the  Narrative.  —  Reign  of  Malachyll.  —  Of  Donough  O'Brien. — 
Of  Turlogh  O'Brien.  —  Names  of  seventeen  Irish  Kings  who  reigned  in  four 
hundred  Years. —  Condition  of  England. —  Enghshmen  bought  as  Slaves. — 
Edward  the  Confessor.  —  William  of  Normandy,  "  the  Conqueror,"  enslaves  the 
English.  — Abolishes  the  Saxon  Language.  —  Origin  of  Barons.  —  State  of  Wales 
and  Scotland. —  Affairs  of  Ireland.  —  King  Turlogh  O'Connor.  —  The  ancient 
Manufactures  of  Ireland. — Manufacturing  in  Europe. — Roderick  O'Connor 
crowned  Monarch  of  Ireland.  —  Dermot  M'Murrough.  —  O'Ruark  o(  BieSny. — 
Deposition  of  M'Murrough.  —  He  flies  to  England. —  Proposals  to  Henry  II. 
and  Strongbow  :  invites  an  Invasion  of  his  Country.  —  Invaders  routed  by  the 
Irish  King.  —  Their  Treachery.  —  Further  Invasions.  —  Battle  of  Wexford. — 
Progress  of  th?  Invaders.  —  Their  Compromise  with  the  King.  —  Strongbow 
lands.  —  Captures  Waterford. — Invaders  march  on  Dublin.  —  Alarm  of  the 
Irish. —  Cause  of  Ireland's  Weakness.  —  Strongbow  recalled  by  Henry  II. — 
Arrival  of  Henry  II.  —  Conference  at  Cashell. — The  Pope's  Bull. —  Submission 
of  some  Chiefs. — Henry  returns  to  England.  —  Henry's  Character.  —  The  forged 
Bulls.  —  M'Murrough's  Death.  —  Death  of  O'Ruark.  —  Poem  of  John  Quincy 
Adams  on  this  Invasion.  —  Reflections  on  this  Invasion.  —  Henry's  Treaty  with 
the  King  of  Ireland.  —  Henry  II.  did  not  conquer  Ireland.  —  First  Lord  Deputy 
sent  to  Ireland.  —  Prince  John. — Abdication  of  Roderick. —  Death  of  Henry  II. 

—  Kinar  John. — Magna  Charta.  —  Confusion  of  Tongues.  —  An  Irish  Cham- 
pion.-^ Henry  III.    and  Edward  I.  of   England.  —  Wales    annexed    to  England. 

—  Wallace  and  Bruce  of  Scotland.  —  Inventions  of  this  Age.— Bruce  invited  to 
Ireland. —  Failure  of  the  Enterprise.  —  Reign  of  Edward  III.  of  England. — 
Penal  Laws  against  the  Irish.  —  "Irish  Absentees."  —  Ineffectual  Efforts  to 
conquer  Ireland. — The  Wars  of  York  and  Lancaster.  —  The  O'Byrnes  of 
Wicklow.  —  English  pay  Tribute  to  the  Irish  Chiefs.  —  Charge  of  Ignorance 
against  the  Irish  refuted.  —  Donald  O'Neill's  Letter  to  the  Pope. — Letter  of 
the  Duke  of  York.  — Fall  of  Richard  III.  — Henry  VII.  —  State  of  Ireland  at 
this  Time.  — Poyning's  Law.  —  Duties  performed  by  the  Clergy. 

We  shall  now  resume  the  general  history  of  Ireland  at  the  epoch  of 
the  battle  of  Clontarf,  anno  1016. 

The  Danes  were  effectually  crushed  in  spirit  by  that  memorable  battle. 
No  further  attempts  of  any  consequence  were  made  by  them  upon 
Ireland.  Their  daring,  adventurous  leaders,  having  established  them- 
selves as  masters  over  England,  and  over  a  considerable  territory  of 


MALACHI    II.  TURLOGH    O  BRIEN.  545 

France,  called  Normandy,  seemed  to  be  content  with  those  extensive 
domains,  and  to  have  given  up  all  farther  hopes  of  conquering  a  coun- 
try, in  which,  during  two  hundred  and  forty  years,  so  many  millions 
of  their  choicest  soldiers  had  been  slain. 

On  the  death  of  the  illustrious  Brien  Boroimhe,  and  of  his  heroic 
son  Murrough,  with  others  of  his  children,  on  the  field  of  Clontarf,  the 
crown  of  Ireland  was  resumed  by  Malachi  the  Second. 

The  country  gradually  glided  into  a  state  of  apathetic  indifference  to 
political  rights,  disturbed  only  by  the  ambitious  efforts  of  the  three 
great  houses  to  possess  the  monarchy.  These  houses  were  long 
known  as  the  southern  O'Briens,  the  northern  Hy  Nials,  and  the  Con- 
naught  Hybrunes,  whose  contentions  with  each  other  generated  those 
commotions  that  rendered  their  country  an  easy  prey,  in  the  twelfth 
century,  to  another  set  of  invaders,  still  more  cruel,  still  more  treacher- 
ous, than  the  Danes. 

The  eight  years  of  Malachi's  reign  were  devoted  to  arts  of  peace  and 
works  of  improvement.  At  his  death,  the  chief  government  of  Ireland 
was  assumed  by  the  reigning  prince  of  Munster,  Donough  O'Brien, 
otherwise  Donat,  or  Denis,  son  of  Brien  Boroimhe.  A  portion  only 
of  the  nation  obeyed  him.  His  reign  was,  however,  peaceful.  The 
princes  of  the  other  provinces  were  satisfied  with  governing  their  own 
subjects,  without  disputing  with  him  the  supreme  authority ;  but,  being 
suspected  of  having  been  accessory  to  the  death  of  Thadeus,  his  eldest 
brother,  he  was  dethroned  by  the  nobles  of  the  kingdom,  and  reduced 
to  the  rank  of  a  private  individual,  which  induced  him  to  undertake  a 
pilgrimage  to  Rome,  according  to  the  habit  of  those  ancient  times. 
Here  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  St.  Stephen's  monastery,  and 
died  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight  years,  having  presented  the  crown  and 
harp  of  his  father  to  the  pope.  After  his  abdication,  the  crown  of 
Ireland  was  preserved  by  Dermod,  as  the  regent,  or  protector,  for  the 
young  Twiogh  O^Brien,  grandson  of  the  illustrious  Brien  of  Clon- 
tarf. Dermod  had  to  assume  sovereign  sway,  to  raise  armies,  to  fight 
battles  for  his  ward,  which   history  informs  us  he  did  most  valiantly. 

At  length,  in  the  year  1072,  Turlogh  O^ Brien  was  installed  on  the 
throne  of  Tara  as  monarch  of  Ireland.  He  was  a  prince  of  consider- 
able abilities,  courage,  and  piety,  and  approached  to,  or  closely  im- 
itated the  virtues  of  his  illustrious  grandsire. 

He,  at  his  death,  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Murtagh,  who  died 
1101,  having  previously  retired  to  a  monastic  life. 

From  the  reign  of  Aoddi  the  Fourth,  in  the  eighth  century,  to  that  of 
69 


546  SEVENTEEN    IRISH    KINGS. CONDITION    OF    ENGLAND. 

Roderick  O'Connor,  in  the  twelfth,  there  reigned  seventeen  kings  in 
a  space  of  about  four  hundred  years,  which  gave  an  average  reign  of 
near  thirty  years  to  each.  They  were  as  follows:  Connor,  JSial 
III.,  Malachi  L,  Hugh  VL,  Flan,  Nial  IV.,  Congalach,  Malachi 
II.,  Brien  Boroimhe,  Donough  O^Brien,  Dermod,  the  regent, 
TurIos;h  O^Brien,  Moriarthach  O'Brien,  DonkaJd  Maglough- 
lin,  Turlogh  O'Connor,  Moriarthach  Magloughlin,  and  Roderick 
O'  Connor. 

The  reigns  of  some  of  these  latter  kings  were,  in  every  respect, 
what  a  Christian  people  could  admire  ;  and  there  are  many  records 
existing  of  letters  which  had  frequently  been  sent  by  the  arch- 
bishops of  Canterbury  to  Turlogh  O'Brien,  of  a  highly  laudatory 
character. 

It  is  necessary  that  we  now  take  a  hasty  glance  at  the  political  and 
social  condition  of  England  about  this  period,  that  we  may  the  better 
understand  the  roots  of  those  organic  changes  which  shordy  after  took 
place  in  both  kingdoms. 

From  the  period  of  the  Saxon  buichery,  in  476,  to  the  Danish 
invasion  of  England,  in  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century,  the 
government  of  England  was  divided  into  eight  principahties,  between 
the  Saxon  princes,  which  they  called  the  heptarchy.  A  separate 
king  reigned  over  the  ancient  Britons,  who  inhabited  the  Welsh  moun- 
tains.    Scotland,  on  the  north,  had  its  independent  king. 

The  ravages  of  the  Danes,  and  their  final  conquest  of  England,  in 
the  ninth  century,  broke  up  the  frame  of  the  Saxon  government. 
The  whole  nation  became  subject  to  the  Danes,  who  ingrafted  them- 
selves on  the  soil,  and  married  into  the  older  Saxon  families,  and  thus 
became,  as  it  were,  by  sufferance,  the  rulers  of  England. 

Alfred,  during  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  totally  hunted  them  from 
his  soil ;  but,  after  his  death,  they  returned,  and,  under  Canute  and 
other  Danish  chieftains,  England  was  brought  again  under  the  sub- 
jection of  the  Danish  rulers. 

At  this  time,  the  English  Saxons  were  bought  and  sold  as  slaves  by 
their  conquerors.  The  price  of  a  slave  was  quadruple  that  of  an  ox. 
Slaves  and  cattle  formed  the  living  money  ;  they  passed  current  in  the 
payment  of  debts,  and  also  in  the  purchase  of  property  and  commodi- 
ties. —  See  Wade's  Recent  History  of  England. 

In  the  year  1042,  on  the  death  of  Hardicanute,  without  issue,  the 
crown  of  England,  by  will,  came  to  the  hands  of  the  celebrated 
Edward,  a  monk,  called  the  Confessor,  who  was  brother  of  one  of  the 


EDWARD    THE    CONFESSOR.  AVILLIAM    THE    CONQUEROR.        547 

previous  Saxon  princes.  By  the  accession  of  this  monk,  the  Saxon  line 
was  restored  in  England. 

Edward  was  a  religious,  learned  monk,  who,  though  thus  being  un- 
expectedly called  from  his  clois.ter  to  govern  a  nation,  displayed  great 
wisdom,  talents,  and  fitness  for  the  trust. 

Having  been  educated  in  Normandy,  he  preferred  the  Normans  to 
the  highest  posts  of  honor  and  command.  He  gathered  together  the 
old  Saxon  laws  and  customs,  which  they  had  derived  principally  from 
Ireland.  These,  together  with  the  Psalter,  or  Doomsday  Book,  com- 
menced by  Alfred,  after  the  model  of  the  Psalter  of  Tcira,  he  had 
carefully  transcribed  in  the  Latin  language,  which  compilation  contains 
the  great  landmarks  of  the  British  constitution.  It  is  that  work  to 
which  constitutional  lawyers  are  prone  to  refer,  for  precedents  of 
social  regulations.  He  built  many  churches  in  England,  amongst 
others,  Westminster  Abbey,  demolished  by  Henry  the  Third,  but  since 
rebuilt.  He  reigned  twenty-three  years ;  and  at  his  death,  1066, 
the  crown  of  England  was  claimed  by  Harold,  son  of  the  Danish 
Earl  Godwin. 

This  claim  was  contested  by  Tosti,  assisted  by  Harold's  brother, 
who  met  Harold  with  their  respective  forces  on  the  plains  near  Stan- 
ford bridge,  when  a  great  carnage  took  place,  the  field  being  whitened, 
for  fifty  years  after,  by  the  bones  of  the  slain.  At  this  battle,  Harold 
was  victorious ;  but,  in  four  days  after  it  was  fought,  William,  duke  of 
Normandy,  landed  on  the  Sussex  coast,  with  a  powerful  army.  Harold 
at  the  time  was  seated  at  a  banquet,  in  York,  surrounded  by  his  thanes, 
when  news  was  brought  of  the  arrival  of  a  formidable  competitor  for  the 
crown.  They  met  at  the  celebrated  field  of  Hastings,  where  Harold's 
forces  were  cut  to  pieces,  himself  slain,  and  William  proclaimed  king. 

This  took  place  on  the  3d  of  October,  1066.  That  great  victory, 
and  the  final  triumph  of  William  of  Normandy,  has  been  called  the 
JSorman  conquest,  by  which  England  came  under  the  rule  of  a  new 
dynasty.  • 

William  claimed  the  crown  of  England,  under  the  pretence  of  a 
promise  of  it.  made  to  him  by  Edward  the  Confessor,  which  claim  he 
supported  and  established  in  the  field.  William  the  Conqueror  proved 
a  terrible  scourge  to  England.  He  carried  fire  and  sword  into  eveiy 
part,  and  spared  neither  age  nor  sex,  young  nor  old.  Several  risings  were 
attempted  in  the  course  of  his  reign,  but  these  he  suppressed  with  great 
cruelty.     He  affected  to  hold  England  as  a  tributary  province  to  Nor- 


548  WILLIAM    ENSLAVES    THE    ENGLISH. 

mandy ;  and  yet  the  man  who  got  all  this  power  was  the  illegithnate 
son  of  Robert,  duke  of  Normandy,  by  the  daughter  of  a  tanner. 

Speaking  of  his  irruption  into  the  north  of  England,  William,  the 
Abbot  of  Malmesbury,  writing  sixty  years  after  the  conquest,  says, 
"  From  York  to  Durham,  not  an  inhabited  village  remained ;  fire- 
slaughter,  and  desolation,  made  it  a  vast  wilderness,  which  it  continues 
to  this  day." 

William  introduced  the  curfew  law  into  England,  which  compelled 
the  nation  to  put  out  their  fires  and  candles  at  eight  o'clock  every  night. 

"  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  in  history,''  says  an  English  writer,  "  a 
revolution  more  destructive,  or  attended  with  a  more  complete  subjection 
of  the  ancient  inhabitants.  Contumely  was  added  to  oppression,  and 
the  unfortunate  natives  were  universally  reduced  to  such  a  state  of 
servility,  meanness,  and  poverty,  that,  for  ages,  the  English  name  becamb 
a  term  of  reproach  I'''' *  And  several  generations  passed  away  before 
one  single  family  of  Saxon  pedigree  was  raised  to  any  honor,  or  could 
attain  the  rank  of  baron,  in  the  state. 

The  English  language  was  abolished  in  the  court  of  the  king,  and 
in  those  of  law,  and  the  French  language  substituted;  at  length,  William 
would  suffer  the  youth  of  the  nation  to  be  instructed  in  no  other  than 
the  French  tongue.  The  English  language  was  proclaimed  and 
cried  down  by  public  and  private  act,  in  the  same  manner  that  the 
good  Queen  Bess  tried  to  extinguish  the  Irish  language,  in  the 
sixteentii  century,  which,  however,  has  outlived  her  persecutions,  and 
will  outlive  the  power  and  dynasty  of  her  tyrant  successors.  The 
pleadings  in  the  law  courts,  from  this  time  to  the  time  of  Edward  the 
Third,  anno  1340,  and  the  acts  of  Parliament,  were  all  written  in  the 
French  language.  Those  Saxons,  who  wished  to  curry  favor  at  court, 
helped  to  run  down  their  native  tongue,  and  bring  it  into  contempt. 
Even  so  is  it  with  some  of  the  Irish  at  present,  in  reference  to  the  lan- 
guage and  customs  of  their  native  land. 

• 
"  We'd  think  no  slaves  lived  in  the  ancient  reign, 
Did  not  some  plain  examples  still  remain." 

The  organic  changes  effected  by  this  tyrant  are  beyond  my  limited 
space  to  even  compress  into  a  short  recital.  He  demolished  churches 
in  every  part  of  England,  taking  possession  of  their  lands,  which  he 
appropriated  to  his  hungry  followers  —  a  practice  afterwards  followed  by 
his  descendant,  the  rival  monster,  Henry  the  Eighth.     He  disarmed  the 

*  Wade. 


ORIGIN    OF    BARONS. STATE    OF    WALES    AND    SCOTLAND.         549 

English   militia,    and    broke   them   up ;  he  look  possession  of  all  the 
lands   of  England,    which    he    divided   into   baronies,    reserving   four- 
teen hundred  manors  and  estates  to  himself;  the  remainder  he  conveyed 
to  about  seven  hundred   of   his  followers,    whom  he  honored  by  the . 
title  of  harons. 

The  baronies  were  again  let  out  to  knights,  or  vassals,  who  paid  the 
baron  the  same  submission  in  peace  or  war  which  the  baron  paid  to  the 
king.  The  whole  kingdom  was  put  into  the  hands  of  about  seven 
hundred  chief  tenants,  and  sixty  thousand  "  knights'  fees."  None  of  the 
natives  were  admitted  into  the  first  class,  but  were  glad  to  be  admitted 
into  the  second,  and  be  the  willing  vassal  of  some  Norman  master. 
The  military  of  the  kingdom  was  maintained  by  each  of  those  chiefs  as 
the  first  charge  on  their  lands  ;  and  diis  is  the  origin  of  primo- 
geniture in  England,  by  which  all  the  lands  of  that  country  were  held 
after  the  conquest. 

A  curious  piece  of  antique  embroidered  tapestry  is  yet  preserved  In 
the  cathedral  of  Bayeux,  in  France.  It  is  a  piece  of  linen,  four 
hundred  and  twenty  feet  long,  and  two  feet  wide,  on  which  is  worked 
the  principal  figures  and  most  striking  scenes  of  the  Norman  conquest ; 
it  was  worked  by  women,  chosen  by  Matilda,  the  conqueror's  wife ; 
and  it  accurately  describes  the  dress  of  the  heroes  of  that  age.  None 
of  them  wore  stockings,  and  all  wore  wooden  shoes.  Wooden  shoes 
were  then  worn   by  the  greatest  of  the  European  princes. 

About  this  time,  the  celebrated  Macbeth,  the  hero  of  Shakspeare's 
tragedy,  murdered  Duncan,  the  king  of  Scotland,  and  usurped  the 
crown.  He  was  deposed  by  Malcolm,  aided  by  Seward,  earl  of  North- 
umberland. About  the  same  period,  Griffith  ap  Cynan,  who  was 
educated  in  Ireland,  reigned  king  of  the  Welsh. 

In  this  age  began  that  remarkable  movement,  known  as  the  "  cru- 
sades," to  which  I  have  elsewhere  alluded. 

Such  was  the  general  state  of  Europe,  of  England,  Scodand,  Wales, 
and  Ireland,  at  the  important  epoch  in  Irish  history  which  we  are 
approaching. 

We  have  now  arrived  at  the  year  1150,  and  we  find  Turlogh 
O'Connor,  of  the  Connaught  line,  monarch  of  Meath,  and  the  west 
and  south  of  Ireland.  From  the  events  of  his  reign,  the  historians 
have  drawn  of  this  prince  a  high  character.  He  was  not  only  a  great 
general,  but  a  profound  and  accomplished  politician  ;  he  protected  trade, 
manufactures,  letters,  and  religion  ;  he  had  a  strong  passion  for  archi- 
tecture, and  built  many  great  chyrches,  castles,  and  bridges ;  he  rebuilt 


550  MANUFACTURES  OF  IRELAND. 

several  causeys,  and  repaired  and  made  many  roads  ;  he  threw  two 
spacious  bridges  across  the  River  Shannon,  one  at  Athlone,  the  other  at 
Achochtha ;  he  also  established  a  new  mint,  and  had  money  coined  at 
Cluon  Macknoise, — repaired  the  cathedral  of  Tuam,  founded  there  a 
great  priory  ;  he  punished  crime  severely  ;  even  his  own  son. was  loaded 
with  irons  for  twelve  months  for  some  unstated  crime ;  he  founded  and 
endowed  several  universities  throughout  Ireland  ;  and  left  great  wealth, 
by  his  will,  to  the  churches  and  colleges. 

About  this  time  also  were  held  several  ecclesiastical  synods  in 
Ireland  ;  the  proceedings  of  which  are  more  interesting  to  the  priest- 
hood than  to  the  general  reader,  as  they  related  to  mere  matters  of 
discipline  ;  they  will  be  found  detailed  at  copious  length  in  Lannigan, 
Carew,  or  Gahan's  Ecclesiastical  Histories. 

It  may  be  proper  here  to  take  a  glance  at  the  manufacturing  powers 
of  Ireland  and  Europe   about  this  period. 

I  have  already  shown  that  the  people  of  Ireland  manufactured  the 
materials  furnished  by  their  mines,  forests,  flocks,  and  herds,  into 
every  necessary  for  their  own  use.  I  have  adduced  the  holding  of 
several  fairs  throughout  Ireland,  at  which  woollens,  serges,  flannels, 
and  other  textile  fabrics,  were  brought  forward  for  sale.  I  have  shown 
the  immense  quantities  of  iron  which  were  paid  as  revenue  to  their 
various  kings  :  their  gold  and  silver  articles  of  ornament  and  use  were  of 
the  highest  finish,  and  display  the  proficiency  of  the  workmen  even  to 
this  day.  We  have  heard  of  the  beautiful  colors  imparted  to  their 
manufactures  by  the  use  of  the  marine  insect  called  buccani  purpura. 
This  was  known  in  Ireland  five  hundred  years  before  the  Christian 
era.  We  have  seen  that  they  manufactured  silk  for  their  chieftains' 
dresses,  which  are  frequently  described  by  the  bards  with  remarkable 
precision.     Amongst  the  articles  of  dress  is  noted  the  silken  shirt. 

In  looking  back  upon  those  ages,  if  we  see  more  attention  given  to 
the  polite  arts  than  to  trade  and  manufactures,  we  must  attribute  this 
bias  in  the  public  mind  to  the  universal  spirit  of  chivalry  which  per- 
vaded, in  those  times,  every  nation  of  Europe.  It  was  then  deemed 
mean  to  trade  or  traffic  in  articles  of  manufacture  ;  such  was  then  the 
prevalent  feeling  of  Europe. 

The  celebrated  De  Witt,  of  Holland,  writing  of  those  ages,  says, 
"Before  this  period,  \ihe  tenth  century,^  there  were  no  merchants  in 
all  Europe,  excepting  a  few  in  the  republics  of  Italy,  who  traded  with 
the  Indian  caravans  of  the  Levant ;  or  possibly  there  might  have  been 
found  some  merchants  elsewhere,  though  but  in   few  places,  that  carried 


MANUFACTURING    IN    EUROPE.  551 

on  an  inland  trade,  so  that  each  nation,  to  the  northward  and  eastward, 
was  forced  to  sow,  build,  and  weave  for  itself;  wherefore,  in  case  of  a 
superfluity  of  their  people,  they  were  compelled,  by  force  of  arms,  (for 
want  of  provisions,  and  to  prevent  the  effects  of  bad  seasons,  or  hunger,) 
to  conquer  more  land.  Such  circumstances  produced  the  irruptions  of 
the  Celtae,  Cimbri,  Scythians,  Goths,  Vandals,  Huns,  Franks,  Burgun- 
dians,  Normans,  Stc,  who,  till  about  the  year  1000,  were  in  their  greatest 
strength ;  all  which  people,  and,  in  a  word,  all  that  spoke  Dutch  or 
German,  exchanged  their  superfluities,  not  for  money,  but,  as  it  is  re- 
lated, thus —  viz.,  two  hens  for  a  goose,  two  geese  for  a  hog,  three  lambs 
for  a  sheep,  three  calves  for  a  cow,  so  much  oats  for  barley,  so  much 
barley  for  wheat,  he.  ;  so  that,  excepting  for  eatables,  there  was 
neither  barter  nor  traffic.  The  Flemings,  lying  nearest  to  France,  were 
the  first  that  began  to  earn  their  living  by  weaving,  and  sold  the  same 
in  that  fruitful  land,  where  the  inhabitants  were  not  only  able  to  feed 
themselves,  but  also,  by  the  superfluous  growth  of  their  country,  would 
put  themselves  into  good  apparel ;  which  Baldwin,  the  count  of  Flan- 
ders, considered,  about  the  year  960,  considerably  improved  by  es- 
tablishing yearly  fairs  in  several  places  without  laying  on  any  toll." 

Such  were  the  commerce  and  traffic  of  Europe  in  those  ages.  I  have 
shown  that  Ireland  had  her  great  annual  fairs  ever  since  the  days  of 
Cormac,  in  the  third  century,  and  probably  since  the  first  settlement  of 
the  country  by  the  Phoenicians ;  for  it  was,  as  I  have  shown  under  the 
head  of  "  Architecture,"  the  practice  of  the  citizens  of  Tyre  to  hold 
frequently  those  great  fairs,  in  which  woollen  cloth,  serges,  flannels, 
silks',  and  linens,  were  sold,  also  gold  and  silver  ornaments,  Sic.  Those 
"  fairs  "  continue  in  Ireland  to  the  present  day.  Fairs  were  not  established 
generally  in  Europe  until  the  ninth  century.  Somewhat  later  than  the 
tenth  century,  the  Flemings  likewise  supplied  Germany  with  their 
draperies,  and,  later  still,  the  countries  more  northerly. 

England  had  no  foreign  commerce  for  many  centuries  after  this  period. 
The  great  bulk  of  her  foreign  trade  was,  for  two  hundred  years,  en- 
grossed by  the  German  merchants,  who  kept,  in  London,  the  cele- 
brated Steelyard  ;  and  these  Germans  conducted  all  their  traffic  also 
in  their  own  shipping.  The  British  had  not  then  either  merchants 
or  shipping,  until  the  inhabitants  of  the  cinque  ports,  lying  opposite  to 
France  and  Flanders,  began,  by  degrees,  to  build  ships  of  their  own. 
About  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the  English  began  to  build 
ships,  which  Edward  the  Third  very  much  encouraged.  The  great 
raonarchs  of  Christendom  concerned    themselves,   for   many  centuries, 


552  KING    RODERICK    o'cONNOR.  o'rUARK. 

only  in  the  trade  of  war,  and  left  the  business  of  traffic  altogether  to 
smaller  states. 

I  shall  now,  having  given  the  reader  a  glance  at  the  general  state  of 
Europe,  come  back  to  the  affairs  of  Ireland,  which  country,  at  this 
time,  was  far  ahead  of  the  continental  nations  of  Europe,  in  arts, 
sciences,  letters,  laws,  religion,  traffic. 

In  the  year  1166,  Roderick  O'Connor,  son  to  Turlogh  the  Great, 
assumed  the  title,  and  was  saluted  monarch  of  Ireland.  He  marched 
through  the  several  provinces  of  the  kingdom,  and  received  the  hostages 
and  formal  submission  of  its  chiefs.  And  now  took  place  that  incident 
in  our  history  that  led  to  all  the  misfortunes  which  Ireland  has  endured 
from  tliat  day  to  the  present. 

Dermot  M'MurroughO'Kavenagh.  king  of  Leinster,  nursed  a  passion 
for  DeargorviUe,  daughter  of  the  king  of  Meath,  and,  though  she  was 
subsequendy  married  to  O'Ruark,  prince  of  Breffny,  or  West  Meath, 
yet  their  mutual  affection  was  not  extinguished  by  the  separation 
consequent  thereon.  At  length  an  opportunity  offered  which  brought 
matters  to  a  crisis.  It  was  the  practice,  in  those  ages,  for  princes 
to  go  on  long  journeys  to  holy  retreats  in  the  performance  of  re- 
ligious pilgrimages.  O'Ruark  had  gone  to  Lough  Dherg,  a  religious 
retreat  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  which  was  consecrated  by  St.  Patrick, 
and  which  was  frequented,  for  several  centuries,  by  greater  numbers 
than  even  the  holy  see  itself.  In  the  absence  of  O^RuarTc, 
M'Murrough,  the  Leinster  prince,  carried  off  Deargorville  to  his 
own  castle  of  Ferns,  in  Leinster.  On  the  injured  husband's  return, 
his  feelings,  and  those  of  his  friends,  were  worked  up  to  a  high 
pitch  of  anger.  His  first  act  was  to  complain  to  the  monarch 
Roderick.  This  he  did  in  the  following  letter,  translated  by  O'Hal- 
loran :  — 

"  O^Ruark  to  Roderick  the  Monarch,  health. 
"  Though  I  am  sensible,  most  illustrious  prince,  that  human  adversi- 
ties should  be  always  supported  with  firmness  and  equanimity,  and  that 
a  virtuous  man  ought  not  to  distress  or  afflict  himself  on  account  of  the 
levity,  or  inconstancy,  of  an  imprudent  female,  yet,  as  this  most  horri- 
ble crime  (of  which  I  am  fully  satisfied)  must  have  reached  your  eai-s 
before  the  receipt  of  my  letters,  and  as  it  is  a  crime  hitherto  so  un- 
heard-of, as  far  as  I  can  recollect,  as  never  to  be  attempted  against  any 
king  of  Ireland,  —  seventy  impels  me  to  seek  justice,  whilst  charity 
admonishes  me  to  forgive  the  injury.    If  you  consider  only  the  dishonor^ 


DERMOT    M  MURROUGH. 


S3 


—  that,  I  confess,  is  mine  alone ;  if  you  reflect  on  the  cause,  it  is 
common  to  us  both  ;  for  what  confidence  can  we  place  in  our  subjects, 
who  are  bound  unto  us  by  royal  authority,  if  this  lascivious  destroyer 
of  chastity  shall  escape  unpunished  after  the  commission  of  so  flagitious 
a  crime  ?  The  outrages  of  princes,  so  publicly  and  notoriously  com- 
mitted, if  not  corrected,  become  precedents  of  pernicious  example  to  the 
people ;  in  a  word,  you  are  thoroughly  convinced  of  my  affection  and 
attachment  to  you  ;  you  behold  me  wounded  with  the  shafts  of  fortune, 
and  sorely  distressed  with  the  greatest  afflictions :  it  only  remains  for  me 
to  request,  as  I  am  entirely  devoted  to  you,  that  you  will  not  only  with 
your  counsels  assist,  but  with  your  arms  revenge,  these  injuries,  which 
torment  and  distract  me.  This,  when  you  will,  and  as  you  will,  I  not 
only  demand,  but  require,  at  your  hands.     Farewell ! 

"  O'RUARK." 

Mr.  Moore  thinks  that  the  outrage  upon  O'Ruark  took  place  ten 
years  before  Roderick  O'Connor  came  to  the  throne,  and  that  Mag- 
loughlin,  the  monarch  at  that  lime,  refused  to  take  up  his  quarrel.  Be 
that  as  it  may,  all  the  historians  agree  that  Roderick  O'Connor,  in  con- 
sequence of  this  appeal  from  O'Ruark,  immediately  called  a  national 
council,  at  which  it  was  decreed  that  M'Murrough,  for  various  crimes 
and  enormities,  was  unworthy  to  reign  longer  over  Leinster.  An  army 
was  fitted  out,  and  the  command  of  it  given  to  O'Ruark.  He  marched 
to  the  territories  of  M'Murrough,  who  made  some  feeble  resistance ;  but, 
his  friends  and  followers  every  where  abandoning  him,  he  sought  safety 
in  flight,  and  embarked,  with  about  sixty  followers,  for  Bristol.  The  un- 
fortunate lady,  the  cause  of  all  this  war,  flew  to  St.  Bridget's  nunnery, 
in  Kildare,  where  she  passed  the  rest  of  her  life  in  penitence. 

The  territories  of  M'Murrough  were  divided  between  the  princes  of 
Ossory  and  Murcha.  The  royal  army  returned,  and  proceeded  to 
quell  some  rising  in  the  north  :  that  army  amounted,  we  are  told,  to 
thirty-nine  thousand  foot  and  fourteen  thousand  horse. 

King  Roderick,  who  accompanied  the  expedition,  returned  to  Tara, 
held  a  parliament  there,  and  also  the  fair  of  Taltean,  which  lasted 
for  a  month,  and  which  was  surrounded  with  unusual  splendor. 

But  while  the  Irish  nation  were  thus  enjoying  the  blessings  of  peace, 
they  little  suspected  that  a  plot  was  hatching  to  disturb  their  tran- 
quillity, and  destroy  their  independence. 

The  exiled  M'Murrough,  after  remaining  some  time  in  Bristol, 
repaired  to  Normandy,  in  the  north  of  France,  where  Henry  the  Second, 
70 

\ 


554  m'murrough  flies  to  England. 

kino-  of  Eno-land,  ihen  was  sojourning.  Henry  was  the  fourth  Norman 
kino-  of  Eno-land,  after  Wilham  the  Conqueror.  Between  him  and  the 
Conqueror,  there  were  WilHam  the  Second,  called  Rnfus,  on  account 
of  his  red  hair,  Henry  the  First,  and  Stephen. 

MMurrough  sought  assistance  from  the  English  monarch  to  regain 
his  lost  dominion.  Henry  the  Second  gave  him  a  favorable  reception, 
heard  his  tale,  but  excused  himself  from,  at  present,  engaging  in  his 
cause.  MMurrough  requested,  at  least,  his  permission  to  raise  such 
volunteers  amongst  his  subjects  as  he  could  procure.  To  this  Henry 
consented,  and  issued  in  his  favor  the  following  proclamation,  addressed 
to  all  his  subjects  of  England,  Wales,  and  Normandy  :  — 

"  Whereas  Dermod,  king  of  Leinster,  most  wrongfully,  (as  he  in- 
formeth,)  banished  out  of  his  own  country,  hath  craved  our  aid,  there- 
fore, forasmuch  as  we  have  received  him  into  our  protection,  grace,  and 
favor,  whoever,  within  our  realms,  subject  unto  our  command,  will  aid 
and  help  him,  whom  we  have  embraced  as  our  trusty  friend,  for  the 
recovery  of  his  land,  let  him  be  assured  of  our  grace  and  favor." 

MMurrough,  by  sound  of  trumpet,  had  tliis  proclamation  frequently 
read  in  Bristol  and  some  adjoining  cities.  He  offered  great  rewards  to 
such  as  would  enlist  under  his  banners  ;  but  his  progress  was  not  en- 
couraoino-.  He  then  passed  over  to  Wales,  and  applied  to  Richard, 
Earl  of  Strigul,  commonly  called  Strongbow.  He  made  considerable 
offers  of  lands  in  Ireland  to  the  Welsh  Norman  chieftain,  also  offered 
him  his  daughter  Eva  in  marriage,  and  the  reversion  of  his  kingdom, 
on  his  death,  if,  by  his  means  and  those  of  his  friends,  he  should  be 
restored  to  his  dominions.  This  treaty  was  accepted  by  Strongbow, 
sioned  and  sworn  to  on  both  sides,  and  MMurrough  bound  himself 
by  oath,  to  give  him,  at  a  proper  time,  his  daughter  Eva  in  marriage ; 
but  the  exiled  prince  had  not  the  power,  by  the  Irish  constitution,  to 
will  his  kingdom  to  alien  blood,  or  to  any  chief,  contrary  to  the  will  of 
his  people. 

Two  other  Welsh  chieftains,  Robert  Fitzstephen  and  Maurice  Fitz- 
gerald, entered  into  the  project :  one  of  these  was  promised  the  town 
of  Wexford.  With  such  forces  as  he  could  collect,  MMurrough 
landed  suddenly  on  the  Irish  coast,  and  seized  on  a  portion  of  his  old 
territories.  O'RuarJc,  his  mortal  enemy,  had  notice  of  this,  and  was 
soon  in  arms  to  expel  him,  with  the  approbation  of  the  monarch, 
Roderick  O'Connor. 

MMurrough  then  had  recourse  to  negotiation.  He  made  the  most 
abject  submission  to  King  Roderick,  and  besought  him  to  interpose  his 


FIRST    ENGLISH    INVASIONS.  555 

good  offices  to  appease  the  vengeance  of  O'Ruark,  whom  he  confessed 
he  had  greatly  injured  ;  and  as  the  unhappy  lady  had  long  become  a 
penitent  sister  of  the  holy  nuns  of  Kildare,  he  begged  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  a  portion  or  pittance  of  his  former  patrimony. 

His  appeal,  which  was  made  through  an  eloquent  ecclesiastic,  was 
heard  favorably,  (unfortunately  for  Ireland.)  He  was  allowed  a  large 
breadth  of  the  lands  of  Wexford  ;  he  delivered  up  seven  hostages  to 
the  monarch,  and  presented  O'Ruark  with  one  hundred  ounces  of  pure 
gold.  Thus  every  thing  appeared  settled  ;  but  alas  for  Ireland,  that 
gave  birth  to  such  a  traitor  as  MMurrough ! 

Having  now  artfully  gained  a  settlement  and  reestablishment  in  his 
native  country,  forgetful  of  his  oaths,  or  hostages,  to  the  Irish  monarch, 
he  turned  his  whole  energies  and  cunning  to  the  base  object  of  binding 
that  native  country  in  the  toils  of  the  stranger.  He  sent  his  private 
secretary,  O'Regan,  to  Wales,  to  remind  his  friends  of  their  promises 
and  engagements,  and  to  say  that  he  was  ready  to  receive  them  with 
open  arms.  He  directed  him  to  send  over  small  squadrons,  so  as  not  to 
alarm  his  enemies,  and  to  be  ready  to  land  a  considerable  force  in  the 
spring.  O'Regan  was  directed  to  get  as  many  recruits,  for  the  enter- 
prise, as  he  could,  and  make  the  most  flattering  promises  of  land  and 
wealth  to  the  adventurers. 

M'Murrough  was  busy  and  incessant  throughout  that  winter,  and 
increased  his  partisans  and  followers  without"  letting  them  know  his 
deep  intent;  and,  by  appointment  with  his  Welsh  associates,  there 
landed,  in  May,  1169,  in  five  small  vessels  from  Wales,  Fitzstephen, 
Fitzgerald,  Barry,  Hervey,  and  some  other  chiefs,  together  with  about 
thirty  knights,  sixty  esquires,  and  three  hundred  archers,  .with  Maurice 
Prendergast  at  the  head  of  ten  knights  and  two  hundred  archers,  forming 
not  more  than  seven  hundred  foreigners  altogether.  On  their  arrival, 
on  the  11th  May,  1169,  they  despatched  a  letter  to  MMurrough, 
announcing  their  presence  in  the  country.  He  Immediately  sent  his 
son,  at  the  head  of  five  hundred  horse,  to  meet  them  ;  he  followed 
himself,  at  the  head  of  two  thousand  infantry  ;  and  they  soon  concerted  a 
plan  of  military  operations.  Wexford  being  nearest  them,  they  resolved 
to  attack  it  first,  which  they  did  with  great  fury.  Fitzstephen  and 
Barry  led  on  the  troops  to  the  assault ;  they  soon  filled  the  ditches,  and 
reared  their  ladders  against  the  walls ;  but  the  Irish,  regardless  of 
their  shining  armor,  in  which  all  the  adventurers  were  incased,  hurled 
them  from  the  walls  with  great  slaughter ;  and,  after  the  loss  of  many 
gallant  knights  and  soldiers,  the  invaders  sounded  a  retreat. 


556  BATTLE    OF    WEXFORD. 

This  repulse  greatly  dispirited  them ;  and  Fitzstephen,  fearing  that 
his  followers  would  fly  to  their  ships  and  return,  had  them  burnt  before 
their  eyes,  that  no  mode  of  escape  might  lie  open,  and  to  convince 
ihem  that  death  or  victory  was  the  only  choice  before  them.  For 
three  successive  days  did  they  renew  the  attack,  but  with  no  better 
success. 

At  length  the  bishop  and  clergy  of  Wexford,  in  order  to  save  the 
effusion  of  Christian  blood,  —  both  the  invaders  and  invaded  were 
of  one  faith  then,  —  offered  their  mediation  to  bring  about  terms  of 
peace.  This  was  listened  to,  and  the  result  was,  the  citizens  returned  in 
their  allegiance  to  M'Murrough,  putting  hostages  into  his  hands  for  this 
agreement.  But  lliey  little  thought  he  had  conveyed  over,  by  a  sort 
of  mortgage,  the  city  and  liberties  of  Wexford  to  the  strangers.  No 
sooner  did  he  get  possession  of  the  town,  than  he  resigned  his  authority 
and  rights  over  it  to  Fitzstephen  and  Fitzgerald. 

This  triumph,  obtained  by  stratagem,  over  W^exford,  raised  the  name 
of  M'Murrough,  and  exaggerated  the  numbers  of  his  foreign  auxiliaries. 
Numbers  of  his  countrymen  flocked  to  his  standard,  thinking  they  were 
supporting  their  chief  and  prince,  and,  without  a  single  additional  soldier 
from  England,  he  invaded  the  territories  of  the  neighboring  chiefs,  and 
subdued  and  plundered  them. 

All  this  took  place  in  Wexford  without  exciting  any  alarm  throughout 
the  other  provinces  of  Ireland.  It  was,  unfortunately,  too  much  the  prac- 
tice, in  those  days,  for  provincial  princes  to  make  war  upon  each  other, 
and  retaliate,  on  each  side,  by  spoils  and  hostages,  without  calling  for 
the  interference  of  any  other  power.  The  progress  of  this  liandful  of 
adventurers,  in  support  of  the  efforts  of  one  of  their  own  princes,  to 
recover  his  territories,  excited  too  little  jealousy,  and  it  seems  not  more 
than  the  ordinary  curiosity  consequent  upon  border  warfare. 

M'Murrough,  however,  refusing  to  pay  his  annual  tribute  to  Roder- 
ick, the  monarch,  the  latter  felt  justly  alarmed  at  such  manifestation  of 
independence,  which  he  truly  attributed  to  the  presence  and  advice 
of  the  strangers.  He  thereupon  called  a  council  of  the  estates,  when  it 
was  resolved  that  M'Murrough  should  dismiss  the  strangers  from  his 
dominion,  compensating  them  for  their  services,  and  the  king,  Roderick, 
undertook  to  provide  them  with  ships,  to  take  them  back  to  their  own 
country  ;  but  as  F'itzstephen  had  been  taken  out  of  jail,  and  the  majority 
of  those  adventurers  were  outlaws  and  runaways  from  the  justice  of 
their  own  country,  the  offer  was  not  at  all  palatable,  though  any  other 
terms,  short  of  quitting  Ireland,  would  have  been  gladly  accepted.    They 


PROGRESS    OF    THE    INVADERS.  557 

counselled  M'MuiTougb,  therefore,  not  to  yield.  But  the  Irish  monarch, 
at  the  head  of  twenty  thousand  men,  marched  into  Leinster,  and  would 
have  exterminated  the  invaders,  but  for,  unluckily  again,  the  interference 
of  the  clergy,  who  were  authorized  by  the  wily  M'Murrough  to  offer 
a  complete  submission  to  Roderick,  on  the  part  of  himself,  and  to  dis- 
miss all  the  foreigners,  with  proper  rewards  for  their  trouble.  And  this 
agreement,  being  accepted,  was  ratified  by  the  oath  of  M'Murrough, 
before  the  great  altar  of  the  church  of  St.  Maidog,  at  Ferns.  The  un- 
dertaking was  joined  in,  besides,  by  several  of  the  clergy,  to  increase  the 
solemnity  and  guaranty  of  the  contract. 

In  this  year,  Maidog,  third  son  to  Owen  Gwinneth,  of  North  Wales, 
by  an  Irish  lady,  born  in  Clochran,  in  Connaught,  and  who  was  much 
addicted  to  maritime  affairs,  fitted  out  some  ships  to  explore  towards  the 
north,  but  was  driven  to  the  American  coast,  where,  according  to  Stow 
and  Clin,  he  landed  at  New  Spain,  now  Florida.  He  returned  to  Ire- 
land, and  fitted  out  a  second  expedition  ;  but  of  this  last  no  accounts  ever 
were  received.  It  is  said  that  a  portion  of  this  small  colony  penetrated 
into  Mexico,  and  founded  tribes  in  that  extraordinary  and  fertile  region. 

To  return  :  M'Murrough  kept  up  an  active  correspondence  wit'j 
Strongbow  ;  and,  finally,  that  chief,  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  force, 
landed  at  Waterford,  in  1170,  where  being  joined  by  M'Murrough, 
they  soon  attacked  the  city,  but  were  bravely  repulsed.  Next  day  they 
returned  to  the  assault,  but  were  again  unsuccessful.  Raymond  Le 
Gros,  one  of  the  foreigners,  hit  upon  an  unthought-of  expedient  for 
entering  the  town :  observing  a  projecting  house,  built  on  the  city 
walls,  one  side  of  which  rested  on  a  few  wooden  piles,  —  these  he  pulled 
from  under  the  house,  when  it  tumbled  ;  and  thus,(in  the  night,)  opening 
a  pass,  the  besiegers  rushed  in,  and  fell  upon  the  inhabitants,  sword  in 
hand,  committing  the  greatest  carnage  and  the  most  atrocious  acts  of 
cruelty,  sparing  neither  age  nor  sex.  The  city,  by  this  stratagem,  fell 
into  their  hands,  and  its  vast  wealth  became  their  spoil. 

The  fiendish  M'Murrough  then  sent  for  his  daughter  to  the  castle  of 
Ferns,  and  had  her  married  on  the  spot,  in  the  midst  of  the  shocking 
carnage,  to  Strongbow.  M'Murrough  and  his  allies,  now  having 
Waterford  and  Wexford  at  their  command,  —  in  the  harbors  of  which 
they  kept  ships,  to  secure  a  retreat,  —  looked  to  more  extensive  conquest, 
and  prepared  a  considerable  force  to  move  on  Dublin.  They  provided 
their  army  with  every  necessary  for  the  march  on  Dublin,  of  which  the 
monarch,  Roderick,  was  apprized,  and  to  frustrate  which  he  had  all  the 
roads  guarded.     M'Murrough  and  his  associates  got  to  Dublin  by  un- 


ALARM    OF    THE    IRISH.  559 

one  to  another,  like  any  other  articles  of  merchandise.  The  synod  of 
Armagh,  therefore,  entered  into  a  most  solemn  vow  to  discontinue  forever 
this  traffic  in  their  fellow-creatures.  All  the  English,  in  bondage  in  Ire- 
land, were  thereupon  set  at  liberty.  —  See  Camhrcnsis  and  Dr.  Warner. 

Upon  this  crisis  in  the  fate  of  Ireland,  the  Abbe  M'Geoghegan  makes 
the  following  comment :  "  The  reign  of  Roderick  O'Connor  is  mem- 
orable  for  a  revolution,  which  forms  an  epoch  fatal  to  Ireland.  An 
invasion  of  the  English,  which,  in  its  beginning,  would  not  have  alarmed 
even  the  petty  republic  of  Ragusa,  became,  from  its  having  been 
neglected  at  first,  so  serious,  that  the  liberty  of  a  powerful  nation  became 
its  victim,  and  a  monarchy  which  had  lasted  for  more  than  two  thousand 
years  was  overthrown. 

"  Politicians  endeavor  to  account  for  the  fall  of  empires.  By  some  it 
is  ascribed  to  the  weakness  of  those  rulers  who  introduce  a  bad  system 
in  the  administration  of  their  laws,  and  by  some  to  exterior  causes; 
while  others,  with  more  reason,  assign  it  to  the  will  of  the  Supreme 
Being,  who  has  drawn  all  things  out  of  nothing,  who  governs  all,  and 
sets  bounds  to  the  duration  of  all  created  objects.  Besides  this,  how- 
ever, I  think  we  may  examine  the  connection  that  exists  between 
natural  and  secondary  causes,  which  are  the  instruments  made  use  of 
by  the  Divinity. 

"  With  respect  to  Ireland,  the  source  of  her  destruction  can  be 
discovered  within  her  own  bosom.  This  kingdom  was,  from  the  settle- 
ment of  the  Milesians  in  the  island,  governed  by  one  king,  till  the  reign 
of  Eocha  the  Ninth,  who  erected  the  four  provinces  into  as  many  king- 
doms, independent  of  each  other,  some  time  before  the  Christian  era : 
they  were,  however,  dependent  on  the  monarch,  as  those  electors  and 
princes  are  who  hold  their  states  of  the  emperor  of  Germany.  This 
was  the  first  blow  which  the  constitution  of  Ireland  received.  It  suf- 
fered again,  in  the  first  century,  by  the  revolt  of  the  plebeians,  and  the 
massacre  of  the  princes  and  nobles  of  the  country  by  these  barbarians, 
who  seized  upon  the  government.  Towards  the  end  of  the  second 
century,  a  war  also,  which  Modha-Nuagat,  king  of  Munster,  carried  on 
against  Con,  the  monarch,  (the  result  of  which  was  the  division  of  the 
island  between  the  contending  parties,)  produced  new  disasters  to  the 
kingdom. 

"  Notwithstanding  these  convulsions  in  the  state,  and  the  violent 
attacks  of  the  Normans,  during  two  centuries,  the  Irish  monarchy  still 
maintained  itself  till  the  reign  of  Malachi  the  Second,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  eleventh  century,  when  the  sceptre,  which  had  been  for  six  or 


560  STRONGBOW  RECALLED  BY  HENRY. 

seven  hundred  years  hereditary  in  the  same  family,  passed  into  other 
hands.  Factions  increased  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  claimants  to 
the  crown,  and  the  government  was,  in  consequence,  rendered  weak  and 
enfeebled. 

"  The  fall  of  monarchies  seldom  occurs  suddenly.  The  change  takes 
place  by  degrees,  and  from  a  chain  of  events  which  imperceptibly  un- 
dermine the  constitution  of  the  state,  (as  sickness  enervates  the  body,) 
till  it  requires  but  a  slight  shock  or  stroke  to  complete  their  destruction. 
The  Irish  monarchy  received  this  fatal  blow,  in  the  twelfth  century, 
through  the  debauchery  and  boundless  ambition  of  one  of  its  princes."" 

While  Strongbow  was  carrying  on  his  conquests,  King  Henry  the 
Second  became  alarmed  lest  he  might  assume  a  sovereignty  in  Ireland 
independent  of  his  royal  power.  He  therefore  issued  a  proclamation, 
forbidding  any  of  his  subjects,  on  pain  of  death  and  forfeiture  of  their 
lands,  to  give  further  aid  to  Strongbow.  This  seriously  paralysed  the 
invader,  for  many  of  his  troops  returned  affrighted  to  England.  At 
this  nick  of  time  the  Irish  had  it  completely  in  their  power  to  prostrate 
the  forces  of  the  invader;  but  fate  ruled  it  otherwise.  Instead  of 
uniting  to  drive  off  the  common  enemy,  they  wasted  their  energies  in 
fighting  with  each  other,  chieftain  against  chieftain,  about  some  petty 
privilege  or  tribute.  Strongbow,  in  the  mean  time,  sent  his  brother-in- 
law,  Raymond  Le  Gros,  to  King  Henry,  who  was  then  in  Normandy, 
to  formally  surrender  all  the  lands  he  had  acquired  in  Ireland  to  his 
majesty,  and  assure  him  of  the  speedy  conquest  of  the  whole  kingdom, 
if  only  a  moderate  army,  under  the  command  of  his  majesty  in  person, 
were  to  land  in  the  country.  It  appears  the  king  refused  to  listen  to 
the  suggestion,  and  returned  a  most  discouraging  answer  to  Strongbow; 
whereupon  that  daring  chief  now  resolved  to  act  for  himself. 

In  the  mean  time,  St.  Lawrence  O'Toole,  the  archbishop  of  Dublin, 
proved  himself  a  pure  patriot.  Seeing  an  opportunity  so  favorable  for 
the  utter  extermination  of  the  invaders  of  his  country,  he  flew  from 
province  to  province,  endeavoring  to  unite  the  chiefs  and  princes ;  but 
their  foolish  animosities  between  each  other  prevailed.  They  refused 
to  unite  under  Roderick  O'Connor,  who  appeared  not  to  have  had  the 
confidence  of  the  northern  province.  Besides,  the  insignificance  of  the 
Anglo-Norman  force  in  Ireland,  and  the  reported  refusal  of  Henry  the 
Second  to  abet  his  countrymen,  tended  to  spread  a  dangerous  security. 
At  length,  however,  the  Irish  chiefs  were  roused  and  ralhed,  so  far  as  to 
surround  Dublin  with  a  considerable  force,  under  the  command  of  King 
Roderick  O'Connor.     But,  instead  of  proceeding  to  capture  the  city, 


HENRY    THE    SECOND    LANDS    AT    WATERFORD.  561 

they  foolishly  lay  two  months  around  it,  listening  to  negotiations  from 
the  wily  intruders,  when  at  length  the  English,  in  a  state  of  madness  and 
despair,  rushed  out  at  night,  and,  though  only  a  handful,  so  terrorized 
the  unprepared  Irish,  that  they  fled :  the  king,  being  at  the  time  in  a 
bath,  had  barely  an  opportunity  to  escape. 

Strongbow,  having  now  established  his  power  over  Leiuster,  repaired  in 
person  to  the  presence  of  Henry  the  Second,  and  the  result  was  the  form- 
al invasion  of  Ireland  by  that  monarch,  with  a  force  of  four  thousand  five 
liundred  men,  brought  to  Ireland  in  four  hundred  small  ships.  They 
landed  near  Waterford,  on  St.  Luke's  day,  18th  October,  1171.  At 
that  very  moment  a  fierce  war  was  raging,  in  the  heart  of  Ulster,  between 
the  native  chieftains,  the  forces  of  any  of  whom  would  have  been  suf- 
ficient to  defeat  the  king  of  England. 

Strongbow  formally  gave  up  to  King  Henry,  Waterford,  Wexford,  and 
Dublin,  which,  together  with  the  imposing  presence  of  the  king,  and  his 
glittering  retinue  of  armed  knights,  on  their  shores,  paralyzed  the  courage 
of  the  southern  chiefs  very  materially.  But  that  which  more  than  any 
thing  else  intimidated  them,  was  the  report,  industriously  circulated  pre- 
vious to  Henry's  arrival,  that  Pope  Adrian  had  conferred  the  sovereignty 
of  Ireland  on  the  English  monarch. 

It  was  the  custom  of  princes  in  those  days,  for  the  greater  security 
of  their  dominions,  to  make  them  over  to  the  head  of  the  Christian 
church,  and  receive  them  back  as  ecclesiastical  grants  ;  for  so  sacred 
were  the  possessions  of  the  church  then  regarded,  that  none  were  found 
throughout  the  Christian  world  so  bold  as  to  invade  them. 

It  was  pretended  by  King  Henry,  that  Adrian  the  Fourth  had  made 
over  the  whole  of  Ireland  to  him.  He  lost  no  time,  therefore,  on  his 
arrival,  in  inviting  the  clergy  of  the  south  and  the  west  to  a  gi'and 
conference,  at  the  ancient  seat  of  legislation,  in  Cashell.  The  pre- 
tended bull  of  Adrian,  who  had  then  been  dead  eighteen  years,  was  pro- 
duced. It  set  forth  the  anxieties  of  die  holy  see  to  have  virtue  and 
religion  cultivated  in  Ireland,  and  the  chief  pastors  obedient  and  sub- 
missive to  the  sovereign  poindfF;  and  the  better  to  insure  this  object,  the 
clergy  and  people  of  Ireland  were  called  upon  to  receive  Henry  the 
Second  of  England  as  their  king.  A  second  bull,  confirming  the  fore- 
going, purporting  to  be  from  Alexander  the  Third,  was  also  read  ;  and 
though  this  one  also  has  since  been  proved  a  forgery,  yet  it  had  an 
astounding  effect  on  the  assembly. 

Each  man  looked  at  his  neighbor,  not  knowing  what  decision  to 
make.  The  ecclesiastics  were  seized  with  panic  and  indecision.  Some 
71 


562  SUBMISSION    OF    SOME    CHIEFS. 

of  the  clergy  inclined  to  the  admonitions  of  the  pope,  and  submitted  to 
Henry,  whilst  others  went  their  ways  tb  their  respective  provinces  as 
much  in  grief  as  in  anger.  Some  of  the  secondary  chiefs  of  the  south 
u-ave  up  their  territories  to  Henry,  receiving  the  same  back,  to  bold  as 
his  vassals;  and  as  this  act  of  submission  appeared  not  humiliating, 
owinff  to  the  acquiescence  of  many  of  the  clergy  in  the  ordinance  of 
ihe  see  of  Rome,  Henry  obtained  the  adherence  of  seven  counties 
without  striking  a  blow. 

In  this  famous  synod,  some  unimportant  alterations  were  made  in 
reference  to  church  affairs,  which  embraced  only  the  better  payment  of 
tithes,  and  the  relief  of  the  church  lands  from  the  quarterly  tributes 
demanded  by  chiefs,  together  with  some  regulations  about  marriages. 
These  things  were  sanctioned  by  Henry  the  more  heartily,  for  he  was 
crafty,  and  lost  no  opportunity  of  gaining  the  clergy  to  his  interests.  It 
is  also  alleged  by  English  writers,  that  Henry,  at  this  first  convention, 
gave  the  benefit  of  English  laws  to  the  Irish.  If  so,  the  Irish  were  so 
unconscious  of  the  benefit,  that,  outside  of  the  English  pale,  they  never 
as  much  as  adopted  one  of  them;  and,  still  more^  the  English  within  the 
pale  could  not  be  prevented,  even  by  the  most  rigorous  laws  of  Eng- 
land, adopting  the  Irish  laws,  language,  customs,  and  even  the  Milesian 
names. 

To  whatsoever  extent  the  English  writers  may  claim  a  sovereignty 
over  Ireland  by  the  submission  to  Henry  of  some  of  the  southern  princes, 
and  even  that  of  the  paltry  Roderick  of  Connaught,  they  must  admit 
that  the  great  north  and  north-west  of  the  country  never,  even  formally, 
submitted  to  this  newly-assumed  power,  and  that,  for  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  from  this  period,  it  gradually  melted  away,  until,  as  we  shall 
prove,  the  power  of  England  in  Ireland  was  represented  by  forty 
horsemen  and  eighty  archers  on  foot. 

Henry  was  soon  called  back  to  England,  to  answer  the  charge  of 
having  procured  the  assassination  of  Thomas  a  Becket,  archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  afterwards  canonized  as  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury, 
which  there  is  no  doubt  but  he  did  cause,  promote,  and  had  accom- 
plished. 

The  Abbe  M'Geoghegan,  in  proving  those  bulls  forgeries,  asks, 
"  Is  it  likely  any  pope  would  select  such  a  monster  as  Henry  the  Second 
to  effect  a  reformation  of  a  nation's  morals  ?  "  and  then  draws  the  char- 
acter of  Henry  from  Cambrensis,  and  other  historians,  thus  :  — 

"The  bull  of  Alexander  the  Third  must  appear  a  paradox  to  all 
those  who  strictly  investigate  the  morals  of  Henry,  and  his  behavior  to 


THE  FORGED  BULLS.  HENRt's  CHARACTER.         563 

the  court  of  Rome.  A  bad  Christian  makes  a  bad  apostle.  What 
was  Henry  the  Second  ?  A  man  who,  in  private  Hfe,  forgot  the 
essential  duties  of  religion,  and  frequently  those  of  nature  ;  a  supersti- 
tious man,  who,  under  the  veil  of  religion,  joined  the  most  holy  prac- 
tices to  the  most  flagrant  vices ;  regardless  of  his  word,  when,  to 
promote  his  own  interest,  he  broke  the  most  solemn  treaties  with  the 
king  of  France  ;  he  considered  principle  as  nothing,  when  the  sacrifice 
of  it  promised  to  produce  him  a  benefit.  It  is  well  known,  that,  with- 
out any  scruple,  he  married  Eleanor  of  Aquitaine,  so  famous  for  her  de- 
baucheries, and  branded  by  her  divorce  from  Louis  the  Seventh.  He 
ungratefully  confined  this  very  woman  in  chains,  though  she  had  broucrht 
him  one  fourth  o(  France  as  her  marriage  portion.  He  was  a  bad 
father,  quarrelled  with  all  his  children,  and  became  engaged  in  wars  on 
every  side.  As  a  king,  he  tyrannized  over  his  nobles,  and  took  pleasure 
in  confounding  all  their  privileges  ;  like  his  predecessors,  he  was  the 
sworn  enemy  of  the  popes ;  he  attacked  their  rights,  persecuted  their 
adherents,  sent  back  their  legates  with  contempt,  encroached  upon  the 
privileges  and  immunities  of  the  church,  and  gloried  in  supporting  the 
most  unjust  usurpers  of  them  ;  which  led  to  the  martyrdom  of  St. 
Thomas  of  Canterbury.  Again,  his  debaucheries  are  admitted  by 
every  historian.  No  one  is  ignorant  that  he  went  so  far  as  to  seduce 
the  young  Alix,  who  had  been  betrothed  to  his  son  Richard,  and  that 
all  the  misfortunes  which  filled  the  latter  part  of  his  life  with  affliction, 
were  caused  by  this  passion,  as  obstinate  as  it  was  criminal  and  base. 
Behold  the  apostle,  the  reformer,  whom  the  holy  see  would  have 
chosen  to  convert  Ireland  !  The  witnesses,  we  here  bring  forth,  are 
not  to  be  suspected.  Cambrensis  himself,  whose  opinions  I  have 
elsewhere  reflited,  is  the  first  to  acknowledge  the  irregularities  of  Henry 
the  Second." 

"  The  pope  refused  either  to  see  or  hear  ihe  ambassadors,  whom 
Henry  had  sent  to  exculpate  himself  from  the  murder  of  Thomas  of 
Canterbury  ;  but  the  Roman  court  cried  out,  '  Desist,  desist,'  as  if  it 
were  impioift  for  the  pope  to  hear  the  name  of  Henry,  who  had  sent 
them.  By  the  general  advice  of  the  council,  the  pope  dispensed  with 
expressly  mentioning  the  name  of  the  king,  and  the  country  beyond  the 
sea."  —  Hoveden,  p.  526. 

"  These  bulls  have,  in  fact,  all  the  appearance  of  forgery.  They  are 
not  to  be  met  with  in  any  collection.  It  appears,  also,  that  Henry  the 
Second  considered  them  so  insufficient  to  strengthen  his  dominion  in 
Ireland,   that   he   solicited  Pope    Lucius   the   Third,   who   succeeded 


564  M  MUKROUGH  S    DEATH. 

Alexander,  to  confirm  them  ;  but  that  pope  was  too  just  to  authorize 
his  usurpation,  and  paid  no  regard  to  a  considerable  sum  of  money 
which  the  king  sent  to  him." 

Daniel  O'Connell,  the  Liberator,  has  given  it  as  his  opinion,  that 
these  bulls  were  forgeries. 

The  Irish  princes  did  not  act,  unfortunately,  that  independent 
part  which  became  men  who  lived  in  this  crisis  of  their  country's 
affairs.  Divided  among  themselves,  and  submissive  to  the  ordinances 
of  the  church,  while  we  revere  their  feelings  as  Christians,  we  cannot 
but  deplore  their  conduct  and  tame  submission  as  freemen.  That  this 
was  the  true  cause  of  Ireland's  unaccountable  toleration  of  the  invaders 
on  her  soil  maybe  gathered  from  the  letter,  written  by  the  great  O'Neill,, 
kino  of  Ulster,  in  1330,  and  presented  to  John  the  Twenty-second,  pope 
of  Rome,  in  the  name  of  the  Irish  nation,  which  I  have  published  at 
length  towards  the  conclusion  of  this  lecture.  "  During  the  course  of  so 
many  ages,  our  sovereigns  preserved  the  independency  of  their  country," 
says  O'Neill :  "  attacked  more  than  once  by  foreign  powers,  they 
wanted  neither  force  nor  courage  to  repel  the  bold  invaders  ;  but  that 
which  they  dared  to  do  against  force,  they  could  not  attempt  to  da 
against  the  simple  decree  of  one  of  your  predecessors,  Adrian." 

Such  were  the  causes  of  the  subjection  of  a  portion  of  Ireland  to 
English  juii-diction. 

Those  who  followed  Henry  the  Second  to  Ireland  were  the  descend- 
ants of  the  Norman  conquerors,  who  were  again  the  progeny  of  the 
Danish  barbarians  that  settled  in  France,  and  founded  the  kingdom  of 
Normandy.  Neither  their  association  with  the  French,  nor  with  the 
Anglo-Saxons  since  their  arrival  in  England,  tended  to  diminish  their 
ferocity.  During  the  century  that  preceded  the  invasion  of  Ireland, 
they  were  continually  under  arms,  either  to  crush  the  rebellious  Saxons, 
battle  with  the  Scots,  or  subjugate  the  Welsh.  And  these  are  the 
people  who,  Cambrensis  says,  introduced  civilization  into  Ireland. 

The  infamous  M'Murrough,  or  Dei'mot,  as  he  is  sometimes  called, 
died  in  the  midst  of  the  desolations  he  had  called  down  upon'his  country. 
This  execrable  wretch  died  a  shocking  spectacle ;  his  body  was  covered 
with  a  hideous  leprosy,  and  he  expired  in  the  greatest  misery,  without 
friends,  pity,  or  spiritual  comfort. 

Previous  to  Henry's  arrival,  I  should  have  told  that  the  valiant 
O'Ruark,  at  the  head  of  his  own  knights,  made  one  more  brave  effort 
to  free  his  native  land.  He  attacked  Dublin  sword  in  hand,  and, 
having  drawn  Miles  Cogan,  the  governor,  and  his  garrison,  outside  of  the 


DEATH    OF    o'rUARK.  565 

fortifications,  a  bloody  battle  was  fought  between  them,  which  produced 
no  other  effect  than  the  loss  of  many  lives.  The  son  of  O'Ruark, 
having  signalized  himself  by  his  valor  in  the  thick  of  the  battle,  was 
mortally  wounded,  with  several  of  his  followers,  who  sold  their  lives 
dearly  to  the  Enghsh,  of  whom  also  a  great  number  fell  on  the  field  of 
battle. 

Subsequently  a  conference  was  held  between  O'Ruark  and  De  Lacy 
to  make  a  peace,  which  was  proposed  by  the  English,  and.  while  the 
negotiation  was  proceeding  on  the  hill  of  Tara,  between  both  leaders, 
who  left  their  armies  in  the  valleys,  and  ascended  with  their  interpreters 
to  the  hill,  seven  English  knights  went  up  its  side,  tilting  in  jest,  —  they 
soon  fell  upon  O'Ruark ;  and,  in  the  presence  of  both  armies,  the 
valiant  hero  was  stabbed  to  the  heart,  upon  which  his  followers  were 
rushed  upon,  at  the  moment  of  panic,  and  cut  to  pieces  or  dispersed. 

It  cannot  but  gratify  every  Irishman,  in  America  and  Ireland,  to  learn 
that  the  philosopher,  statesman,  and  litterateur  of  America,  .John 
QuiNCY  Adams,  has  written  a  beautiful  poem,  founded  on  the  unfortu- 
nate affairs  in  the  history  of  Ireland,  brought  on  by  the  traitor  Dorniot. 
I  take  leave  to  insert  a  dozen  stanzas  selected  at  rar.dc  m,  snd  to 
notice  that,  in  his  able  preface,  Mr.  Adams  justly  reproves  the  mcial 
veracity  of  Hume,  who  painted  Henry  the  Second  as  a  hero  :  — 

"  So  much  for  Hume's  philosophy,  teaching  by  the  example  of  Henry 
the  Second.  If  there  be,  in  the  annals  of  the  human  race,  a  transaction 
of  deeper  and  more  melancholy  depravity  than  the  conquest  of  Ireland 
by  Henry  the  Second,  it  has  not  fallen  under  my  notice.  It  would 
seem  as  if  it  could  not  be  accomplished  but  by  a  complication  of  the 
most  odious  crimes,  public  and  private."  — 

"Among  those  kings,  there  rose,  from  time  to  time, 

One  braver  or  more  skilful  than  the  rest, 
With  brighter  parts,  and  genius  more  sublime, 

Who  bore  among  tliem  all  a  loftier  crest: 
His  power,  while  in  the  vigor  of  his  prime, 

O'er  the  whole  island  was  at  once  impressed ; 
And  at  the  time  precise  of  which  I  sing, 
Roderick  O'Connor  was  fair  Erin's  king. 

"And  tlien  the  people  were,  as  they  are  now, 

A  careless,  thoughtless,  brave,  kind-hearted  race, 
Witii  boiling  bosom,  and  with  dauntless  brow, 
With  shrewdest  humor,  and  with  laughing  face ; 


566  POEM    OF    JOHN    Q,UINCY    ADAMS    ON    THIS    INVASION. 

Their  women,  purer  than  the  virgin's  vow, 

Blooming  in  beauty,  and  adorned  witli  grace; 
But  some  exceptions,  I  must  own,  were  there, 
As  in  all  ages  may  be  found  elsewhere. 

"  Christians  they  had  been  from  St.  Patrick's  day ; 

Their  priests  for  learning  had  been  long  renowned; 
Though  not  accustomed  Peter's  pence  to  pay, 

Nor  tithes  unto  the  pontiff  triple-crowned. 
Music  they  loved;  they  loved  the  minstrel's  lay; 

Their  hearts  were  tuned  to  harmony  of  sound ; 
As  if  from  heaven's  most  hallowed  notes  it  stole, 
The  harp  of  Erin  searched  the  inmost  soul." 


ON  DERMOT'S  PRESENTING  HIS  DAUGHTER  TO  STRONGBOW,  THE 

INVADER. 

"  And  Dermot  promised  him  fair  Eva's  hand ; 

And  thus  his  country  and  his  daughter  sold : 
O !  who  can  read  the  record  of  that  land. 

And  mark  her  miseries,  with  bosom  cold  ? 
If  it  must  boil  to  see  before  us  stand 

A  wretch  who  barters  liberty  for  gold. 
To  see  one,  with  what  anguish  must  it  swell, 
At  once  himself,  his  child,  his  country  sell?" 


ON  THE  FIRST  SKIRMISHES  WITH  THE  INVADERS. 

"  But  let  not  Erin  suffer  in  your  mind ; 

If  her  brave  children  once  were  known  to  flee,  — 
Consult  Columbia's  annals,  you  shall  find 

The  same  with  those  who  sought  to  make  her  free. 
In  sooth,  militia-men  you  cannot  bind 

To  serve  for  six  months  when  engaged  for  three  :  — 
Whence  you  may  come  to  this  conclusion  just. 
On  raw  militia  not  too  much  to  trust" 


HENRY'S  MOCK  SYNOD. 

"At  Cashell  now  a  synod  was  convened 
Of  all  the  holy  prelates  of  the  land ; 

And  not  a  sin  or  frailty  could  be  gleaned, 
But  stood  exp6sed  before  that  sag-ed  band. 

No  crime  was  sheltered,  not  a  vice  was  screened, 


POEM    OF    JOHN    QUINCY    ADAJIS    ON    THIS    INVASION.  567 

Of  all  that  called  for  the  reforming  hand; 
And  what  the  sins  were,  would  tlie  .reader  learn, 
From  the  proposed  reforms  he  shall  discern. 

"  First,  wedlock  never  must  be  solemnized. 

Of  kin  within  canonical  degrees ; 
And  children  must  in  public  be  baptized. 

And  taught  to  know  at  least  the  church's  fees; 
And  lands  and  tenements  should  be  devised 

To  wives  and  children  as  the  sire  should  please ; 
The  dead  in  churchyards  only  buried  be ; 
And  all  the  church's  lands  from  taxes  free. 

"This  was  the  searching  process  of  refonn, 

A  precious  model  for  all  after  times ; 
This  was  to  justify  invasion's  storm, 

And  Strongbow's  robberies  and  Dermot's  crimes. 
One  vice  suppressed  will  sometimes  breed  a  swarm, 

As  has  been  witnessed  since,  in  other  climes ; 
But  Avhen,  O  when,  did  Conquest  ever  dare 
Unveil  her  Gorgon  face,  with  snakes  so  rare  ? " 


THE   DEATH   OF  DERMOT. 

"And  to  his  wildered  senses,  Erin's  saints 

Appear  with  lighted  torches  in  their  hands, 
Applying  scorpion  scourges  till  he  faints. 

And  then  reviving  him  with  biazing  brands ; 
While  o'er  his  head  a  frowning  Fury  paints. 

In  letters  which  he  reads  and  understands, 
'  Expect  no  mercy  from  thy  Maker's  hand ! 
Thou  hadst  no  mercy  on  thy  native  land.' 

"And  to  the  shades  the  indignant  spirit  fled, 

And  THUS  was  Erin's  conquest  first  achieved ; 

Thus  Albion's  monarch  first  became  her  head ; 
And  now  her  freedom  shall  be  soon  retrieved. 

For  (mark  the  Muse  —  if  rightly  she  has  read, 
Let  this  her  voice  prophetic  be  believed,) 

Soon,  soon  shall  dawn  the  day,  as  dawn  it  must, 

When  Erin's  sceptre  shall  be  Erin's  trust." 

I  have  shown  that  the  English  first  obtained  a  footing  by  stratagem 
and  treachery,  coupled  with  the  baseness  of  Dermot,  than  whom  Ire- 
land, nor  no  other  country,  ever  gave  birth  to  a  greater  villain.     I  have 


568  REFLECTIONS    ON    THIS    INVASION. 

shown  that  these  foreigners,  on  the  approach  of  Roderick,  the  Irish 
monarch,  at  the  head  of  an  Irish  army  many  times  more  than  sufficient 
to  exterminate  them,  swore,  on  the  altar  of  Wexford,  to  quit  the  coun- 
try forthwith, — instead  of  which,  when  their  Uves  were  spared,  they 
Invited  over  more  adventurers.  I  liave  shown  that  the  forged  bull  of 
Pope  Adrian,  who  was  an  Englishman,  conferred  on  Henry  the  Second 
the  government  of  Ireland,  and  that  such  was  the  deference  paid  by 
the  clergy,  and  the  great  body  of  the  people  of  Ireland,  to  this  mandate 
of  the  holy  see,  that  it  neutralized  that  resistance  which  the  Irish 
would  otherwise  have  offered  to  the  handful  of  invaders,  who  landed  in  the 
train  of  the  English  king.  But  Henry  never  .  exercised  any  authority 
over  any  part  of  Ireland,  save  the  seven  counties  on  the  eastern  coast, 
known  for  many  centuries  as  the  English  Pale,  which  diminished  at 
length  to  four  counties,  at  which  limit  it  was  found  on  the  accession 
of  Henry  the  Eighth.  An  agreement  was  finally  made  between 
Roderick,  king  of  Connaught,  and  Henry  the  Second,  that  Roderick 
should  remain  king  of  the  Irish,  who  were  to  be  governed  as  usud 
by  Irish  laws,  and  that  the  English  settlers  within  the  Pale  should 
be  subject  to  English  laws,  and  to  the  English  king.  This  is  re- 
corded by  the  learned  Irish  historian,  Gratianus  Lucius,  (Lynch.) 
He  says,  "  CathoUcus  O' Duhhthy  returned  from  England,  with  peace 
agreed  to,  on  these  conditions  with  the  king  of  England,  —  that 
Roderick  should  be  king  of  the  Irish,  and  that  the  provinces  should 
be  governed  by  their  kings  as  usual,  subject  to  chiefry  to  Roderick,  he 
paying  tribute  to  Henry,  at  the  rate  of  one  hide  for  every  ten  oxen 
killed  in  his  territory." 

English  writers  are  prone  to  construe  this  peace,  entered  into  with  the 
English  monarch,  as  a  submission;  but  such  it  never  was.  Neither  the 
laws  of  England,  nor  the  mandates  of  the  king  of  England,  ever  pene- 
trated farther  into  Ireland,  for  four  hundred  years  after  this  period,  than 
the  semicircle  I  have  described  as  the  Pale.  How,  then,  can  the 
English  claim  power  in  Ireland,  by  virtue  of  this  pretended  conquest! 
Let  it  be  well  remembered,  that  the  laws  and  authority  of  England 
were  acknowledged  only  amongst  the  English  settlers  of  the  Pale  for 
that  long  period.  The  Pale,  be  it  also  noted,  did  not  extend  to  the 
one  eighth  of  the  kingdom. 

Certain  it  is  that  the  English,  by  marriage  with  the  old  Irish 
families  in  the  interior,  by  intrigue,  by  border  battles  and  acts  of 
treachery,  obtained  some  property  and  power,  in  the  long  course  of 
four  hundred  years,  in  different  parts  of  Ireland.     But  this  property 


HENRY    THE    SECOND    DID    NOT    CONQUER    IRELAND.  569 

and  this  power  they  held  and  exercised  as  Irish  princes,  subject 
to  the  old  Irish  laws  and  customs,  to  which  they  every  where 
gave  a  preference,  not  only  because  they  were  in  their  nature  very 
equitable  and  very  just,  but  because  the  common  people  revered  these 
old  laws  as  celestial  judgments,  and  the  new  comers  were  too  crafty  to 
alarm  the  people  by  introducing  any  English  laws,  at  variance  with  the 
received  notions  of  justice,  which  time  had  consecrated  in  the  minds  of 
the  nation. 

That  Henry  the  Second  did  not  conquer  Ireland,  as  is  affected  by 
some,  we  have  the  authority  of  Sir  John  Davies,  the  English  attorney- 
general  of  King  James  the  First  of  England.  He  says,  "  Henry  de- 
parted out  of  Ireland  without  striking  one  blow,  or  building  one  castle, 
or  planting  one  garrison  among  ^he  Irish,  neither  left  behind  him  one 
true  subject  more  than  those  he  found  there  at  his  first  coming  over, 
which  were  only  the  English  adventurers  spoken  of  before,  who  had 
gained  some  port  towns  in  Leinster  and  Munster,  and  possessed  some 
scopes  of  land  thereunto  adjoining."  And  this  is  that  conquest  of  King 
Henry  the  Second,  so  much  spoken  of  by  so  many  writers. 

And  Plowden,  another  English  historian,  remarks  on  this  pretended 
conquest  as  follows  :  — 

"  Notwithstanding  the  nominal  or  pretended  conquest  of  the  whole 
kingdom  of  Ireland  by  Henry  the  Second,  and  the  grant  and  confirma- 
tion thereof  by  the  Popes  Adrian  and  Alexander,  the  truth  is,  that  the 
English  power  and  authority,  during  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Second, 
was  confined,  and  it  so  continued  for  above  four  hundred  years,  to  a 
certain  district  afterwards  called  the  Pole.  This  district  comprised  the 
counties  of  Dublin,  Kildare,  Meath,  and  Uriel,  with  the  seaport  cities 
of  Waterford,  Cork,  and  Limerick,  and  the  lands  immediately  surround- 
ing them.  Over  the  other  parts  of  the  kingdom,  which  were  ivithout 
the  Pale,  comprising  twenty-seven  counties,  neither  Henry  the  Second, 
nor  a7iy  of  his  successors,  until  the  reign  of  James  the  First,  either  had, 
or  even  pretended  to  claim,  more  than  a  naked,  or  nominal  and  empty 
tide ;  insomuch,  that  Sir  John  Davies  says,  that  England  never  ^ciit 
over  either  numbers  of  men,  or  quantities  of  treasure,  sufficient  to 
defend  the  small  territory  of  the  Pale,  much  less  to  reduce  that  which 
was  lost. 

"  Accordingly,"    continues    Plowden,     "  the    English     adventurers 

governed    their    district    by   their   own    model.      The    native   chiefs, 

owning    by    far  the    greatest    part   of  Ireland,    acted    independently 

of  the    English    government,    made    war    and    peace,    entered    into 

72 


570  THE    ENGLISH    COLONY    OF    THE    PALE. 

leagues  and  treaties,  not  only  amongst  each  other,  but  with  foreign 
powers,  and  punished  malefactors  by  their  own  laws,  customs,  and 
constitutions." 

Having  shown  by  what  foul  means  the  inhabitants  of  England  first 
obtained  power  in  Ireland,  I  must  inform  the  reader  that  it  is  my  inten- 
tion to  pass  rapidly  over  the  affairs  of  the  English  colony  in  Ireland 
for  a  period  of  three  hundred  years.  Their  story  is  told  by  their  own 
historians,  who  were  the  hired  traducers  of  the  "  Irish  enemy ; "  and  as 
safely  might  the  present  history  of  Ireland  be  taken  from  the  London 
Times,  as  from  Cambrensis,  Cox,  Leland,  Carte,  and  other  such  writers, 
from  whom  Mr.  Moore  principally  draws  his  miserable  History. 

Few  manuscript  accounts  of  those  black  times,  written  by  the  Irish 
themselves,  have  come  to  our  hands.  ,The  chiefs  kept  their  bards,  who 
wrote  the  family  registers,  till  the  period  of  the  reformation,  when  all 
the  family  observances,  with  law  and  justice,  were  swamped  in  one 
common  gulf. 

For  three  centuries,  the  government  and  affairs  of  the  English 
colony  in  Ireland  were  so  totally  distinct  from  the  Irish  nation  which 
surrounded  that  colony  on  every  side,  and  it  was  kept  so  exclusively 
English  by  enactments,  interests,  prejudices,  and  the  commands  of  the 
master  government  in  England,  that  its  affairs  are  of  no  more  interest 
to  the  Irishman  of  the  present  day,  than  those  of  France,  Norway,  or 
any  other  nation  of  Europe. 

During  all  this  time,  the  Irish  princes,  in  three  fourths  of  Ireland, 
were  perfectly  independent  of  England,  and  of  each  other.  The  only 
change  wrought  by  the  English  invasion  in  their  general  condition,  was 
merely  the  abolition  of  a  supreme  monarch  in  the  country.  We  have 
many,  very  many  instances  of  the  English  within  the  Pale  submitting 
to  pay  tribute  to  the  Irish  princes,  who  reigned  outside  it,  and  vice  versa. 
I  have  no  desire  to  swell  my  book  to  inconvenient  dimensions  with  the 
unpleasant  history  of  those  border  battles,  attended  sometimes  with 
unusual  barbarity  on  both  sides,  and  in  which  the  quarrels  of  the 
English  with  each  other  are  as  conspicuous  as  those  of  the  Irish. 
Let  some  other  pen  indulge  in  the  disagreeable  work.  1  care  not 
either  to  read  about  them,  or  write  about  them. 

There  are  certain  general  outlines,  however,  that,  to  preserve  the 
necessary  connection  of  history,  I  am  bound  to  sketch,  which  I  shall 
contract  as  much  as  1  possibly  can. 

In   some   time    after  Henry    the   Second's   return    to    England,    he 


PRINCE  John's  defeat.  —  abdication  of  Roderick.       571 

assembled  a  council  at  Oxford,  Anno  Domini  1177,  and  there  conferred 
upon  his  son  John  the  title  of  "  Lord  of  Ireland."  William  Fitzaldelm 
was  the  first  English  deputy  appointed  to  rule  Ireland,  who  was  sent, 
in  1178,  by  Henry  the  Second;  and  from  that  appointment  to  the 
present,  the  entire  history  of  the  lord  lieutenants  of  Ireland  is  nearly 
the  same  throughout — pervaded  with  jobbing,  favoritism,  treachery, 
alternately  towards  English  and  Irish,  seeking  whom  among  the  Irish 
they  may  safely  rob,  seeking  whom  among  their  own  they  may,  with 
the  greatest  personal  eclat,  promote. 

On  the  young  Prince  John's  arrival  in  Ireland,  his  petulant  and 
supercilious  manner  towards  the  Irish,  drove  into  rebellion  many  of  those 
who  were  won  or  coaxed  into  obedience  by  his  father.  Prince  John  lost 
nearly  his  entire  army  in  his  conflicts  with  the  natives ;  and  here  again, 
had  they  been  but  unanimous,  and  submitted  to  one  brave  man,  they 
might  have  reestablished  the  independence  of  their  country  ;  but  fate 
seemed  to  work  against  them !  Prince  John  was  soon  recalled,  and  all 
the  powers  of  government  placed  in  the  hands  of  De  Courcy. 

De  Courcy  entered  Connaught  in  great  force,  but  was  met  there  by 
the  combined  arms  of  Limerick  and  Connaught,  and  quickly  put  to 
flight.  He  subsequently  sallied  into  the  north,  and,  with  only  a  handful 
of  picked  and  well-armed  men,  defeated  the  unprepared  natives,  and 
seized  upon  a  wide  territory. 

The  Irish  now  began  to  feel  the  pulsations  of  men  ;  and,  had  they 
placed  Donald  O'Brien  at  their  head,  there  is  not  the  slightest  doubt 
but  they  would  have  driven  every  invader  out  of  their  kingdom  ;  but  the 
northern  chieftains  wasted  their  strength  in  petty  battles,  instead  of 
uniting  to  free  the  land  from  the  common  foe.  ^ 

Geraldus  Cambrensis,  who  wrote  the  first  lying  history  of  Ireland, 
attempted,  in  the  presence  of  Maurice,  archbishop  of  Cashell,  to  dis- 
parage the  Irish  clergy,  by  charging  on  them,  amongst  other  things, 
that,  from  the  days  of  St.  Patrick,  they  had  not  a  single  martyr 
amongst  them:  —  "True,"  said  Maurice,  "but  there  are  those  now 
amongst  us  who  have  made  martyrs  in  their  own  country,  and  who 
have  been  accustomed  to  make  martyrs.  From  henceforth  Ireland  will 
have  her  martyrs  in  abundance  !  " 

Roderick  O'Connor,  who  had,  for  some  time,  retired  from  the 
throne  to  a  monastery,  saw,  from  his  retreat,  his  kingdom  of  Connaught 
torn  to  pieces  by  his  sons.  On  every  side  were  to  be  seen  either  the 
battles  of  chieftains  or  the  advancing  armies  of  the  invaders. 


572    DEATH  OF  HENRY  THE  SECOND. KING  JOHN. MAGNA  CHARTA. 

Henry  the  Second  died  in  Normandy,  1189,  cursing  his  children,  all 
of  whom  attempted  in  turn  to  have  him  murdered. 

At  King  Henry's  death,  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Richard,  and,  on 
his  death,  by  John,  from  whom  the  charter  of  liberty,  known  as  Magna 
Charta,  was  wrung  by  the  barons  and  clergy  on  the  field  of  Runnymede. 
This  Great  Charter  was  not  so  much  an  introduction  of  any  new  law  as 
It  was  a  recognition  of  the  old  customs,  observed  and  in  force  before  the 
conquest  —  customs,  be  it  observed,  the  majority  of  which  had  their 
origin  in  Ireland,  and  were  transplanted  by  Alfred,  in  the  tenth  century, 
to  England. 

Magna  Charta  —  the  birthright  of  Englishmen  —  ordains  that  all 
freemen  shall  be  allowed  to  go  out  of  the  kingdom  and  return  to  it  at 
pleasure ;  one  weight  and  one  measure  shall  be  established  throughout 
the  entire  kingdom  ;  courts  of  justice  shall  be  stationary,  and  not  ambu- 
latory, with  the  king.  (Previous  to  this,  the  king  went  his  rounds,  ad- 
ministering justice  in  person,  and  by  assistants.)  Circuits  were  to  be 
held  regularly  every  year;  and  justice  no  longer  to  be  sold,  refused, 
or  delayed;  merchants  allowed  to  transact  all  business  without  being 
exposed  to  tolls  and  impositions ;  no  freeman  to  be  taken,  or  impris- 
oned, or  dispossessed  of  his  free  tenement  or  liberties,  or  outlawed,  or 
banished,  or  any  wise  hurt  or  injured,  unless  by  the  legal  judgment  of 
his  peers  and  the  law  of  the  land.  Lastly,  there  was  a  stipulation  in 
favor  of  the  villains,  a  sort  of  slave  or  serf  class,  attached  to  the  great 
man's  estate.  This  class,  though  the  most  numerous  of  all,  were  not 
before  this  deemed  worthy  of  legislative  notice.  It  was  ordained  that 
they  should  not  be  deprived  by  a  fine  of  their  carts,  and  their  ploughs, 
and  implements  of  industry.    ^ 

This  Great  Charter  was  ratified  four  times  by  Henry  the  Third  ;  twice 
by  Edward  the  First ;  fifteen  times  by  Edward  the  Third ;  seven  times 
by  Richard  the  Second  ;  six  times  by  Henry  the  Fourth  ;  and  once 
by  Henry  the  Fifth :  but  was  trampled  under  foot  by  Henry  the 
Eighth ;  revived  by  Queen  Mary ;  subverted  again  by  Elizabeth ;  and 
has  never  since  been  fairly  allowed  to  operate  in  England  or  Ireland. 
Lord  Casdereagh's  Six  Acts,  and  Alphabet  Smith's  mode  of  packing 
a  jury,  have  completely  subverted  it  in  our  aays. 

In  these  times,  the  language  in  common  use  in  England  was,  —  in 
the  church  and  professions,  Latin ;  at  court,  French ;  and  among  the 
common  people,  old  Saxon.  It  was  usual  to  have  public  documents 
and  addresses  published  and  read  in  three   different  languages.      For 


AN  IRISH  CHAMPION. HENRY  THE  THIRD.  573 

three  or  four  centuries,  great  confusion  of  tongues  prevailed  in  Eng- 
land. In  Ireland,  the  language  of  the  great  body  of  the  people  re- 
mained Irish,  and  in  ecclesiastical  offices,  Latin.  The  language  of 
the  English  Pale,  amongst  the  gentry  class,  was  Latin,  with  a  little 
French  ;  but  the  majority  of  the  English  spoke  the  Irish  language  in 
common  affairs.  The  English  language  had  yet  no  regular  existence ; 
and  finally  it  was  compounded,  by  the  action  of  time,  into  that  dialect 
which  exists  at  this  day,  of  French,  Latin,  old  Saxon,  and  Irish,  called 
the  "  English  language." 

It  is  recorded  that,  in  this  reign,  a  French  champion  came  over  to 
England  to  fight  any  one  who  should  assert  that  Philip,  king  of  France, 
had  done  wrong  to  King  John.  Great  was  the  consternation  of  the 
courtiers  of  John  at  this  threat,  for,  in  those  days,  matters  of  the  highest 
import  were  submitted  to  personal  combat ;  and  such  was  the  renown 
of  the  French  champion,  that  none  in^  England  dared  to  face  him.  At 
length  it  was  suggested  to  the  king,  that  there  was  an  Irish  chief,  of  great 
bodily  strength  and  personal  bravery,  confined  in  the  Tower,  as  a  state 
prisoner,  who  was  taken  in  the  late  Irish  wars.  This  brave  captive  was 
offered  his  freedom  on  condition  of  encountering  the  French  bravo.  On 
the  day  fixed  for  the  encounter,  the  Frenchman  was  not  forthcoming ; 
he  had  stolen  off  to  Spain,  not  daring  for  shame  to  return  to  France.  The 
English  monarch  wished  for  some  exhibition  of  his  champion's  strength, 
before  the  assembled  thousands  who  came  to  witness  the  encounter. 
Upon  this,  there  was  a  post,  or  trunk  of  a  tree,  set  in  the  earth,  and  on  it 
was  fixed  a  steel  helmet.  At  the  first  blow  of  his  sword,  the  Irish 
champion  cut  the  helmet  in  two;  and  at  the  second  blow,  buried  his 
sword  so  deeply  in  the  tree,  that  seven  of  the  strongest  of  the  by-standers 
could  not  draw  it  out ;  it  was  removed  only  by  himself.  This  fact  is 
related  by  Wade,  in  his  Recent  History  of  England.  King  John,  having 
partly  conquered  Scotland,  made  another  descent  on  Ireland,  with  a 
great  army.  On  this  occasion,  he  received  homage  from  eleven  Irish 
chiefs,  or  lords,  but  was  obliged  to  return  to  England,  where  he  soon 
after  died. 

Henry  the  Third  came  to  the  throne  of  England,  but  his  wars  with 
the  Welsh  occupied  his  attention  and  forces ;  and  it  is  a  little  re- 
markable that,  even  thus  early  in  the  career  of  England,  the  king's  chief 
force,  in  his  movement  on  Wales,  was  made  up  of  Irish  conscripts,  which 
he  compelled  into  his  ranks.  We  find  also,  in  this  reign,  divisions  grow- 
ing up  between  the  English  chiefs  in  Ireland.     The  Irish  now  assumed 


574      WALES    ANNEXED    TO    ENGLAND. WALLACE,    OF    SCOTLAND. 

more  courage,  and  reconquered  from  the  invaders  a  considerable  portion 
of  their  lost  territory. 

Edward  the  First  came  to  the  English  throne  1272.  In  1300,  he 
held  the  first  assembly  in  England  called  a  parliament,  a  shadow  of 
which  was  soon  after  held  in  the  English  colony  in  Ireland.  Amongst 
the  very  first  acts  of  this  shq^dow  was  the  institution  of  a  tax  on  the 
estates  of  Irish  absentees  for  the  maintenance  of  the  king's  army. 

It  seems  that,  in  the  parliament  held  in  Kilkenny,  1309,  the  murder 
of  an  Irishman  was  declared  a  crime  not  punishable  by  law,  nor  the 
violation  of  chastity,  if  on  an  Irish  woman,  a  crime.  See  the  cases 
referred  to  by  Lynch,  in  Moore,  324.  In  1317,  on  petition  to  the 
king,  a  parliament  was  ordained  to  be  holden  in  Dubhn  every  year. 

Several  battles  were  fought,  during  tliis  reign,  between  the  Irish  and 
the  invaders,  during  which  the  natives  gained  considerable  advantages, 
having  captured  one  lord  lieutenant  and  killed  another ;  which  suc- 
cesses, if  only  followed  up  with  unity,  would  have  completely  reestab- 
lished Ireland  in  her  independence. 

In  this  reign,  the  ancient  and  independent  kingdom  of  Wales  was 
annexed  to  the  crown  of  England.  The  celebrated  Llewellyn,  the  last 
Welsh  king,  having  fallen  in  the  field  of  battle,  his  forces  fled.  But  the 
crafty  Edward,  having  offered  terms  of  peace  to  the  Welsh,  invited 
a  grand  convocation  of  all  their  bards,  who  were  collected  together  with 
great  industry,  by  a  certain  day,  when  the  king  had  them  surrounded, 
and  barbarously  butchered.  By  this  means  he  put  it  out  of  the  power 
of  the  Welsh  leaders  to  reanimate  their  countrymen  by  the  songs  and 
music  of  their  favorite  bards,  for  there  was  hardly  one  left  alive  in  all 
Wales.  The  same  king  marched  into  Scotland,  took  Baliol,  the  king, 
and  several  of  the  nobility,  prisoners,  and  carried  to  London  the  cele- 
brated Stone  of  Destiny,  which  had  been  sent  over  from  Ireland  with 
Feargus,  the  Irish  prince,  eight  hundred  years  previously.  On  this 
celebrated  stone,  as  I  have  already  noticed  at  length,  were  the  kings 
of  Ireland  crowned  for  many  ages.  It  has  remained  in  Westminster 
Abbey  since  that  time.     On  it  is  engraved,  in  Irish  lines,  — 

"  Or  Fate's  deceived,  and  Heaven  decrees  in  vain, 
Or  where  they  find  this  stone  the  Scots  shall  reign." 

It  was  in  this  reign  that  the  celebrated  Wallace,  of  Scotland,  rose 
against  the  English  power.  His  brave  followers  were  defeated,  and  ten 
thousand  of  them  slain  in  one   engagement.     He  was   himself   taken 


BRUCE. INVENTIONS    OF    THIS    AGE.  575 

prisoner,  and  executed.  But  he  was  succeeded  by  the  celebrated  Rob- 
ert Bruce,  who  defeated  the  Enghsh  in  several  battles.  When  King 
Edward  summoned  the  Irish  to  aid  him  in  his  wars  against  the  valiant 
Bruce,  not  one  of  them,  thanli  God,  responded.  It  is  a  shining  .ray 
upon  their  fame  !  Finally,  the  king  of  England  suddenly  dying,  Scot- 
land reassumed  her  kingly  powers. 

About  this  time,  clocks  were  first  used  in  England.  Coal  was  dis- 
covered in  Newcastle.  The  use  of  the  magnetic  needle,  which  had 
been  lost  to  the  world  from  the  time  of  the  Phoenicians,  was  now  redis- 
covered. About  the  same  year,  the  use  of  spectacles  was  introduced  by 
a  monk  of  Pisa.  Matthew  Paris,  the  celebrated  historian  of  England, 
died ;  he  was  a  Benedictine  monk.  Tin  was  now  first  discovered  in 
Germany:  before  that  time,  none  was  heard  of  out  of  England. 

At  the  same  time,  gunpowder  was  invented  by  a  monk  of  Cologne; 
and  in  the  course  of  fifteen  years  from  its  invention,  viz.,  1346,  cannon 
were  first  used  by  Edward  the  Third,  with  great  effect,  at  the  battle 
of  Cressy,  in  France. 

In  the  troubled  reign  of  Edward  the  Second,  about  1315,  the 
Irish,  taking  courage,  and  observing  the  success  of  the  Scots,  resolved  on 
doing  something  worthy  of  their  former  fame. 

After  the  glorious  battle  of  Bannockburn,  Bruce  was  invited  by  the 
Irish  to  be  their  king :  in  this  instance,  the  common  lineage,  language, 
customs,  and  laws,  of  both  people  were  dwelt  on  as  a  ground  for  their 
friendship.  Bruce  sent  his  brother  Edward  to  Ireland,  who  was 
evidently  an  inferior  commander.  He  landed  in  the  north,  1315,  with 
six  thousand  men,  and,  being  joined  by  vast  numbers  of  the  Irish,  sud- 
denly overran  the  whole  of  Ulster,  and  approached  Dublin.  Robert 
Bruce  himself  soon  after  joined  him,  and  both  armies  marched  through 
the  country  towards  Limerick,  but  evidently  with  no  other  intent  than 
laying  waste  and  burning  every  thing  in  their  way.  Edward,  in  the 
course  of  three  years,  encountered  tlje  English  in  eighteen  battles  in  Ire- 
land, in  every  one  of  which  he  had  been  victorious  ;  but  was  killed  in  a 
battle,  solely  by  the  desperate  valor  of  one  John  Mampus,  who  rushed 
in  among  the  Scots  and  Irish,  and  stabbed  Bruce  to  the  heart ;  and 
though  Mamphus  was  instantly  killed,  the  Scots  were  routed.  Upon 
this  occasion,  the  Connaught  chiefs  came  boldly  forward,  giving 
the  English  battle:  however,  ten  thousand  Irish  were  killed  on  the 
field,  together  with  Bmce,  and  the  very  flower  of  the  Irish  chiefs ; 
insomuch  that  hardly  one  of  the  O'Connor  name  was  left  alive ;  after 
which    Robert    Bruce    returned    to    Scotland.     This    effort,   though 


576  BEIGN    OF    EDWARD    THE    THIRD. 

not  successful,  had  the  effect  of  driving  the  English  into  their  forti- 
fied towns  ;  and  we  are  told  by  Ware  and  others  that  the  English 
king's  laws  were  not,  for  a  long  time  after  this,  obeyed  twenty  miles 
from  the  city  of  Dublin. 

During  the  first  and  second  Edward's  time,  the  power  of  the  English 
in  Ireland  had  considerably  decHned  from  what  it  was  in  the  time  of 
Henry  the  Second,  or  King  John. 

The  Pale  was  now  (in  the  time  of  Edward  the  Third)  parcelled  out 
among  nine  lords,  who  exercised  the  functions  of  kings  over  their  own 
people.  King  Edward  sent  over  his  mandate  to  establish  ,the  English 
laws  throughout  all  Ireland,  but  the  great  men  hiterposed,  and  baffled 
his  intention.  To  show  how  small  was  the  power  of  some  of  these 
English  earls,  it  is  enough  to  record,  that,  when  Edward  the  Third 
wrote  to  the  Earl  of  Kildare,  to  assist  him  at  the  siege  of  Calais,  the 
earl  went  promptly,  bringing  to  his  majesty's  assistance  thirty  men  at 
arms,  and  forty  hobbillers,  for  which  the  earl  received  the  honor  of 
kniirhthood  from  the  king. 

During  Edward's  reign,  (who  seemed  disposed  to  do  all  that  an 
English  monarch  could  do  to  distribute  justice  amongst  the  Irish,)  an 
ordinance  was  passed  giving  the  Irish  parliament  full  cognizance  over 
the  courts  of  law  in  Ireland,  and  putting  an  end  to  appeals  to  the 
English  courts  —  a  most  important  measure. 

The  ancestors  of  the  present  Clanrickard  and  Lord  Mayo  were 
Englishmen.  The  De  Burghs,  or  Burkes,  who  obtained  territory  in 
the  west  of  Ireland,  to  ingratiate  themselves  with  the  Irish,  not  only 
assumed  their  dress,  language,  and  habits,  but  absolutely  assumed  the 
distinction  Mac.  The  first  called  himself  M'' William  Eighter,  and  the 
second  M^  William  Oughter.  This  example  was  followed  by  many. 
The  Blrminghams  took  the  name  of  M'Yoris  ;  Dexecester,  that  of 
M'Jordan  ;  Nangle,  or  De  Angulo,  that  of  M'Costelloe.  Like  changes 
took  place  among  some  branches  of  the  Fitzgeralds,  in  Munster.  The 
chief  of  the  house  of  Lixnaw  was  called  M'Maurice  ;  another  was  known 
by  the  name  of  M'Gibbon.  These  are  at  present  called  Fitzmaurice 
and  Fitzgibbon,  the  articles  Mac  and  Fitz  being  of  the  same  significa- 
tion, namely,  so7i  of  such  a  one.*  The  Buders  of  Dunboyne  took  the 
name  of  M'Pheris  ;  the  Condons  of  Walerford  were  called  M'Maioge; 
and  in  the  same  way  many  others.  It  ajipears  that  the  new  colonies, 
which  were  sent,  under  different  reigns,  from  England  to  Ireland,  were 
always  careful  to  sow  discord  between  the  neio  and  old  Irish,  who  gener- 

*  It  i.iust  be  noted  that  Fitz  originally  implied  a  bastard  son. 


O'CONNELL    TERRITOKY. STATUTES    OF    KILKENNY.  577 

ally  lived  in  harmony  with  each  other.  This  unity  became  a  source 
of  uneasiness  to  the  English,  and  gave  rise  to  the  celebrated  statute  of 
Kilkenny,  above  alluded  to,  which  is  still  preserved,  in  French,  in  the 
library  of  Lambeth.  By  this  law,  the  English  by  descent,  who  had 
settled  in  Ireland,  were  prohibited,  under  the  penalties  of  high  treason, 
from  having  any  intercourse  with  the  ancient  Irish,  —  to  form  alliances 
with  them  by  marriage,  to  speak  their  language,  to  imitate  their  mode  of 
dress,  to  adopt  their  names,  to  confer  livings  on  them,  or  admit  them 
into  monasteries  or  religious  houses,  he.  This  law  was  revived  after- 
wards, and  confirmed  in  a  parliament  held  at  Drogheda,  under  Henry 
the  Seventh  ;  and  from  thenceforward  there  were  "  English  rebels  "  to 
the  king  of  England's   authority,  and   Irish  enemies. 

The  Lansdowne,  Desmond,  and  Leinster  families  have  trailed  down  to 
us  from  Raymond  Le  Gros,  who  was  the  most  daring  commander  that 
followed  Strongbow  into  Ireland. 

The  ancient  patrimony  of  the  O'Connells,  one  of  the  territories 
obtained  by  the  ancestors  of  the  Earl  of  Desmond,  was  that  of 
O^Konayl,  now  called  the  barony  of  ConneUoe,  in  the  county  of 
Limerick.  This  tract,  amounting  to  one  hundred  thousand  acres,  was 
ceded  to  the  Desmonds,  by  the  native  chieftain,  in  exchange  for  other 
tracts  received  from  them  in  the  counties  of  Clare  and  Kerry,  where 
branches  of  the  O'Connell  family  continue  to  the  present  day,  the 
chief  of  whom  is  Daniel  O'Connell,  the  Liberator.  By  a  petition  from 
the  great  lords  and  clergy  to  the  king,  dated  in  this  reign,  it  appears 
that  the  Irish  had  conquered  back  more  than  one  third  of  the  lands 
previously  seized  by  the  English  ;  in  consequence  of  which  his  liege 
English  subjects  were  in  want  of  provisions. 

In  Edward  the  Third's  reign,  many  noble  widows,  who  drew  large 
incomes  from  Ireland,  were  compelled  to  contribute,  as  "  absentees,"  to 
the  king's  exchequer,  and  for  the  protection  of  their  estates  in  Ireland. 
At  the  memorable  parliament,  called  by  his  son,  the  Duke  of  Clarence, 
at  Kilkenny,  in  1367,  the  celebrated  penal  laws  were  passed  against  the 
Irish,  "  that  intermarriages  with  the  natives,  or  any  connection  with 
them,  in  the  way  of  fostering  or  gossipred,  should  be  considered  and 
punished  as  high  treason  ;  that  any  man,  of  English  race,  assuming  an 
Irish  name,  or  using  the  Irish  language,  apparel,  or  customs,  should 
forfeit  all  his  lands  and  tenements ;  that  to  adopt  or  submit  to  the 
brehon  law  was  treason ;  that  the  English  should  not  permit  the  Irish 
to  pasture  or  graze  upon  their  lands,  nor  admit  them  to  any  ecclesias- 
73 


578  ACTS    AGAINST    ABSENTEES. 

tical  benefices  or  religious  houses,  nor  entertain  their  minstrels,  rhymer^, 
or  news-tellers."  Thus,  while  all  the  lower  classes  of  Irish  were  pro- 
hibited from  pasturage  within  English  limits,  all  the  better  ranks  were 
excluded  from  the  great  road  to  wealth  and  honor,  the  church,  — all 
put  under  the  ban  of  exclusion,  as  unworthy  to  live  with  their  fellow- 
men. 

At  the  -parliament  of  the  Little  Pale,  held  in  Trim,  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  the  Fourth,  1465,  it  was  enacted  that  all  persons  suspected  of 
going  or  coming  to  rob,  by  day  or  by  night,  having  no  man  dressed  in 
English  apparel  in  their  company,  might  be  seized  by  any  liegeman  or 
subject  of  the  king  of  England,  and  be  put  to  death.  A  premium  was 
offered  to  those  who  would  bring  in  the  heads  of  all  such  to  the  town  of 
Trim,  where  such  heads  were  affixed  on  stakes  ;  and  a  fine  of  twopence 
on  every  ploughland  in  the  county,  levied  by  statute  to  recoinpense  the 
captor.  Thus  was  there,  in  fact,  a  price  set  on  the  head  of  every 
Irishman  ;  and  the  English  of  the  Pale,  supported  by  the  power  of 
their  countrymen  in  England,  were,  by  these  means,  encouraged,  taught, 
and  incited  to  acts  of  the  most  cruel  depredation  upon  such  defenceless 
natives  as  fell  in  their  way. 

On  this  head  Plowden,  quoting  Sir  John  Davies,  says,  "  Imagination  can 
scarcely  devise  an  extreme  of  antipathy,  hatred,  and  revenge,  to  which 
this  code  of  aggravation  was  not  calculated  to  provoke  both  nations. 
Wherever  the  English  lords  obtained  a  footing  by  petty  conquest,  they 
quartered  their  soldiers  on  the  inhabitants."  "  And  when  die  husband- 
man had  labored  all  the  year,  the  soldiers,"  says  Sir  John  Davies,  "did 
consume,  in  one  night,  all  the  fruits  of  his  labor,  which  produced  two 
notorious  effects  —  first,  it  made  the  land  waste,  and  next  it  made  the 
people  idle ;  lastly,  it  did  force  and  necessarily  make  the  Irish  a  crafty 
people." 

Yet,  notwithstanding  all  this  harshness,  so  generally  had  the  Irish 
reconquered  their  hereditary  lands  from  the  invaders,  that,  in  this  reign, 
not  more  than  four  counties  in  thirty-two  remained  under  the  authority 
of  the  crown  of  England.  Many  of  the  English  petitioned  the  king  to 
be  relieved  from  paying  soccage  on  lands  long  since  captured  back  from 
them  by  the  Irish.  The  entire  revenue  raised  by  the  king  of  England, 
in  Ireland,  did  not  equal  ten  thousand  pounds  a  year. 

On  the  death  of  this  prince,  the  crown  of  England  fell  to  Richard 
the  Second,  anno  1377. 

In  1379,  in  consequence  of  a  petition  from  Ireland,  an  act  was  passed 


INEFFECTUAL,  EFFOKTS  TO  CONQUER  IRELAND.        ^19 

in  the  English  parliament  against  Irish  absentees.  It  was  ordained 
that  all  who  possessed  lands,  rents,  or  offices,  in  that  kingdom,  should 
forthwith  repair  thither,  and  become  residents,  for  the  purpose  of 
watching  and  defending  the  same,  otherwise  forfeit  two  thirds  of  their 
income  towards  the  defence  of  the  country.  Some  exceptions  were 
made  in  favor  of  persons  temporarily  absent  on  business,  —  in  the 
universities,  or  in  the  service  of  the  king.  But,  even  from  those,  one- 
third  of  their  income  was  deducted. 

Such  was  the  opposition  of  the  Irish  to  the  English  invaders,  during 
the  whole  of  this  reign,  that,  upon  the  opening  of  every  English  parlia- 
ment, the  king  found  it  necessary  to  apply  for  money  and  men,  to  "  carry 
on  the  war  in  Ireland,"  though  at  this  time  the  invaders  had  been 
two  centuries  in  the  country. 

Richard  himself  embarked  for  Ireland,  with  t!iirty-five  thousand  men, 
determined  to  reduce  the  entire  country.  Several  of  the  Irish  chieftains 
did  him  homage ;  and,  upon  his  proposal  to  knight  them,  they  declined 
that  honor,  answering  they  had  been  knighted  since  they  were  seven 
years  of  age,  when  lances  had  been  put  into  their  hands,  with  which 
they  tilted  against  shields. 

The  king  being  suddenly  recalled  by  the  bishops  to  quell  some  disturb- 
ances at  home,  the  Irish  chiefs  again  invaded  the  Pale,  and  killed  the  lord 
lieutenant  in  battle.  In  five  years  after  this,  King  Richard  reentered  Ire- 
land with  all  the  forces  he  could  collect  throughout  his  dominions  from 
sea  to  sea.  Impressments  for  the  fleet  were  every  where  made  ;  large 
sums  were  levied  ;  even  the  bishops  and  clergy  of  England  gave  their 
thousand  pounds  apiece  to  the  king's  fund  for  the  conquest  of  Ireland. 
The  king's  forces,  on  this  occasion,  are  estimated  variously  from  forty  to 
fifty  thousand  men.  On  his  approach,  some  of  the  Irish  chieftains  again 
submitted  ;  but  MMurrough,  the  hereditary  prince  of  Leinster,  as  if 
anxious  to  retrieve  the  fallen  honor  of  his  house,  retired  to  his  woods, 
and,  with  only  three  thousand  brave  men,  bade  defiance  to  the  king  of 
England  and  all  his  forces.  The  royal  army  surrounded  the  woods,  but 
M'Murrough  refuged  to  come  out,  while  every  effort  to  dislodge  him 
was  attended  with  certain  loss  to  the  king's  troops.  At  length  his 
majesty  prepared  to  cut  his  way  into  the  woods ;  but  this  did  not  better 
his  chances,  for,  at  each  new  step,  his  men  and  officers  fell  in  small 
parties  by  the  hands  of  the  Irish,  who  are  described  by  the  chroniclers 
as  nimble  and  active.  A  message  was  at  length  sent  to  this  noble 
chieftain  by  King  Richard,  to  ascertain  what  terms  he  demanded  as  the 


580  BRAVE    RESISTANCE    OF    THE    IRISH. 

price  of  his  submission  to  England ;  to  which  he  replied,  "  Not  all  the 
gold  in  the  world  would  tempt  me  into  submission."  King  Richard's 
army  being  now  in  want  of  provisions,  his  majesty  was  obliged  to  return 
to  Dublin,  the  Irish  hanging  all  the  way  upon  his  rear,  and  cutting 
off  hundreds  of  his  dispirited  followers. 

Albemarle  now  arrived  from  England  with  reenforcements,  and  the 
king  determined  to  return  upon  M'Murrough,  and  exterminate  him  and 
all  his  followers  ;  however,  the  celebrated  Bolingbroke,  duke  of  Lan- 
caster, had  organized  a  rebellion  in  England,  and  was  in  the  field  with 
great  numbers  of  knights  and  bowmen,  to  usurp  the  crown  of  England. 
This  called  Richard  hastily  back  from  Ireland,  according  to  Davies  and 
Froissart,  with  little  advantage,  and  without  realizing  any.  AUhough  he 
had  expended  enormous  sums  in  conveying  his  army  to  Ireland,  he  did 
not  add  a  pound  to  his  revenue,  nor  extend  the  frontiers  of  his  English 
province  one  acre.  The  courts  of  law  were  still  confined  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  colony,  where  they  had  been  acknowledged  before 
bis  arrival  in  Ireland.  His  crown,  however,  was  now  on  the  head  of  his 
rival,  who  was  elected  by  the  parliament  king  of  England,  by  the  title 
of  Henry  the  Fourth,  A.  D.  1395  ;  and  Ireland  remained  still  un- 
conquered. 

Now  began  the  ware  of  the  White  and  Red  Roses  in  England, 
between  the  two  great  houses  of  York  and  Lancaster.  During  these 
wars,  the  colony  of  the  English  invaders,  in  Ireland,  was  governed 
by  some  wretched  deputy,  who  called  around  him,  in  Dublin  Castle, 
his  little  pariiament  of  English  lords,  magnates,  bishops,  and  judges, 
and  made  such  regulations  for  their  own  small  territory  of  four 
counties  as  they  judged  best.  As  an  evidence  of  the  high  state  of 
civilization  of  the  members  of  this  pariiament,  it  is  recorded  that 
Bartholomew  Vernon,  and  three  other  Englishmen,  members  of  that 
body,  attacked  the  sheriff  of  Meath,  in  the  house,  while  it  was  sitting, 
and  murdered  him,  and,  though  imprisoned,  were  ultimately  pardoned 
by  the  king. 

These  were  a  sample  of  the  men  who  came  to  civilize  the  "  wild 
Irish." 

The  chief,  M'Murrough,  in  1407,  after  remaining  a  long  time  quiet, 
was  vanquished  in  a  noble  battle,  in  which,  for  several  hours  of  the  day, 
the  Irish  maintained  a  decided  ascendency  in  the  field. 

In  1408,  the  statutes  of  Kilkenny  and  Dublin  were  confirmed  in 
a  pariiament,  held  in  Dublin,  when  the  clauses  against  absentees  were 
strictly  enforced. 


BLACK    RENT.  581 

The  O'Byrnes  of  Wicklow  were  the  most  troublesome  chieftains 
which  the  English  invaders  encountered  in  this  reign,  and  it  proves, 
better  than  all  the  histories  ever  written  by  scoundrels,  either  English  or 
Irish,  that  the  latter  remained  at  this  time  unconquered,  even  within 
sight  of  the  walls  of  Dublin.  In  the  following  year,  (1409,)  say  the 
annals,  "  A  parliament  was  held  at  Dublin  by  the  acting  lord  lieutenant 
of  Ireland,  (viz.,  Thomas  Butler,  prior  of  Kilmainham,)  who,  having 
imprudently  ventured,  with  about  fifteen  hundred  infantry,  to  invade 
the  O'Byrnes  country,  one  half  of  his  followers  deserted  to  the 
enemy,  and  he  narrowly  escaped  a  serious  and  disgraceful  defeat." 
It  is  probable  his  defeat  was  most  serious,  for  he  did  not,  during  the 
remainder  of  his  administration,  renew  the  attack  on  the  O'Byrnes. 
When  we  remember  that  the  "  O'Byrnes  country"  is  located  in  the  valley 
of  the  Wicklow  Mountains,  and  plainly  within  view  of  the  citizens  of 
Dublin,  we  may  then  judge  of  the  actual  extent  of  British  conquest,  in 
Ireland,  in  the  year  1410,  two  hundred  and  forty  years  after  the 
landing  of  the  first  invaders,. 

At  this  time,  the  Pale  was  so  hemmed  in  on  every  side,  that  leave 
was  given,  by  the  lord  lieutenant,  to  any  of  the  English  lords,  to  make 
such  terms  of  peace  with  the  Irish  enemy  as  they  could,  and  to  marry  or 
trade  with  them,  or  let  pastures  to  them  ;  and  finally  things  went  so  severe 
with  the  English,  that  they  compromised  with  the  Irish  chiefs  on  their 
borders  for  peace  by  paying  them  tribute  as  their  vassals,  which  was 
called  the  blacJc  rent.  And  in  an  address  delivered  about  the  same 
time  by  the  speaker  of  the  English  house  of  commons,  we  find  it 
openly  admitted  "  that  the  greater  part  of  the  lordship  of  Ire- 
land had,  at  this  time,  been  conquered  by  the  natives."  —  See 
Lingard. 

Henry  the  Fifth  arrived  at  the  English  throne  anno  1416.  He  won 
victories  in  France,  by  a  band  of  Irishmen,  who  were  prisoners, 
and  whom  he  compelled  to  fight,  in  his  foreign  armies,  at  the  siege  of 
Rouen,  which  they  captured,  and  at  Pontoise,  where,  owing  to  their 
bravery,  the  king's  enemies  were  scattered.  —  See  Monstrelef s  Account 
of  the  English  Invasions  of  France. 

Various  were  the  battles  of  the  Lord  Lieutenant  Talbot,  at  this  time, 
against  the  neighboring  chiefs,  M'Murrough,  O'Dempsey,  O'Moore, 
M'Mahon.  The  clergy,  we  are  told,  educated  in  English  principles, 
prayed  and  offered  masses  for  the  success  of  the  English  arms,  and 
even  intercession  was  made  with  the  pope  to  induce  him  to  excommu- 


582  '  LAW    AGAINST    BEARDS. 

nicate  those  Irish  chiefs  who  refused  to  submit,  with  which,  however, 
he  does  not  seem  to  have  compUed.  Irish  law  students,  at  the  King's 
Inns,  London,  though  born  of  Enghsh  parents,  were  refused  admission ; 
Irish  candidates  for  the  priesthood,  if  Irish,  were  positively  refused 
admission  to  the  colleges,  or  ordination,  and  all  this,  be  it  never  forgotten, 
when  the  religion  of  the  two  nations  was  alike  ;  and  it  must  be  confessed 
that  the  influence  of  the  kings  of  England  became  very  potent  at  the 
court  of  Rome,  for  it  appears  the  powers  of  the  church  were  put  forth, 
in  the  thirteenth,  fourteenth,  and  fifteenth  centuries,  in  behalf  of  the  dom- 
ination of  Britain.  It  was  in  consequence  of  this,  that  the  celebrated  pro- 
test of  the  Irish  to  the  pope  was  drawn  up  by  Donald  O'Neill,  and  signed 
by  sev^eral  leading  chiefs,  in  1315,  which  I  shall  present  immediately. 

In  this  reign,  the  great  Earl  of  Desmond  was  attainted,  at  a 
parliament  held  in  Drogheda,  for  having  suffered  some  of  his  family  to 
marry  with  the  native  Irish,  and  for  such  other  anti-English  practices 
was  condemned  and  beheaded.  At  the  same  place  and  time,  it  was 
declared  that  any  statute  passed  in  England  was  binding  on  Ireland. 

At  this  period,  (1468,)  so  weakened  was  the  English  power  in  Ireland, 
that  a  few  of  the  chief  lords  formed  the  military  Society  of  St.  George, 
with  a  view  to  their  protection  against  the  Irish  ;  and  this  force,  (the  entire 
army  of  England  in  Ireland,)  amounted  to  no  more  than  two  hundred 
men  i  Yet  so  madly  infatuated  were  the  native  princes  in  their  hostihty 
to  each  other,  that  they  never  even  thought  of  asserting  the  independ- 
ence of  their  country,  and  seemed  to  have  forgotten  that  they  had  any 
other  enemies  in  it  but  each  other. 

About  this  time,  an  English  heiress  fell  in  love  with  and  married  the 
Irish  chief.  Art  M'Murrough.  It  had  a  wonderful  effect  in  superin- 
ducing marriages  between  the  races,  and  in  fact  it  began  to  be  plain  to 
England  that  the  descendants  of  the  first  invaders  were  now  become,  by 
fosterage  and  marriage,  and  by  imbibing  the  indomitable  spirit  of  the 
nation,  more  Irish  than  the  Irish  themselves.  It  was  in  this  reign,  at  the 
parliament  held  at  Trim,  that  the  famous  enactment  against  Irish  beards 
was  passed,  viz.,  1447,  —  "Any  man  who  does  not  keep  his  upper  lip 
shaved  may  be  treated  as  an  Irish  enemy."  The  clause  was,  it  seems, 
repealed  in  the  second  year  of  Charles  the  First.  It  was  to  this  act 
O'Connell  so  humorously  alluded  when  he  charged  Sibihorpe,  who  is 
noted  for  his  abuse  of  the  Irish,  with  being  himself  a  mere  Irishman.  Sib- 
thorpe  could  not  master  his  passion,  when  the  member  for  Ireland  codlly 
took  up  the  statute-book,  and  pointed  his  attention  to  this  enactment, 
which,  on  being  read  by  the  clerk,  convulsed  the  house  with  laughter. 


CHARGE    OF    IGNORANCE    AGAINST    THE    IRISH    REFUTED.  583 

In  1483,  the  Irish  revenue  of  the  English  invaders  was  reduced  to 
so  low  an  ebb,  that  a  force  of  eighty  archers,  and  forty  horsemen 
called  spears,  constituted  the  entire  military  establishment  of  the  Eng- 
lish in  Ireland ;  and,  lest  the  sum  of  six  hundred  pounds,  annually 
required  for  the  maintenance  of  this  small  troop,  might  prove  oppressive 
to  the  colonists,  it  was  provided,  should  the  Pale  not  be  able  to  pay  it, 
the  sum  was  to  be  sent  thither  from  England.  In  fact,  the  English 
paid  tribute  to  the  surrounding  Irish  chiefs  as  vassals  to  conquerors. 
Cox  gives  a  list  of  these  payments,  which  he  calls  scandalous,  and  of 
the  districts  which  contributed  their  portions.  The  barony  of  Lecale 
paid  O'Neill,  of  Clanneboy,  twenty  pounds  a  year;  the  county  of 
Uriel,  forty  pounds  to  O'Neill ;  the  county  of  Meath,  sixty  pounds  to 
O'Connor;  the  county  of  Kildare,  twenty  pounds  to  O'Connor;  the 
exchequer  paid  eighty  marks  a  year  to  M'Murrough  ;  the  counties  of 
Kilkenny  and  Tipperary,  forty  pounds  to  O'Carroll ;  the  county  of 
Limerick,  forty  pounds  to  O'Brien  ;  and,  lastly,  the  county  of  Cork  paid 
forty  pounds  to  M'Carty,  of  Muskeny. 

It  is  perfectly  well  known  to  those  who  have  looked  into  the  general 
run  of  English  writers  upon  Ireland,  that  there  is  a  pervading  effort 
eternally  manifested  by  them,  to  make  the  Irish  of  the  three  centuries 
before  the  reformation,  and,  indeed,  for  all  time  previously,  appear 
illiterate,  lawless,  semi-barbarous,  &c.  We  can  readily  believe  they 
were  "  lawless"  seeing  with  what  inextinguishable  resolution  every 
succeeding  generation  of  Irishmen  resisted  the  sway  of  England  ;  and 
barbarous,  from  the  frequent  lessons  taught  them  by  their  invaders,  from 
the  massacre  of  Dublin,  pending  a  treaty,  in  1170,  by  Cogan  and 
Strongbow,  to  the  massacre  on  the  Rath  of  the  Curragh  of  Kildare, 
1798,  under  General  Duff,  —  the  number,  perfidy,  treachery,  and 
atrocity  of  which  are  unparalleled  in  the  whole  history  of  mankind, — 
making  humanity  shudder  for  its  name. 

Their  literary  reputation,  during  the  three  or  four  centuries  preceding 
the  reformation,  has  been  assailed ;  and  —  grieved  I  am  to  write  it  — 
Moore,  their  own  Moore,  is  amongst  the  assailants  !  But,  even  with  the 
lid  of  Moore,  the  calumniators  of  Ireland  shall  not  have  a  victory. 

We  can  readily  imagine  that  men,  whose  houses  had  been  eternally 
n  danger  of  being  fired,  whose  property  and  ease  were  continually 
'nvaded,  whose  lives  were  in  perpetual  danger  from  a  nation  of  relent- 
less and  pillaging  neighbors  during  several  centuries,  could  have  but 
trifling  time  for  study.  Yet,  looking  at  them  under  all  these  disadvan- 
tageous circumstances,   we  cannot  but   feel  surprised   at  their  hterary 


584  CHARGE    OF    IGNORANCE    AGAINST    THE    IRISH    REFUTED. 

acquirements,  which,  of  course,  must  be  considered   relatively  to  the 
state  of  learning  in  other  countries  about  the  same  ages. 

That  Ireland  was  the  teacher  of  Europe  for  five  hundred  years  after 
the  fall  of  Rome,  there  are  plenty  of  evidences  placed  on  record  in 
the  previous  pages  of  this  book.  On  the  irruption  of  the  Danes  in  the 
ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  the  studies  of  Europe,  including  Ireland  her- 
self, were  disturbed,  the  libraries  of  Europe  were  destroyed,  and  the 
minds-  of  the  learned  distracted.  The  wars  of  the  crusades,  in  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  called  off  the  flower  of  Europe  from 
the  pursuit  of  knowledge  to  that  of  military  glory.  And  the  invasions 
of  Ireland,  by  England,  and  of  France  by  the  same  power,  together 
with  the  long  and  bloody  civil  wars  between  the  houses  of  York 
and  Lancaster,  brought  England,  France,  and  Ireland,  into  a  retrograde 
movement  as  respects  the  acquisition  of  knowledge.  Scotland  and 
Wales  were  no  better.  And  those  five  nations  were,  generation  after 
generation,  gradually  casting  away  the  knowledge  bequeathed  by  their 
forefathers. 

There  were   many  of  the  chief  officers  of  cities   in  England    and 
France  who  could  not  write  even  their  own  names.     Seals  were,  there 
fore,  cut,  to  affix  the  city  or  corporate  authority  to  public  documents. 

When  Charles  the  Fifth  of  France,  about  1350,  founded  the  Royal 
Library  of  Paris,  he  placed  in  it  his  entire  stock  of  books,  which  num- 
bered only  one  hundred  and  twenty  volumes.  During  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth,  literature  was  at  a  low  ebb  in  England.  Very  few  females 
could  either  read  or  write.  Even  the  two  daughters  of  the  great 
litterateur  of  the  age,  William  Shakspeare,  could  not  write,  — ^  so  says 
Sir  Richard  Phillips,  their  own  countryman. 

But,  to  shorten  this  controversy,  we  will  place  before  the  public  two 
state  letters  of  the  fourteenth  age,  written  both  by  princes,  the  first  of 
Ireland,  the  second  of  England,  and  they  will  speak  for  themselves  as 
to  the  literary  powers  and  cultivation  of  their  respective  writers.  The 
first,  from  Donald  O'Neill,  is  a  compact  history  of  Ireland,  to  his  own 
times,  written,  with  equal  brevity,  beauty,  and  power,  to  his  holiness 
John  the  Twenty-second,  pope  of  Rome,  which  letter  will  be  found  in 
the  Scotic  chronicle  of  John  of  Fordun,  vol.  iii.  p.  908,  et  seq. 

"  To  our  most  holy  father,  John,  by  the  grace  of  God,  sovereign 
pontiff,  we,  his  faithful  children  in  Christ  Jesus,  Donald  O'Neill,  king 
of  Ulster,  and  lawful  heir  to  the  throne  of  Ireland,  the  nobles  and 
great  men,  with  all  the  people  of  this  kingdom,  recommend  and  humbly- 
cast  ourselves  at  his  feet,  &,c. 


DONALD  o'nEILl's  LETTER  TO  THE  POPE.  5?^ 

"  The  calumnies  and  false  representations  which  have  been  heaped 
upon  us  by  the  English  are  too  well  known  throughout  the  world  not 
to  have  reached  the  ears  of  your  holiness.  We  are  persuaded,  most 
holy  father,  that  your  intentions  are  most  pure  and  upright ;  but,  fi'om 
not  knowing  the  Irish  except  through  the  misrepresentation  of  their 
enemies,  your  holiness  might  be  induced  to  look  upon  as  truths  those 
falsehoods  which  have  been  circulated,  and  to  form  an  opinion  contrary 
to  what  we  merit,  which  would  be  to  us  a  great  misfortune.  It  is, 
therefore,  to  save  our  country  against  such  imputations,  that  we  have 
come  to  the  resolution  of  giving  to  your  holiness,  in  this  letter,  a  faithful 
description,  and  a  true  and  precise  idea,  of  the  real  state  at  present  of 
our  monarchy,  if  this  term  can  be  still  applied  to  the  sad  remains  of  a 
kingdom  which  has  groaned  so  long  beneath  the  tyranny  of  the  kings 
of  England,  and  that  of  their  ministers  and  barons,  —  some  of  whom, 
though  born  in  our  island,  continue  to  exercise  over  us  the  same  extor- 
tions, rapine,  and  cruelties,  as  their  ancestors  before  them  have  com- 
mitted. We  shall  advance  nothing  but  the  truth,  and  we  humbly  hope 
that,  attentive  to  its  voice,  your  holiness  will  not  delay  to  express  your 
disapprobation  against  the  authors  of  those  crimes  and  outrages  which 
shall  be  revealed.  The  country  in  which  we  live  was  uninhabited  until 
the  three  sons  of  a  Spanish  prince,  named  Milesius,  —  according  to  others, 
Micelius,  —  landed  in  it  with  a  fleet  of  thirty  ships.  They  came  here  from 
Cantabria,  a  city  on  the  Ebro,  from  which  river  they  called  the  country 
to  which  Providence  guided  them,  Ibernia,  where  they  founded  a 
monarchy  that  embraced  the  entire  of  the  island.  Their  descendants, 
who  never  sullied  the  purity  of  their  blood  by  a  foreign  alliance,  have 
furnished  one  hundred  and  thirty  kings,  who,  during  the  space  of  two 
thousand  five  hundred  years  and  upwards,  have  successively  filled  the 
throne  of  Ireland  till  the  time  of  King  Legarius,  from  whom  he,  who 
has  the  honor  of  affirming  these  facts,  is  descended  in  a  direct  line.  It 
was  under  the  reign  of  this  prince,  in  the  year  435,  that  our  patron  and 
chief  apostle,  St.  Patrick,  was  sent  to  us  by  Pope  Celestinus,  one  of 
your  predecessors  ;  and  since  the  conversion  of  the  kingdom  through 
the  preaching  of  that  great  saint,  we  have  had,  till  1170,  an  uninter- 
rupted succession  of  sixty-one  kings,  descended  from  the  purest  blood  of 
Milesius,  who,  well  instructed  in  the  duties  of  their  religion,  and  faithful 
to  their  God,  have  proved  themselves  fathers  of  their  people,  and  have 
shown  by  their  conduct  that,  although  they  depended,  in  a  spiritual 
light,  upon  the  holy  apostolical  see  of  Rome,  they  never  acknowledged 
any  temporal  master  upon  earth.  It  is  to  those  Milesian  princes,  and 
74 


586  DONALD  o'nEILl's  LETTER  TO  THE  POPE. 

not  to  the  English  or  any  other  foreigners,  that  the  church  of  Ireland  is 
indebted  for  those  lands,  possessions,  and  high  privileges,  with  which  the 
pious  liberality  of  our  monarchs  enriched  it,  and  of  which  it  has  been 
almost  stripped,  through  the  sacrilegious  cupidity  of  the  English. 

"  During  the  course  of  so  many  centuries,  our  sovereigns,  jealous  of 
their  independence,  preserved  it  unimpaired.  Attacked  more  than  once 
by  foreign  powers,  they  were  never  wanting  in  either  courage  or  strength 
to  repel  the  invaders,  and  secure  their  inheritance  from  insult.  But  that 
which  they  effected  against  force,  they  failed  to  accomplish  in  opposition 
to  the  will  of  the  sovereign  pontiff.  His  holiness  Pope  Adrian,  to  whose 
other  great  qualities  we  bear  testimony,  was  by  birth  an  Englishman, 
but  still  more  in  heart  and  disposition.  The  national  prejudices  he  had 
early  imbibed,  blinded  him  to  such  a  degree,  that,  on  a  most  false  and 
unjust  statement,  he  determined  to  transfer  the  sovereignty  of  our  coun- 
try to  Henry,  king  of  England,  under  whom,  and,  perhaps,  by  whom, 
St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury  had  been  murdered  for  his  zeal  in  defending 
the  interests  of  the  church.  Instead  of  punishing  this  prince  as  his 
crime  merited,  and  depriving  him  of  his  own  territories,  the  complaisant 
pontiff  has  torn  ours  from  us  to  gratify  his  countryman,  Henry  the 
Second ;  and,  without  pretext  or  offence  on  our  part,  or  any  apparent 
motive  on  his  own,  has  stripped  us,  by  the  most  flagrant  injustice,  of  the 
rights  of  our  crown,  and  left  us  a  prey  to  men,  or  rather  to  monsters, 
who  are  unparalleled  in  cruelty.  Mo7-e  cunning  than  foxes,  and  more 
ravenous  than  wolves,  they  surprise  and  devour  us ;  and  if  sometimes 
we  escape  their  fury,  it  is  only  to  drag  on,  in  the  most  disgraceful 
slavery,  the  wretched  remains  of  a  life  more  intolerable  to  us  than  death 
itself.  When,  in  virtue  of  the  donation  which  has  been  mentioned,  the 
English  appeared  for  the  first  time  in  this  country,  they  exhibited  every 
mark  of  zeal  and  piety  ;  and,  excelling  as  they  did  in  every  species  of 
hypocrisy,  they  neglected  nothing  to  supplant  and  undermine  us  imper- 
ceptibly. 

"  Emboldened  from  their  first  successes,  they  soon  removed  the  mask  ; 
and,  without  any  right  but  that  of  power,  they  obliged  us,  by  open  force, 
to  give  up  to  them  our  houses  and  our  lands,  and  to  seek  shelter,  like 
wild  beasts,  upon  the  mountains,  in  woods,  marshes,  and  caves.  Even 
there,  we  have  not  been  secure  against  their  fury  ;  they  even  envy  us 
those  dreary  and  terrible  abodes  ;  they  are  incessant  and  unremitting  in 
their  pursuits  after  us,  endeavoring  to  chase  us  from  among  them  ;  they 
lay  claim  to  every  place  in  which  they  can  discover  us,  with  unwar- 
ranted audacity  and  injustice ;  they   allege   that   the   whole  kingdom 


DONALD  o'nEILl's  LETTER  TO  THE  POPE.  587 

belongs  to  them  of  right,  ancf  that  an  Irishman  has  no  longer  a  right  to 
remain  in  his  own  country.  From  these  causes  arise  the  implacable 
hatred  and  dreadful  animosity  of  the  English  and  the  Irish  towards 
each  other ;  that  continued  hostility,  those  bloody  retaliations  and  innu- 
merable massacres,  in  which,  from  the  invasion  of  the  English  to  the 
present  time,  more  than  fifty  thousand  lives  have  been  lost  on  both  sides, 
besides  those  who  have  fallen  victims  to  hunger,  to  despair,  and  the 
rigors  of  captivity.  Hence,  also,  spring  all  the  pillaging,  robbery, 
treachery,  treason,  and  other  disorders,  which  it  is  impossible  for  us  to 
allay  in  the  state  of  anarchy  under  which  at  present  we  live  —  an  anarchy 
fatal  not  only  to  the  state,  but  likewise  to  the  church  of  Ireland,  whose 
members  are  now,  more  than  ever,  exposed  to  the  danger  of  losing  the 
blessings  of  eternity,  after  being  first  deprived  of  those  of  this  world. 
Behold,  most  holy  father,  a  brief  description  of  all  that  has  reference 
to  our  origin,  and  the  miserable  condition  to  which  your  predecessor  has 
brought  us.  We  shall  now  inform  your  holiness  of  the  manner  in 
which  we  have  been  treated  by  the  kings  of  England.  The  permission 
of  entering  this  kingdom  was  granted  by  the  holy  see  to  Henry  the 
Second  and  his  successors,  only  on  certain  conditions,  which  were 
clearly  expressed  in  the  bull  which  was  given  them.  According  to  the 
tenor  of  it,  Henry  engaged. to  increase  the  church  revenues  in  Ireland; 
to  maintain  it  in  all  its  rights  and  privileges ;  to  labor,  by  enacting  good 
laws,  in  reforming  the  morals  of  the  people,  eradicating  vice,  and  en- 
couraging virtue  ;  and,  finally,  to  pay  to  the  successors  of  St.  Peter  an 
annual  tribute  of  one  penny  for  each  house.  Such  were  the  conditions 
of  the  bull.  But  the  kings  of  England  and  their  perfidious  ministers,  so 
far  from  observing  them,  have  uniformly  contrived  to  violate  them  in 
every  way,  and  to  act  in  direct  opposition  to  them.  First,  as  to  the 
church  lands,  —  instead  of  extending  their  boundaries,  they  have  con- 
tracted, curtailed,  and  invaded  them  so  generally  and  to  such  a  degree, 
that  some  of  our  cathedrals  have  been  deprived,  by  open  force,  of  more 
than  one  half  of  their  revenues.  The  persons  of  the  clergy  have  been 
as  little  respected  as  their  property.  On  every  side,  we  behold  bishops 
and  prelates  summoned,  arrested,  and  imprisoned  by  the  commissioners 
of  the  king  of  England ;  and  so  great  is  the  oppression  exercised  over 
them,  that  they  dare  not  give  information  of  it  to  your  holiness.  How- 
ever, as  they  are  so  dastardly  as  to  conceal  their  misfortunes  and  those 
of  the  church,  they  do  not  merit  that  we  should  speak  in  their  behalf. 

"  We  once  had  our  laws  and  institutions  ;  the  Irish  were  remarkable 
for  their  candor  and  simplicity ;  but  the  English  have  undertaken  to 


583  DONALD  o'nEILl's  LETTER  TO  THE  POPE. 

reform  us,  and  have  been  unfortunately  but  too  successful.  Instead  of 
being,  like  our  ancestors,  simple  and  candid,  we  have  become,  through 
our  intercourse  with  the  English,  and  the  contagion  of  their  example, 
artful  and  designing  as  themselves.  Our  laws  were  written,  and  formed 
a  body  of  right,  according  to  which  our  country  tvas  governed.  How- 
ever, with  the  exception  of  one  alone,  which  they  could  not  wrest  from 
us,  they  have  deprived  us  of  those  salutary  laws,  and  have  given  us 
instead  a  code  of  their  own  making.  Great  God  !  such  laws !  If  in- 
humanity and  injustice  were  leagued  together,  none  could  have  been 
devised  more  deadly  and  fatal  to  the  Irish.  The  following  will  give 
your  holiness  some  idea  of  their  new  code.  They  are  the  fundamental 
rules  of  English  jurisdiction  established  in  this  kingdom  :  — 

"  1.  Every  man,  who  is  not  Irish,  may,  for  any  kind  of  crime, 
go  to  law  with  any  Irishman,  whilst  neither  layman  nor  ecclesiastic, 
who  is  Irish,  (prelates  excepted,)  can,  under  any  cause  or  provocation, 
resort  to  any  legal  measures  against  his  English  opponent. 

"  2.  If  an  Englishman  kill  an  Irishman  perfidiously  and  falsely,  as 
frequently  occurs,  of  whatsoever  rank  or  condition  the  Irishman  may  be, 
noble  or  plebeian,  innocent  or  guilty,  clergyman  or  layman,  secular  or 
regular,  were  he  even  a  bishop,  the  crime  is  not  punishable  before  an 
English  tribunal ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  the  more  the  sufferer  has  been 
distinguished  among  his  countrymen,  either  for  his  virtue  or  his  rank, 
the  more  the  assassin  is  extolled  and  rewarded  by  the  English,  and  that 
not  only  by  the  vulgar,  but  by  the  monks,  bishops,  and,  what  is  more 
incredible,  by  the  very  magistrates,  whose  duty  it  is  to  punish  and 
repress  crime. 

"  3.  If  any  Irishwoman  whosoever,  whether  noble  or  plebeian,  marry 
an  Englishman,  on  the  death  of  her  husband  she  becomes  deprived, 
from  her  being  Irish,  of  a  third  of  the  property  and  possessions  which 
he  owned. 

"4.  If  an  Irishman  fall  beneath  the  blows  of  an  Englishman,  the 
latter  can  prevent  the  vanquished  from  making  any  testamentary  dep- 
osition, and  may  likewise  take  possession  of  all  his  wealth.  What 
can  be  more  unjustifiable  than  a  law  which  deprives  the  church  of  its 
rights,  and  reduces  men,  who  had  been  free  from  time  immemorial,  to 
the  rank  of  slaves? 

"  5.  The  same  tribunal,  with  the  cooperation  and  connivance  of  some 
English  bishops,  at  which  the  Archbishop  of  Armagh  presided,  a  man 
who  was  but  little  esteemed  for  his  conduct,  and  still  less  for  his  learn- 
ing, made  the  following  regulations  at  Kilkenny,   which   are  not  less 


DONALD    o'nEILl's    LETTER    TO    THE    POPE.  589 

absurd  in  their  import  than  in  their  form.  The  court,  say  they,  after 
deliberating  together,  prohibits  all  religious  communities,  in  that  part  of 
Ireland  of  which  the  English  are  in  peaceful  possession,  to  admit  any 
into  them  but  a  native  of  England,  under  a  penalty  of  being  treated  by 
the  king  of  England  as  having  contemned  his  orders,  and  by  the 
founders  and  administrators  of  the  said  communities  as  disobedient  and 
refractory  to  the  present  regulation.  This  regulation  was  little  needed  ; 
before,  as  well  as  since  its  enactment,  the  English  Dominicans,  Fran- 
ciscans, Benedictines,  regular  canons,  and  all  the  other  communities  of 
their  countrymen,  observed  the  spirit  of  it  but  too  faithfully.  In  the 
choice  of  their  inmates,  they  have  evinced  a  partiality  the  more  shame- 
ful, as  the  houses  for  Benedictines  and  canons,  where  the  Irish  are  now 
denied  admittance,  were  intended  by  their  founders  to  be  asylums  open 
to  people  of  every  nation  indiscriminately.  Vice  was  to  be  eradicated 
from  amongst  us,  and  the  seeds  of  virtue  sown.  Our  reformers  have 
acted  diametrically  the  opposite  character ;  they  have  deprived  us  of 
our  virtues,  and  have  implanted  their  vices  amongst  us,  8ic.  &,c.  &.c. 

"Donald  O'Neill." 

This  letter  bears  date  1315. 

The  sovereign  pontiff,  moved  by  the  remonstrances  of  O'Neill,  ad- 
dressed a  letter,  quoted  by  Petrus  Lombardus,  p.  260,  to  Edward 
the  Third,  king  of  England,  exhorting  that  prince  to  check  the  disor- 
ders and  cruelty  that  were  practised  upon  the  Irish  ;  but  it  did  not  avail. 

We  shall  now  present  the  letter  of  the  Duke  of  York,  Earl  of  March, 
and  heir  apparent  to  the  crown  of  England,  (in  the  reign  of  Henry  the 
Sixth,)  who  was  at  the  time  lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland,  1455. 

The  following  copy  is  taken  from  Campion's  history,  in  the  Maza- 
rin  library  in  Paris,  where  it  can  be  verified. 

"  Right  worshipful,  and,  with  all  my  heart,  entirely  beloved  brother :  I 
commend  mee  unto  you  as  heartily  as  I  can. 

"  Ande  like  it  you  to  wit,  that  sith  I  wrote  last  unto  the  king,  our 
sovereigne  lord  his  highnes,  the  Irish  enemy,  that  is  to  say,  M'Geoghe- 
gan,  and  with  him  three  or  foure  Irish  captaines,  associate  with  a  great 
fellowship  of  English  rebells,  notwithstanding  that  they  were  within  the 
king  our  soveraigne  lord  his  power,  of  great  malice,  and  against  all 
truth,  have  maligned  against  their  legiance,  and  vengeably  have  brent  a 
great  town  of  my  inheritance,  in  Meth,  called  Ramore,  and  other 
villages  thereabouts,  and  murdered  and  burnt  both  men,  women,  and 
children,  without  mercy,  the  which  enemies  be  yet  assembled  in  woods  and 


590  LETTER  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  YORK. 

forts,  waytlng  to  doe  the  hurt  and  grievance  to  the  king's  subjects,  that 
they  can  thinke  or  imagine  for  which  cause  I  write  at  this  time  to  the 
king's  highnes,  and  beseech  his  good  grace  for  to  hasten  my  payment 
for  this  land,  according  to  his  letters  of  warrant,  now  late  directed  unto 
the  treasurer  of  England  to  the  intent  I  may  wage  men  in  sufficient 
number,  for  to  resist  the  malice  of  the  same  enemys,  and  punish  them 
in  such  wyse,  that  other,  which  would  do  the  same,  for  lack  of  resist- 
ance in  time,  may  take  example,  for,  doubtlesse,  but  if  my  payment  be 
had,  in  all  haste,  for  to  have  men  of  war  in  defence  and  safeguard  of 
this  lande,  my  power  cannot  stretch  to  keepe  it  in  the  king's  obeysance, 
and  very  necessity  will  compell  ine  to  come  into  England,  to  live  there 
upon  my  poore  livelode,  for. I  had  lever  be  dead,  than  any  inconvenience 
should  fall  thereunto  in  my  default,  for  it  shall  never  be  chronicled,  nor 
remain  in  scripture,  by  the  grace  of  God,  that  Ireland  was  lost  by  my 
negligence  ;  and,  therefore,  I  beseech  you,  right  worshipful  brother,  that 
you  will  hold  to  your  hands  instantly,  that  my  payment  may  be  had  at 
this  time,  in  eschuing  all  inconveniences,  for  I  have  example  in  other 
places,  more  pity  it  is  to  dread  shame,  and  for  to  acquife  my  truth  unto 
the  king's  hi_ghnes,  as  my  dutie  is,  and  this  I  pray  and  exhort  you,  good 
brother,  to  shew  unto  his  good  grace,  and  that  you  will  be  so  good,  that 
this  language  may  be  enacted  at  this  present  parliament  for  my  excuse 
in  time  to  come,  and  that  you  will  be  good  to  my  servant  Roger  Roe, 
the  bearer  hereof,  &c. 

"  Written  at  Divelin,  the  15th  Juin. 

"  Your  faithful  true  brother, 

"  Richard  York." 

I,  for  one,  am  content  to  allow  an  enlightened  community  to  pro- 
nounce judgment  on  the  literary  merits  of  these  authentic  letters,  the 
production  of  equals  in  English  and  Irish  society. 

After  the  decisive  battle  of  Bosworth  Field,  in  which  the  celebrated 
Richard  the  Third  was  slain,  the  crown,  having  been  found  in  the 
field,  was  carried  to  the  victorious  Earl  of  Richmond,  who  was  crowned 
on  the  battle-ground  as  Henry  the  Seventh.  This  successful  prince, 
having  married  the  heiress  of  the  house  of  York,  united  on  the  throne 
the  heads  of  the  contending  parties. 

On  the  fall  of  Richard,  the  Plantagenet  line  became  extinct.  The 
Plantagenetfamily  had  enjoyed  the  crown  of  England  for  three  hundred 
years.  It  now  passed  into  the  family  of  Tudor.  In  the  previous 
fifty   years,  —  from    1400   to    1450, — the  Irish  made  wonderful   ad- 


STATE    OF    IRELAND.  591 

vances  towards  the  extinction  of  the  English  interest  in  Ireland. 
Leland,  a  writer  on  the  English  side,  thus  describes  the  relative 
bearings  of  the  English  and  Irish  power,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
fifteenth  century:  "  Tiie  Irish,  in  despite  of  transient,  occasional,  and 
inadequate  attempts  to  subdue  them,  gradually  advanced  in  power,  and 
enlarged  their  borders.  Although  the  English  lords,  by  the  statutes  of 
their  little  parliament,  prohibited  the  English  settlers  from  trading  with 
the  native  Irish,  yet  their  most  flourishing  settlements  and  richest  towns 
were  so  totally  environed  by  the  old  natives,  that  the  English  could 
trade  with  none  other,  and  were  reduced  by  the  legal  restraints  of  their 
parliament  to  the  danger  of  being  utterly  impoverished.  The  power  of 
the  ancient  natives  was  every  day  extending  and  increasing:  ichat 
could  not  he  effected  by  military  operations,  was,  on  various  occasions, 
[continues  this  writer,  on  the  side  of  England,]  attempted  by  treaties 
and  stipulations ;  and  here  the  superior  power  of  the  enemy  [meaning 
the  Irish]  dictated  the  terms.''''  The  English  settlers  on  the  border  were 
driven  to  defend  themselves  from  the  incursions  of  the  neighboring  Irish, 
by  bribes  and  pensions.  "  It  doth  not  appear  certain,"  continues  this 
author,  "  at  what  precise  time  this  dishonorable  concession  was  first 
made;  but,  from  the  public  records,  the  commencement  of  it  was  not  much 
later  than  the  present  period,"  (viz.,  during  the  reign  of  Henry  the 
Fifth  of  England,  anno  1400.)  "An  annual  stipend,  afterwards  well 
known  by  the  name  of  hlacTi  rent,  was  paid  to  the  powerful  Irish  chief- 
tains by  the  English  settlers,  to  purchase  their  protection,  whose  pride 
was  thus  gratified  by  the  recognition  of  their  ancient  sovereignty. 
The  English  subjects  were  still,  by  this  time,  reduced  to  a  mortifying 
situation.  The  old  native  Irish  considered  the  whole  race  as  aliens 
and  intruders  —  those,  at  least,  who  would  not  consent  to  adopt  their 
language  and  manners."  And  by  the  9th  of  Henry  the  Sixth, 
1430,  we  find  the  limits  of  the  English  Pale  set  forth  in  the  fol- 
lowing words.  It  goes  on,  after  a  long  preamble,  to  record,  "  that  the 
enemies  and  rebels  (the  Irish)  had  conquered  and  put  under  their 
obeysance  and  tribute  in  the  parts  of  Munster,  and  well  nigh  all  the 
counties  of  Limerick,  Tipperary,  Kilkenny,  and  Wexford  ;  and  in  the 
nether  parts,  well  nigh  all  the  counties  of  Limerick,  Tipperary,  Kil- 
kenny, and  Wexford  ;  and  well  nigh  all  the  counties  of  Carlow,  Kildare, 
Meath,  and  Uriel ;  so  that  there  is  left  unconquered  and  out  of  tribute 
little  more  than  the  county  of  Dublin." 

Such  is  the  testimony  of  that  memorable  act  of  parliament  to  the 
great  fact,  that  Ireland,  up  to  this  period,  was  unconquered  by 
Ensrland. 


592  DUTIES    PERFORMED    BY   THE    CLERGY. 

It  is  to  US  of  the  present  day  astonishing  —  incomprehensible — 
that  the  Irish  chieftains  of  that  period  did  not  combine  together,  and 
free  themselves  and  their  country  totally  from  British  power.  They 
were,  it  seems,  contented,  in  the  distant  quarters  of  the  island,  to  rule 
their  petty  septs,  to  maintain  their  state  and  consequence  against 
their  neighbors,  and  to  enjoy  the  honor  and  advantage  of  trifling  victo- 
ries. Some  of  them,  indeed,  united  in  the  most  cordial  affection  with 
the  old  English  families,  who  had  joined  them  in  marriage  and  family 
interests.  Had  the  Irish  people  been  then  led  by  a  Brien  Boroimhe, 
or  an  O'Ruark,  they  would  have  instantly  destroyed  the  English  power 
in  Ireland. 

The  reign  of  Henry  the  Seventh  passed  away  without  disturbing 
materially  this  general  state  of  things.  The  Anglo-Irish  having  joined, 
either  on  the  one  side  or  the  other,  in  the  English  civil  wars,  they  were 
drawn  off  in  great  numbers,  and  appeared  in  arms  against  each  other  in 
England.  From  this  also  grew  two  parties  among  the  native  Irish, — 
called  the  York  and  Lancaster  party,  —  and  their  animosities  continued 
to  be  kept  up  between  the  great  houses  of  Butler  and  Geraldine  for 
many  generations.  Crom-a-boo  !  was  the  senseless  war-cry  of  the  Ger- 
aldines,  or  the  Kildare  family ;  and  Butler-a-hoo  !  that  of  the  Butler  or 
Ormond  family;  —  and  so  of  others.  At  length  the  king  sent  Sir  Ed- 
ward Poyning,  with  a  thousand  men,  to  settle  the  affairs,  and  to  curb 
the  aristocracy,  of  the  Pale.  He  introduced  the  famous  act,  in  Drogheda, 
called  Poyning' s  Laiv,  which  forbade  the  holding  any  parliament  in  Ire- 
land without  the  king  of  England's  authority,  or  the  proposing  any  law 
without  its  receiving  his  previous  assent  and  that  of  his  privy  council. 
This  was  the  law  which  Grattan  succeeded  in  repealing  in  1782.  In 
the  removal  of  several  penal  clauses  against  the  Irish,  passed  at  Kilken- 
ny, that  against  speaking  the  Irish  language  was  not  renewed,  for  nearly 
all  the  English  in  Ireland  had  for  a  long  time  spoken  in  that  tongue, 
and  had  dropped  the  use  of  their  own  ;  a  thing,  as  remarked  by  Spenser, 
unprecedented  in  the  case  of  a  conquered  country. 

The  higher  clergy,  in  those  days,  exercised  much  power  in  the 
temporal  affairs  of  society,  both  in  England  and  Ireland.  The  office 
of  lord  chancellor  had  been  filled  by  a  dignitary  of  the  church  since  the 
time  of  King  Alfred,  which  was  discontinued  on  the  fall  of  Cardinal  Wol- 
sey,  whose  place  was  supplied  by  Sir  Thomas  More.  Medicine  was 
practised  by  the  clergy,  particularly  the  monks ;  and  as  they  superin- 
tended all  the  public  schools  and  universities,  administered  to  all  who 
were  needy,  wrote  all  the  books  then  in  use  in  schools  and  libraries, 


DISCOVERY    OF    AMERICA. THE    CLERGY.  593 

besides  being  lords  of  one  fifth  of  England,  and  nearly  of  a  like  pro- 
portion of  Ireland,  in  right  of  their  establishments,  they  possessed 
unbounded  influence.  They  were,  however,  good,  indulgent  landlords, 
and  the  rents  paid  to  them  were  all  spent  amongst  the  people. 

This  year  [1492]  was  remarkable  for  the  voyage  of  Christopher 
Columbus,  and  his  discovery  of  the  new  world,  which  Seneca  seems  to 
have  predicted  in  his  Medea :  "  Ages  will  arise  in  after  years,  when  the 
ocean  will  loose  her  chains,  and  the  great  globe  will  open ;  when  the 
sea  will  develop  new  orbs,  and  that  Thule  will  not  be  the  extreme 
region  of  the  earth."  Henry  the  Seventh,  to  whom  Columbus  first 
applied,  neglected,  it  appears,  both  his  own  interest  and  glory,  by  refu- 
sing the  offer  which  this  great  man  made  to  him,  in  his  projected  voyage, 
and  which  Ferdinand  of  Castile  contrived  to  turn  to  his  own  advan- 
tage. It  was  a  discovery  which  gave  a  new  impetus  to  the  energies  of 
the  old  world,  and  its  effects  are  yet  only  in  an  infant  state. 
75 


594 


MUSIC    ANB    POETRY. 


THE  VALLEY  LAY  SMILING  BEFORE  ME, 


BY    MOORE. 


-F 


1.     The      val  -  ley    lay     smi  -  ling    be  -  fore   me,      Where 


-r 


:± 


i — ^ 

~i       f      I —  r 


late  -  ly      I       left     her     be  -  hind ;      Yet  I     trembled,  and 

b-\ 1- 


td: 


¥ 


^  * 


^i 


w 


something  hung  o'er  me,      That  saddened  the  joy      of    my 

[zbzzj, j^.       ^ 


1     L 


^3EF*=- 


^sr 


B 


"I — 


fzizz 


I  looked     for        the     lamp,  which  she 


T^ 


"I — r 


PE: 


told     me        Should     shine    when     her         pil  -  grim     re  - 


t-^ 


:rz=p 


T f — r 


-     turned ;  But,  though  darkness       be   -    gan     to       en 


'-^^- 


--^A 


--^^ 


P 


-     fold    me,      No     lamp  from  the     bat  -  tle-ments    burned. 

2. 

I  flew  to  her  chamber  —  'twas  lonely 

As  if  the  loved  tenant  lay  dead  ; 
Ah !    would  it  were  death,  and  death  only  — 

But,  no !   the  false  young  one  had  fled ! 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY.  595 

And  there  hung  the  liite  that  could  soften 

My  very  worst  pains  into  bliss ; 
While  the  hand  that  had  waked  it  so  often 

Now  throbbed  to  my  proud  rival's  kiss. 

3. 

There  was  a  time,  falsest  of  women, 

When  BrefFni's  good  sword  would  have  sought 
That  man  through  a  million  of  foemen, 

Who  dared  but  to  doubt  thee  in  thought! 
While  now  —  O  degenerate  daughter 

Of  Erin !    how  fallen  is  thy  fame ! 
And,  through  ages  of  bondage  and  slaughter, 

Thy  country  shall  weep  for  thy  shame. 

4. 

Already  the  curse  is  upon  her. 

And  strangers  her  valleys  profane; 
They  come  to  divide,  to  dishonor; 

And  tyrants  they  long  will  remain. 
But,  onward !    the  green  banner  bearing ! 

Go !   flesh  every  brand  to  the  hilt ! 
On  our  side  is  Virtue  and  Erin ! 
♦      On  theirs  is  the  Saxon  and  Guilt! 


CALLIEN    DHAS    CRUITHAN  A   BO.* 

(the   pretty   girl   milking    her   cow.) 

To  be  sung  to  the  foregoing  air^ 

1. 

One  morning,  when  Sol  was  adorning 
The  dew-painted,  fragrant  rose, 

*  Tradition  informs  us  that  this  very  ancient  and  very  beautiful  song  grew  out 
of  the  following  historical  incidents.  Keating,  (vol.  i.  page  125,)  in  conjunction 
with  other  authors,  fully  authenticates  the  following  relation :  We  have  undoubted 
authority  to  believe  that  Eithne   Ollmhdd,  daughter  of  O'Dowling,   the   soa   of 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 

The  larks  sang  their  tunes  melodious, 
And  flowers  sweet  odors  disclosed  ; 

It  was  near  to  the  foot  of  a  mountain, 
Where  cataracts  rapidly  flow, 

1  saw  that  fair  artist  of  nature, 

Called  Callien  dhas  Cruithan  a  bo. 

2. 

The  nightingale  vied  with  the  siren ; 

The  linnet  she  sang  in  each  spray; 
The  dove,  with  the  sweetest  allurement, 

And  lambs  round  the  sweet  one  did  play ; 
While  Cupid  sat  there  in  his  chariot, 

Well  armed  with  quiver  and  bow, 
To  wound  all  the  hearts  that  came  near  to 

This  Callien  dhas  Cruithan  a  bo  I 


Eanaheadh,  was  mother  to  Carbre  Liffenhair,  the  son  of  Connae,  the  son  of  Art, 
the  son  of  Cou  of  the  Hundred  Fights.  This  lady  was  fostered  and  educated  by 
Buicoidh  Boughach,  a  wealthy  herdsman  that  lived  in  Leinster.  Cormac,  in  one 
of  his  hunting  excursions,  became  suddenly  captivated  with  the  lovely  Eithne,  a 
virgin  of  rare  beauty,  whom  he  by  chance  caught  a  glimpse  of  in  passing  through 
the  lands  of  her  foster-father,  while  she  was  employed  milking  a  cow  in  company 
with  her  foster-sister  and  some  domestics.  The  king  inquired  into  the  lineage  of 
the  lady,  declared  his  passion,  and  ultimately  made  her  his  wife.  This  historical 
tradition  is  given  to  me  by  a  learned  and  talented  Irishman,  as  the  origin  of  this 
beautiful  air,  which  was  composed,  on  the  king's  marriage,  by  his  favorite  bard. 
The  two  stanzas  above  given  are,  possibly,  not  the  original  words  which  were 
wedded  to  this  air.  I  have  heard  a  better  version  of  this  old  song;  and  when  1 
can  possess  myself  of  the  words,  it  is  likely  I  shall  substitute  them 


THE    TIME    I'VE    LOST    IN    WOOING. 


BY     MOORE. 


9  # ^~  I  " 


1.     The      time      I've      lost       in  woo    -    ing,        In 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


597 


>==?=^- 


-^—1-9   ~3   ~3 


watching     and     pur  -  su  -  ing     The    light   that   hes       In 


woman's   eyes,    Has     been    my  heart's  un    -    do  -  ing. 


T-^~ 


r^ 


■^: 


Mi 


l^ZZ 


Though     wis  -  dom    oft     has      sought   me,         I     scorned  the 


'k'b~^ ' 

^ 

1 
1 

zzi>-;ns 

— ^ 

^  _,^  -.^k-T    .- 



— i— 

w—  J' 

— 

iiiL^p^ 

j^       ■ 

— • 

^ 

lore     she  brought   me;     My  on  -  ly  books    Were    woman's 


i^ZZZr 


H 


looks,      And      fol  -  ly 's      all    they've  taught  me. 


On  her  smile,  when  beauty  granted, 
I  hung  with  gaze  enchanted. 

Like  him,  the  sprite 

Whom  maids  by  night 
Oft  meet  in  glen  that's  haunted. 
Like  him,  too,  beauty  won  me; 
But  while  her  eyes  were  on  me. 

If  once  their  ray 

Was  turned  away, 
O !    winds  could  not  outrun  me ! 


5^8 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


REMEMBER    THEE!     YES. 


BY     MOORE. 


=f!^ 


^ 

^ — -fp  ^ ! 

' — P S- 


^ 


id: 


)^¥=i- 


5=zj 


1.     Re  -  mem  -  ber  thee!   yes,  while  there's    life      in     this 


^=^— S--^-' 


s— ^ 


azizzim 


heart, 


It    shall      nev        er      for  -  get     thee, 


all 


-9 


i^E^: 


;sii: 


lorn        as  thou  art ;      More    dear     in   thy      sor  -  row,    thy 


^9^  I        I        I       I 


1^-=^^-^=* 


^^ 


gloom,  and    thy     showers,  Than  the       rest        of      the 


l^-r-—^ 


V- — ^- 


world 


in     their 


-^'-9-9 


sun    -    ni  -  est    hours.         Wert  thou 

« 9 — 9    r~f'"i~'9^f      I 

I        [^ n~    ! 


i 


all     that     1       wish    thee,    great,    glo-rious,  and  free,      First 


fzz 


~9' 


^ 


r' 


^~p g?~ig — '^ — ^ — ii»—r-\-' 

flower      of  the     earth,  and    first       gem 


g^ggg^PP 


might 


thee   with     proud   -   er. 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


599 


n^       N — r* — 


hap 


pi  -  er 


5^ 

brow ; 


t=i — 


But,      O!      could    I 


love      thee     more        deep    -    ly       than      now? 


No ;    thy  chains  as  they  rankle,  thy  blood  as  it  runs, 
But  make  thee  more  painfully  dear  to  thy  sons, — 
Whose  hearts,  like  the  young  of  the  desert-bird's  nest. 
Drink- love  in  each  life-drop  that  flows  from  thy  breast! 
Wert  thou  all  that  I  wish  thee,  &;c. 


KITTY    OF    COLERAINE, 


LECTURE    XV. 


FROM   A     D.    1509   TO    1560. 

Henry  the  Eighth.  —  Cardinal  Wolsey.  —  Queen  Catharine.  —  Anne  Boleyn. — 
Henry  breaks  with  the  Pope.  ^  Bishop  Cranmer.  —  Sir  Thomas  More.  —  Bishop 
Fisher.  —  The  subservient  Parliament.  —  The  Monasteries.  —  Their  public  Utility. 

—  Opinion  of  the  Quarterly  Review.  —  King  Henry's  Design  on  the  Monasteries 

—  Thomas  Cromwell.  —  His  Commissions.  —  Cobbett's  Opinion  of  them. —  Seizure 
of  three  hundred  and  seventy-six  Monasteries.  —  Distributed  among  the  Pliant. — 
Further  Confiscations.  —  Executions.  —  Invasion  of  the  Shrines  of  the  Dead.  — 
Chaos  in  Laws,  Morals,  and  Religion.  —  Catholics  and  Protestants  burnt  on  the 
same  Pile.  —  Monasteries  legalized  again  in  England.  —  Irelapd  under  Henry. — 
The  Kildare  Family.  —  Beginning  of  the  Reformation  in  Ireland.  —  Dissents  and 
Opposition  of  the  Clergy.  —  Persecution  commenced.  —  Parliament  of  the  Pale.  — 
Confiscations  of  Irish  Monasteries.  —  Bribery  of  the  Irish  Gentry. —  King  Henry's 
fifth  Wife,  Catharine  Howard.  —  Execution  of  Cromwell.  —  Execution  of  the 
Queen.  —  Henry  marries  a  sixth  Wife.  —  His  Death.  —  Reading  of  the  Bible  first 
suppressed  by  him. — Accession  of  Edward  the  Sixth.  —  Further  Changes  in  Re- 
ligion.—  Insurrection  in  England. —  Execution  of  Somerset.  —  Death  of  King 
Edward.  — Intrigues  of  Northumberland.  —  Queen  Mary  proclaimed.  —  Rebellion. 
Grand  Entry  of  Mary  into  London.  —  Restoration  of  the  Laws,  and  of  the  Catholic 
Religion.  —  Pliancy  of  Parliament.  —  Marriage  of  the  Queen  to  Philip  of  Spain. — 
The  Parliament  restore  the  Catholic  Religion.  —  Why  call  Mary  "Bloody".?  — 
Ireland  a  Refuge  for  the  Persecuted.  —  Massacre  of  Mullaghmast. 

Anno  1509.  We  are  now  about  to  enter  on  the  eventful  era  of  the 
reformation.  This  event  is  associated,  in  our  minds,  with  the  reign  of 
King  Henry  the  Eighth  of  England.  As  Ireland  may  date  the  beginning 
of  her  most  grievous  sufferings  and  sorrows  from  King  Henry's  time, 
every  one  will  excuse  me  for  going  a  little  into  the  history  of  a  cause 
which  produced  throughout  Europe,  as  well  as  Ireland,  such  important 
changes. 

It  is  not  my  vocation,  nor  have  I  capacity  or  acquirements,  to  enter 
the  arena  of  theological  controversy.  I  do  not  intend  to  treat  this  ques- 
tion in  a  sectarian  spirit.  Religion  is  a  matter  that  lies  between  each 
man  and  his  Creator.  If,  as  I  shall,  for  nearly  the  remainder  of  this 
work,  be  obliged  to  allude  to  the  unfortunate  differences  in  religion 
which  this  great  change  generated  in  Britain  and  Ireland,  I  hope  to  do 


HENRY    THE    EIGHTH.  I^il 

a  most  unpleasant  duly  without  violence  to  the  feelings  of  any.  I  shall 
not,  if  I  can  discover  it,  speak  in  a  sectarian  tone.  In  recounting  the 
changes  in  the  religious  economy  of  the  English  government,  I  shall 
refer  to  them  only  in  as  far  as  they  operated  on  the  political  and  social 
economy  of  Ireland. 

At  tlie  very  threshold  of  this  inquiry,  I  ask  the  kind  forbearance  and 
charitable  interpretation  of  my  readers,  of  every  shade  of  opinion,  while 
I  unfold  to  them  the  incredible  sufferings  which  Ireland  has  endured,  in 
the  name  of  religion,  from  the  time  of  Henry  the  Eighth  to  the  present 
hour. 

King  Henry  the  Eighth,  of  England,  was  the  second  son  of  Henry  the 
Seventh,  with  whose  reign  I  concluded  my  previous  lecture.  He  was 
educated  for  the  church  ;  but  Arthur,  his  eldest  brother,  dying  at  the  age 
of  fourteen,  Henry  became  thereby  the  heir  of  the  British  crown ; 
which,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  [1509,]  he  assumed,  while  yet  only 
eighteen  years  of  age.  He  was  handsome,  accomplished,  proud,  and 
well  educated.  Immediately  after  coming  to  the  throne,  he  married 
Catharine,  the  daughter  of  Philip,  king  of  Spain.  She  was  about  three 
or  four  years  older  than  himself.  This  lady  had  been  nominally  married, 
according  to  the  custom  of  those  times,  to  the  king's  brother,  who,  as  I 
have  just  mentioned,  died  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  and  the  marriage  was 
therefore  never  consummated.  But  the  lady's  father  took  care  to  have 
a  dispensation,  or  a  nullijication  of  that  nominal  marriage  effected,  by  the 
pope,  before  the  second  marriage,  with  Henry  the  Eighth,  was  solem- 
nized. The  marriage  with  Henry  therefore  took  place,  with  the  full 
approbation  of  all  the  church  authorities  of  England,  Spain,  and  Rome. 

King  Henry  had  several  children  by  his  virtuous  queen,  one  only  of 
whom  lived,  namely,  the  princess  Mary,  afterwards  queen  of  England. 
They  lived  happily  and  lovingly  together  for  fourteen  years,  the  queen 
proving  herself,  through  all  that  time,  a  most  virtuous  and  afTectionate 
wife.  The  religion  of  England,  Ireland,  and  all  Europe,  was  then  one 
and  the  same.  It  was  Catholic,  and  in  communion  with  the  see  of 
Rome. 

The  movement  against  the  pope  and  the  Catholic  religion,  which  was 
begun  in  Europe  by  Luther,  Zuingh,  and  Calvin,  gave  a  new  occu- 
pation to  men's  thoughts  throughout  the  Christian  worid.  In  truth,  this 
religious  revolution,  which  had  its  beginning  in  the  bosom  of  an  offended 
monk,  now  mixed  or  attracted  all  elements  into  its  vortex,  in  several  of 
the  continental  kingdoms,  opposition  to  the  pope,  opposition  to  princes, 
desire  of  the  riches  contained  in  the  monasteries,  impatience  of  ecclesi- 
.76 


602  CARDINAL    WOLSEY. 

astical  discipline,  and  doubtless  the  remembrance  and  existence  of  many 
petty  acts  of  overstrained  authority  committed  by  prelates  of  the  church, 
whose  pride  neither  the  monitions  of  the  Christian  tenets,  the  interests 
of  religion,  nor  the  fears  of  punishment,  could  restrain. 

We  find  that,  in  many  parts  of  Europe,  mobs  were  excited  to  madness 
against  the  old  church  dignitaries.  Churches  and  monasteries  were 
broken  up,  and  the  rich  contents  distributed  amongst  the  ringleaders. 
In  the  midst  of  this  half-ecclesiastical,  half-civil  commotion,  princes  lost 
their  diadems  and  principalities,  which  were  seized  upon  by  leaders  who 
presented  a  new  code  of  religion  in  one  hand,  and  a  new  code  of  civil 
laws  in  the  other. 

Henry  the  Eighth  distinguished  himself  amongst  the  theologians  of 
Europe  by  the  composition  and  publication  of  a  book  against  these 
reformers.  It  was  entitled  the  "  Assertion  of  the  Seven  Sacraments," 
which  he  dedicated  to  Pope  Leo  the  Tenth ;  and,  in  return,  received 
from  that  distinguished  father  of  the  church  the  title  defender  of  the 
faith,  which  was  conferred  on  him  in  a  special  bull,  signed  by  twenty- 
seven  cardinals  and  bishops. 

Such  was  Henry  the  Eighth  at  the  commencement  of  the  reformation 
in  Germany.  There  is  another  distinguished  person,  to  whom  the 
reader  must  be  introduced  at  this  stage  of  the  great  drama.  This  is  the 
celebrated  Cardinal  Wolsey.  I  know  not  if  the  whole  history  of  the 
church  offers  to  our  view  so  proud  a  prelate.  Originally  of  very  hum- 
ble parentage,  he  was  educated  for  the  church,  and  raised  into  impor- 
tance by  a  train  of  fortunate  circumstances.  Having  been  selected  by 
Henry  the  Seventh  to  go  upon  some  mission  of  negotiation  to  the  court 
of  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  he  performed  it  so  well  and  so  quickly, 
that  he  won  the  approbation  of  the  monarch,  and  was  promoted  to  the 
deanery  of  Lincoln  ;  and  he  subsequently  made  him  his  almoner,  which 
office  he  held  on  the  accession  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  whose  favor  he 
secured  so  well  that  he  was  appointed  a  member  of  his  council,  and 
successively  bishop  of  Tournay,  Lincoln,  archbishop  of  York,  and  lastly, 
cardinal  and  legate,  chancellor  of  England,  and  bishop  of  Winchester. 
He  was  abbot  of  the  convent  of  St.  Alban's,  and  possessed  likewise  the 
revenues  of  the  episcopal  sees  of  Bath,  Worcester,  and  Hereford,  with 
several  priories  and  other  benefices.  So  great  was  the  splendor  to  which 
he  attained,  that  he  kept  an  almost  incredible  number  of  officers  and 
servants  in  his  household  ;  and  when  sent  by  the  king  as  an  ambassador 
to  the  court  of  France,  he  brought  with  him,  in  his  train,  twelve  hundred 
horses,  eighty  chariots,  sixty  mules,  and  other  parts  of  his  retinue  in 


QUEEN    CATHARINE.  603 

proportion.  Splendor  cannot  be  supported  without  wealth,  and  Wolsey 
was  insatiable  in  the  pursuit  of  it.  Man  generally  possesses  many  pas- 
sions ;  but  one  usually  preponderates,  in  which  the  others  seem  to  centre. 
The  cardinal's  ruling  passion  was  ambition.  He  aspired  to  nothing  less 
than  the  papal  chair,  for  which  object  he  sought  to  obtain  the  friendship 
and  influence  of  Charles  the  Fifth.  This  emperor,  who  looked  upon  him 
as  necessary  to  aid  him  in  carrying  his  plans  into  effect,  began  to  display 
much  regard  towards  him  by  a  fre(|uent  correspondence,  and  in  the 
letters  which  he  wrote,  he  signed  himself,  "  Charles,  your  son  and  re- 
lation.^^ 

Such,  condensed  from  the  Abbe  M'Geoghegan,  is  a  glimpse  at  this  cel- 
ebrated man.  It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  the  proud,  unprincipled 
cardinal  — for  unprincipled  he  was  —  first  set  the  example,  in  England,  of 
suppressing  monasteries.  Wishing  to  do  some  signal  thing,  that  would 
carry  his  name  to  remote  posterity,  he  prevailed  on  the  king  to  suppress 
forty  monasteries,  the  revenues  of  which  he  assumed  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  and  supporting  two  grand  colleges,  the  one  at  Oxford,  the 
other  at  Ipswich  —  an  example  which  King  Henry  soon  after  followed, 
upon  a  more  extended  scale,  though  with  somewhat  less  worthy  motives 
actuating  him. 

When  Henry  had  been  about  fourteen  years  married,  he.  began  to 
give  vent  to  certain  doubts,  which  troubled  his  conscience,  as  to  the 
religious  regularity  of  his  marriage  with  Queen  Catharine.  These  he 
communicated  to  Cardinal  Wolsey,  who,  according  to  the  authority  of 
the  Abbe  M'Geoghegan,  rather  encouraged  than  subdued.  Besides 
all  this  there  was  another  impulse  strongly  working  in  favor  of  those 
doubts ;  namely,  a  secret  love  for  the  beautiful  Anne  Boleyn,  a  maid 
of  honor  to  his  queen.  These  doubts  at  last  broke  openly  out,  and  the 
king  separated  from  the  queen.  An  appeal  was  made  by  him  to  the 
pope,  complaining  that  his  marriage  was  unlawful,  and  requesting  a 
trial,  with  a  view  to  a  divorce.  The  pope  granted  this  trial,  which  was 
commenced  before  English  commissioners,  the  legate  from  the  holy  see 
presiding.  Queen  Catharine  refused  to  appear  before  this  tribunal,  inas- 
much as  it  was  composed  of  Englishmen,  under  the  influence  of  the 
king  ;  and  she,  being  a  Spaniard,  demanded  a  trial  before  the  pope  and 
cardinals.  On  this  occasion  the  queen  made  a  most  eloquent  appeal  to 
the  feelings  of  all  present,  in  which  she  set  forth  her  virtue,  fidelity,  and 
conjugal  rights,  and  concluded  by  challenging  her  husband  to  say  aught 
against  her  character  since  their  union.  The  king  said,  "  that  he  had 
no  complaints  to  advance  against  her,  that  he  was  satisfied  with  her  con 


604  ^UEEN    CATHARINE. 

duct,  and  that  her  virtue  could  not  be  sufficiently  admired.     He  de-    , 
clared,  likewise,  that  he  would  continue  willingly  to  live  with  her  if  his 
conscience   would   permit  him."     The  entire   assembly,   we  are  told, 
melted  into  tears.     Jt  broke  up  without  doing  any  thing;  but  the  royal 
pair  did  not  come  together  again. 

Tiuic  rolled  on  without  bringing  things  to  an  issue.  The  divorce 
question  was  fre(|uently  debated  without  any  thing  being  concluded  on. 
The  king,  therefore,  sent  for  the  two  cardinals,  in  order  that  they  might 
induce  the  queen  to  leave  the  matter  to  his  own  decision.  They  imme- 
diately repaired  to  her,  and  found  her  working  with  her  female  attend- 
ants. When  she  heard  Wolsey  addressing  her,  and  continuing  to 
speak,  "  I  see  clearly,"  said  she,  "  that  you  have  come  here  to  debate 
on  matters  which  surpass  my  capacity."  Then,  showing  a  skein  of  silk 
which  iiiing  upon  her  neck,  "  Behold,"  she  continued,  "  what  I  am 
capable  of,  and  what  is  my  sole  occupation."  Wolsey  entreated  her, 
through  kindness  for  the  king,  not  to  await  the  result  of  a  lawsuit,  the 
issue,  of  which  could  not  be  favorable  to  her.  "  I  do  not  know,"  replied 
the  queen,  "  who  has  advised  the  king  to  act  as  he  is  now  doing.  I 
confess,  caidiiial,  that  it  is  you  whom  1  blame  for  it.  Our  parents,  who 
were  wise  princes,  had  our  marriage  previously  investigated,  and  ob- 
tained from  the  pope  a  dispensation  for  it,  of  which  I  hold  the  original. 
The  king  and  !  have  lived  for  almost  eighteen  years  together,  during 
which  no  censure  has  been  cast  upon  us.  Your  pride,  however,  I  can- 
not approve  of;  your  debaucheries,  your  tyranny,  and  insolence,  I  have 
s[)oken  of.  Througli  the  ir»fluence  of  my  nephew,  the  emperor^  you 
have  failed  in  being  appointed  pope,  which  is  the  source  of  all  my  mis- 
fortunes ;  since,  in  order  to  be  revenged,  you  have  not  been  content 
with  kindling  a  war  throughout  all  Europe,  but  have  been  likewise  the 
secret  spring  and  cause  of  all  my  misfortunes.  Every  thing  that  I 
suffer,  cardinal,  from  this  disgrace,  is  known  to  God,  who  will  be  your 
judge  and  mine."  Wolsey  wished  to  reply,  but  she  would  not  hear 
him.  Campeggio  she  treated  with  politeness,  but  protested  that  she 
never  would  acknowledge  either  one  or  the  other  as  her  judge,  and 
would  continue  in  the  line  of  conduct  she  had  adopted. 

Some  two  or  three  years  were  now  spent  in  negotiation  between  the 
courts  of  England  and  Rome.  The  question  was  discussed  in  the  col- 
leges of  England,  France,  and  Italy.  Books  were  written  pro  and  con, 
and  the  crafty  king  sent  ambassadors  to  Rome,  to  tamper  witii  the  car- 
dinals. He  began,  in  the  mean  time,  to  manifest  openly  his  partiality  for 
Anne  Boleyn.     Having  consented  to  submit  the  marriage  to  the  college 


HENKT   BREAKS    WITH    THE    POPE. MORE. FISHER.  605 

of  cardinals,  under  an  erroneous  supposition  that  he  had  gained  many  of 
iheni  to  his  side,  he  was  greatly  mortified  in  finding  that  the  entire 
college,  with  one  exception,  gave  their  votes  confirmatory  of  the  mar- 
riage. The  pope  acquiesced  ;  and,  after  vainly  trying  to  persuade 
Henry  into  an  acquiescence,  sent  his  ultimatum  to  the  king,  requesting 
him  to  take  back  his  wife,  and  put  away  Anne  Bolcyn. 

Henry  had  already,  as  it  would  appear,  made  up  his  mind  to  break 
with  the  pope,  should  the  decision  be  against  him  ;  and  it  having  been 
promulgated  adversely,  he  kept  his  intention  no  longer  a  secret.  In  the 
mean  time,  having  conceived  a  dislike  for  Cardinal  Wolsey,  he  suddenly 
dismissed  that  powerful  prelate  from  his  various  offices,  and  actually 
placed  him  under  arrest.  He  advanced  Sir  Thomas  More  in  his  stead 
to  the  office  of  lord  chancellor,  who  was  the  first  layman  that  ever  held 
that  office  in  England.  The  celebrat(?d  Thomas  Cranmer,  a  theological 
professor  of  Oxford,  having  written  a  book  in  favor  of  the  divorce, 
was  proinoted  to  the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury,  in  the  place  of 
Wolsey. 

The  king  now  influenced  his  parliament  to  pass  an  act  declaring  the 
power  of  the  pope,  in  spiritual  or  temi)oral  matters,  at  an  end  in  his 
dominions.  By  his  promise  of  rich  rewards  to  the  members  of  this  par- 
liament, he  moulded  them  into  most  pliable  courtiers.  Any  bill  he 
wanted  was  carried  through  with  rapidity.  The  archbishop,  too,  was 
equally  willing  to  aid  the  king  in  all  his  important  changes.  The  queen 
was  soon  divorced,  in  a  court  held  by  archbishop  Cranmer.  Anne 
Boleyn  was  married  as  quickly.  Queen  Catiiarine,  in  tlie  course  of  a 
couple  of  years,  died  universally  regretted.  By  Anne  Boleyn  he  had  a 
daughter,  who  was  afterwards  Queen  Elizabeth. 

The  king  now  passed  an  act,  through  his  parliament,  making  himself 
supreme  head  of  the  church,  in  all  matters,  throughout  his  dominions. 
He  had  another  act  passed,  rendering  it  treason  to  his  person,  and  pun- 
ishable with  death,  to  deny  his  supremacy.  Sir  Thon)as  More,  Bishop 
Fisher,  and  many  other  most  pious  men,  refused  to  take  this  oath. 
Their  refusal  to  admit  was  deemed  tantamount  to  a  denial.  For  this 
they  were  both  sent  to  prison.  After  remaining  there  some  months, 
they  were  brought  to  the  block  and  beheaded.  Sir  Thomas  More  was 
greatly  regretted.  He  met  his  fate  with  a  tranquil  mind.  As  the  execu- 
tioner was  about  to  lift  the  fatal  axe,  this  remarkable  man  coolly  removed 
his  beard  out  of  the  way,  observing  that  it  had  not  offended  his  high- 
ness, the  king.  Thus  died,  says  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  one  of  the  best 
men  that  was  born  in  England   for  a  thousand  years.     Bishop  Fisher 


606  SUBSERVIENT    PARLIAMENT. 

was  also  beheaded  for  the  same  offence.  Several  abbots,  who  refused 
to  admit  the  supremacy  of  the  king,  were  hanged  and  quartered. 

The  king,  having  suspected  the  virtue  of  his  new  queen,  had  her 
arrested,  tried,  and  ordered  for  execution  in  a  few  days  after. 

Having  borrowed  large  sums  from  his  subjects,  which  he  had  no 
means  of  paying,  he  had  a  bill  brought  through  the  parliament,  to  exempt 
him  from  paying  any  of  this  money.  There  was  no  limit  to  his  personal 
expenses.  On  his  accession  to  the  throne,  he  found  eighteen  hundred 
thousand  pounds  in  the  treasury,  accumulated  by  the  late  king  ;  this 
large  sum  he  had  long  since  squandered  in  dissipation.  After  Anne 
Boleyn's  death,  he  married  the  Lady  Jane  Seymour,  by  whom  he  had  a 
son,  who  was  afterwards  Edward  the  Sixth  of  England.  The  lady 
died  in  childbirth,  and  the  infant  was  extracted  by  the  CBesarean 
operation. 

The  next  great  political  step  of  Henry  was  to  have  a  bill  carried 
through  the  house  of  commons,  giving  to  his  proclamations  the  force  of 
an  act  of  parliament.  By  this  bold  stroke  he  assumed,  in  his  own  per- 
son, the  powers  of  the  state  ;  abolished  Magna  Charta,  and  reduced 
every  authority  in  the  kingdom,  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  beneath  his  unre- 
strained will.  Persons  suspected  of  treason,  or  those  who  refused  to  ac- 
knowledge the  king's  supremacy,  were  condemned  and  executed  by  his 
warrant.  At  first,  the  forms  of  a  trial  took  place ;  but  these  were  quickly 
laid  aside,  and  the  king's  warrant  was  alone  substituted  for  all  other  forms. 

England  was  now  reduced  to  a  condition  of  the  most  abject  slavery. 
Hume  describes  it  thus :  *'  The  English,  in  that  age,  were  so  thoroughly 
subdued,  that,  4ike  Eastern  slaves,  they  were  inclined  to  adnjire  even 
those  acts  of  violence  and  tyranny  which  w^"e  exercised  on  themselves, 
and  at  their  own  expense." 

Henry,  having  reduced  the  people  to  this  slave-like  dread,  proceeded 
next  to  seize  on  the  rich  monasteries.  There  were  about  seven  hundred 
of  these  throughout  England,  and  an  equal  number  throughout  Ireland. 
I  have  frequendy  described  their  nature  and  character  in  these  pages, 
and  especially  at  page  467,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred.  These  re- 
ligious corporations  were  very  wealthy.  Their  libraries  were  well 
stored  with  books,  most  of  which  were  ornamented  with  silver  clasps, 
hinges,  and  the  like  ;  for  the  monks  spent  much  of  their  time  composing 
and  transcribing  those  books.  Princes,  lords,  and  other  great  ones  of 
the  world,  usually  bequeathed,  on  their  death-beds,  to  the  monasteries, 
some  important  gift,  to  be  administered  in  acts  of  charity  or  education. 
And  although  the  monks  were  supported  by  the  income  of  these  estab- 


THE    MONASTERIES.  607 

Ushments,  yet  the  poor  and  the  illiterate  were  also  benefited  materially. 
Putting  aside  all  question  about  a  future  state,  the  historian  and  the 
philosopher  must  admit,  that  those  institutions  were  of  great  utility  to  the 
people  of  England  and  of  Ireland,  where,  in  the  midst  of  so  dense  a 
population,  the  hand  of  charity  is  ever  required,  either  to  minister  to  the 
needy,  the  sick,  or  the  illiterate. 

On  the  score  of  science,  they  were  admirable  academies.  There  are 
hardly  any  of  the  great  inventions  which  we  value  at  present,  that  were 
not  discovered  by  these  misrepresented  men.  The  earth's  sphericity, 
antipodes,  and  the  general  astronomical  balance,  were  discovered,  in  the 
eighth  century,  by  an  Irish  monk,  and  its  diurnal  revolutions  by  an 
Italian  Jesuit,  in  the  sixteenth.  Gunpowder  was  first  compounded  by  a 
monk ;  and  the  best  treatise  on  gunnery  was  written  by  a  Jesuit. 
Architecture,  painting,  music,  and  mathematics,  owe  their  preservation 
to  the  monks.  Society  felt  no  want  which  those  good  men  did  not 
associate  to  supply. 

The  Protestant  Bishop  Tanner,  as  quoted  by  William  Cobbett,  in  his 
History  of  the  Reformation,  describes  the  monasteries  thus :  "  They 
were  schools  of  learning  and  education,  for  every  convent  had  one  per- 
son or  more  appointed  for  this  purpose ;  and  all  the  neighbors,  that 
desired  it,  might  have  their  children  taught  grammar  and  church  music, 
&;c.,  without  any  expense  to  them.  In  the  nunneries,  young  women 
were  taught  to  work,  and  read  English,  and  sometimes  Latin  also ;  so 
that  not  only  the  lower  rank  of  people,  who  could  not  pay  for  their 
learning,  were  educated,  but  most  of  the  noblemen's  and  gentlemen's 
daughtei-s  were  educated  in  those  places.  Thirdly,  all  the  monasteries 
were,  in  effect,  great  hospitals  ;  and  were,  most  of  them,  obliged  to  re- 
lieve many  poor  people  every  day.  They  were  likewise  free  houses  of 
entertainment  for  almost  all  travellers.  They  were  likewise  of  consid- 
erable advantage  to  the  places  where  they  had  their  sites,  and  estates, 
by  creating  a  great  resort  thither,  by  obtaining  grants  of  fairs  and 
markets,  freeing  the  people  from  the  oppressions  of  the  ambitious 
chiefs  and  barons,  and  lasdy  by  letting  their  lands  at  easy  rates. 

"  And,  finally,  the  abbeys,  and  churches  attached,  were  great  orna- 
ments to  the  country,  and  employed  a  great  many  workmen  in  building 
and  repairing,  which  contributed  much  to  improve  the  taste  for,  and  the 
style  of,  our  architecture." 

The  monasteries  were  constructed  throughout  Europe  on  those  prin- 
ciples of  utility.  There  was  no  nation  in  which  the  standard  of  the 
cross  was  planted,  but  the  monastic    institutions    grew  up    around   it 


603  OPINION    OF    THE    QUARTEBLY    REVIEW    AND    OTHERS. 

Mallet,  in  his  History  of  the  Siviss,  speaking  of  those  calumniated  men, 
says,  "  The  monks  softened,  by  their  instructions,  the  ferocious  manners 
of  the  people,  and  opposed  their  credit  to  the  tyranny  of  the  nobility, 
who  knew  no  other  occupation  than  war,  and  grievously  oppressed  their 
neighbors.  On  this  account  the  government  of  monks  was  preferred  to 
theirs  —  the  people  sought  them  for  judges.  It  was  a  usual  saying, 
that  it  was  better  to  be  governed  by  the  bishop's  crosier  than  the 
monarch's  sceptre." 

Drake,  in  his  Literary  Hours,  says,  "  The  monks  of  Cassins  were 
distinguished  not  only  for  their  knowledge  of  sciences,  but  their  attention 
to  polite  learning,  and  an  acquaintance  with  the  classics.  Their  learned 
abbot,  Desiderius,  collected  the  best  Greek  and  Roman  authors.  The 
fraternity  not  only  composed  learned  treatises  on  music,  logic,  astron- 
omy, architecture,  Stc,  but  employed  a  portion  of  their  time  in  tran- 
scribing Tacitus,  and  other  ancient  authors." 

In  the  English  Quarterly  Review,  December,  1811,  there  is  the 
following  testimony  to  the  same  purport :  "  The  world  has  never  been 
so  indebted  to  any  other  body  of  men  as  to  the  illustrious  order  of 
Benedictine  monks.  A  community  of  pious  men,  devoted  to  literature 
and  to  the  useful  arts,  as  well  as  to  religion,  seems,  in  the  days  that  are 
past,  like  a  green  oasis  arnid  the  desert :  like  stars  upon  a  moonless 
night,  they  shine  upon  us  with  a  tranquil  ray.  If  ever  there  was  a  man 
who  could  truly  be  called  venerable,  it  was  he  to  whom  the  appellation 
is  constantly  prefixed  —  the  Venerable  Bede  —  whose  life  was  passed  in 
instructing  his  own  generation,  and  preparing  records  for  posterity.  In 
those  days,"  continues  the  Review,  "  the  church  offered  the  only  asylum 
from  the  evils  to  which  every  country  was  exposed.  Amidst  continued 
wars,  the  church  enjoyed  peace.  It  was  regarded  as  a  sacred  realm 
by  men  who,  though  they  hated  one  another,  believed  and  feared  God 
through  the  same  form  of  religion.  Abused  as  it  was  by  the  worldly- 
minded  and  ambitious,  and  disgraced  by  the  artifices  of  the  designing 
and  tlie  follies  of  the  fanatic,  it  afforded  a  shelter  to  those  who  were 
better  than  the  world  in  their  youth,  or  weary  of  it  in  their  age.  The 
wise,  as  well  as  the  timid  and  gentle,  fled  to  this  Goshen  of  God,  which 
enjoyed  its  own  light  and  calm,  amidst  darkness  and  storms." 

Such  were  the  monasteries,  which  had  grown  up,  like  the  oaks  of  the 
forest,  for  a  thousand  years,  increasing,  as  they  grew,  in  strength  and 
majesty. 

There  were  about  twenty  to  five-and-twenty  of  these  institutions  in 
each  county  in  England  and  Ireland.     To  obtain  the  concurrence  of 


THOMAS    CROMWELL. -—HIS    COMMISSIONERS.  609 

parliament,  in  iiis  designs  on  this  property,  the  king  promised  some  of 
these  possessions  to  the  members,  as  the  reward  for  their  subserviency. 
But  even  this  failed  to  make  them  sufficiently  pliable  to  his  will. 

In  order  to  begin  the  confiscations,  the  king  put  on  the  forms  of  law, 
and  appointed  a  commission  to  visit  and  inquire  into  the  practices  and 
properties  of  all  the  monasteries  of  the  kingdom.  At  the  head  of  this 
commission  he  placed  Thomas  Cromwell,  who  was  son  of  a  black- 
smith, and  who  had  been  brought  up  as  a  messenger  in  the  household 
of  Cardinal  Wolsey.  The  commissioners  sent  forward  their  agents  to 
every  monastic  institution  in  the  kingdom :  the  kingdom  was  divided 
into  districts  for  this  purpose,  and  two  deputies  were  appointed  to  visit 
each  district.  Their  object  was  to  obtain  grounds  of  accusation  against 
the  monks  and  nuns. 

These  deputies  are  described  by  William  Cobbett,  [from  whose  able 
work  on  the  reformation  I  have  condensed  most  of  the  foregoing  re- 
marks,] in  the  following  words:  "When  we  consider  the  object,  and 
what  was  the  character  of  the  man  to  whom  the  work  was  committed, 
we  may  easily  imagine  what  sort  of  men  these  deputies  were.  They 
were,  in  fact,  fit  to  be  the  subalterns  of  such  a  chief.  They  were  some 
of  the  very  worst  men  in  all  England  —  men  of  notoriously  infamous 
characters  ;  men  who  had  been  convicted  of  heinous  crimes,  some  of 
whom  had  actually  been  branded  for  crime.  These  men  wrote  in  their 
*  reports,'  not  what  was,  but  what  their  merciless  employers  wanted 
them  to  write. 

"  The  monks  and  nuns,  who  had  never  dreamed  of  the  possibility  of 
such  proceedings ;  who  had  never  entertained  the  idea  that  Magna 
Charta,  and  all  the  laws  of  the  land,  could  be  set  aside  in  a  moment ; 
and  whose  recluse  and  peaceful  lives  rendered  them  wholly  unfit  to  cope 
with  crafty,  desperate  villany, — fell  before  these  ruffians  as  chickens  fall 
before  the  kite.  The  reports  made  by  these  villains  met  with  no  con- 
tradiction. The  accused  parties  had  no  means  of  making  a  defence. 
There  was  no  court  for  them  to  appear  in.  They  dared  not,  even  if 
they  had  the  means,  offer  a  defence  or  make  a  complaint ;  for  they  had 
seen  the  horrible  consequences — the  burnings,  the  rippings  up,  of  all 
those  of  their  brethren  who  had  ventured  to  whisper  their  dissent  from 
any  dogma  or  decree  of  the  tyrant.  The  monks  and  nuns,  and  the 
multitudes  that  depended  on  them  for  support,  were  to  be  at  once 
stripped  of  this  great  mass  of  property,  without  any  other  ground  than 
the  reports  of  those  men,  sent,  as  the  malignant  Hume  confesses,  for 
the  express  purpose  of  finding  a  pretence  for  the  breaking  up  of  the 
77 


610     SEIZURE  OF  THREE  HUNDRED  AND  SEVENTY-SIX  MONASTERIES. 

monasteries,  and  the  king's  taking  to  himself  property  that  had  never 
belonged  to  hitn  or  his  predecessors." 

Such  is  Cobbett's  opinion  of  this  great  confiscation.  The  youth  of 
the  present  day  are  taught,  from  Hume's  History  of  England,  to  believe 
the  very  worst  things  of  the  monastic  institutions.  The  reports  of  these 
visitors,  whom  Cobbett  designates  "branded  ruffians,"  were  taken  by 
Hume,  and  the  rest  of  the  party  historians  of  England,  as  the  grounds 
and  data  of  their  attacks  on  the  characters  of  the  pious  inmates ;  and 
the  unaccountable  hatred  entertained  against  the  Catholics,  on  account 
of  their  religious  belief,  (for  which  no  man  is  accountable  to  another,) 
by  many  persons  generally  ignorant  of  their  principles  and  history, 
is,. in  great  part,  to  be  attributed  to  the  reports  of  those  ruffian  inquisit- 
ors, whose  falsehood  was  superinduced  by  their  well-founded  expec- 
tation of  sharing  in  the  plunder. 

Upon  the  reports  thus  obtained,  an  act  of  parlmment  was  passed  in 
March,  1536,  for  the  confiscation  of  three  hundred  and  seventy-six 
monasteries,  and  for  granting  their  estates,  real  and  personal,  to  the  king 
and  his  heirs.  He  took  plate,  jewels,  gold  and  silver  ornaments,  as  well 
as  the  lands  and  houses,  cattle  and  crops.  This  act  of  naked  plunder, 
corrupt  as  his  parliament  was,  could  not  be  carried  through  the  house 
of  commons. 

Spelman,  in  his  History  of  Sacrilege,  —  who  was  also  a  Protestant 
historian, — says,  speaking  of  the  confiscation  bill,  "The  bill  stuck  long 
in  the  lower  house,  and  could  get  no  passage,  when  the  king  commanded 
the  commons  to  attend  him  in  the  forenoon,  in  his  gallery,  where  he  let 
them  wait  till  late  in  the  afternoon  ;  and  then,  coming  out  of  his  cham- 
ber, walking  a  turn  or  two  amongst  them,  and  looking  angrily  on  them, 
first  on  one  side  and  then  on  the  other,  at  last  said  he,  '  I  hear  that  my 
bill  will  not  pass  ;  but  I  ivill  have  it  pass,  or  I  will  have  some  of  your 
heads.'  And  without  other  rhetoric,  he  returned  to  his  chamber. 
Enough  was  said  :  the  bill  passed,  and  all  was  given  him  as  he  desired.'* 

It  was  thus  that  Henry  carried  this  important  measure,  and  it  may  be 
added  that  thus  he  carried  every  thing.  The  reports  of  the  visitors 
and  inquisitors  loere  not  believed  by  the  parliament,  for  they  refused  to 
legislate  on  them,  until  individually  threatened  with  execution. 

The  act  of  confiscation  was  passed  in  the  year  1536,  and  in  its  pre- 
amble is  contained  the  reasons  for  its  enactments.  It  includes,  in  a 
schedule,  all  the  smaller  monasteries,  amounting  to  three  hundred  and 
seventy-six ;  and  it  gives  as  reasons,  tbat  these  lesser  monasteries  were 
corrupt,  carnal,  and  sinful,  and  directs  the  inmates  to  go  to  the  larger 


DISTRIBUTED    AMONG    THE    PLIANT. EXECUTIONS.  611 

monasteries,  •'  u-here"  (as  the  act  recites,)  "  thanks  he  to  God,  religion 
is  right  well  kept  and  observed." 

I  shall  show,  by  and  by,  how  easy  he  found  an  excuse  for  laying 
hands  on  these  also.  Before  this  time,  there  never  was  such  a  word 
known  or  understood,  in  England  or  Ireland,  ns  paujper ;  but  after  this 
time,  pauperism  and  poverty,  and  poor  rates,  and  a  standing  army,  and 
a  national  debt,  and  deadly  animosities,  and  religious  hate  and  exasper- 
tions,  and  finally,  the  suppression  of  the  people's  liberties,  ensued. 

As  soon  as  Henry  was  in  possession  of  the  three  hundred  and 
seventy-six  estates,  he  began  to  assign  them  away  to  his  followers,  for 
the  king  soon  found  he  could  not  keep  all  to  himself;  and  before  four 
years  passed  over,  he  found  himself  without  a  single  particle  of  the 
property  he  had  thus  seized :  it  was  all  divided  amongst  his  scram- 
bling followers. 

When  the  king  complained  to  Cromwell  of  their  rapacity,  he  used 
these  memorable  words :  "  By  our  lady,  the  cormorants,  when  they 
have'got  the  garbage,  will  devour  the  dish."  Cromwell  reminded  him 
that  there  was  much  more  yet  to  come.  "  Tut,"  said  the  king,  "  my 
whole  realm  would  not  stanch  their  maws."  But  this  difficulty  he 
soon  got  over.  I  have  just  quoted  a  paragraph  from  the  preamble  of 
the  act,  27th  Henry,  called  the  conjiscaiion  act,  in  which,  in  that 
very  bill,  he  puts  on  the  record  that,  "  in  the  great  and  solemn  monas- 
teries, ('  thanks  be  to  God,')  religion  is  right  well  kept  and  observed." 
This  is  the  very  language  of  the  act ;  and  to-oiir  understandings  it  would 
seem  a  work  of  some  difficulty  to  find  any  reason,  in  the  course  of  four 
years,  for  turning  on  the  larger  and  more  solemn  establishments, 
especially  when  we  may  well  suppose  they  were  strictly  on  their  ffuard 
to  give  no  cause  for  censure.  But  we  shall  see  this  done,  and  that 
quickly.  An  act  was  brought  into  the  parliament,  which  conferred  on 
the  king  and  his  assigns  all  monasteries,  all  hospitals,  and  all  colleges, 
within  his  dominions.  The  people  here  and  there  flew  to  insurrection ; 
but  they  were  butchered,  —  they  were  hewed  down,  even  as  the  butcher 
despatches  ox  after  ox,  in  the  slaughter-house. 

Seventy-two   thousand    persons  were    thus    slaughtered,  in 

THE  course  of  EIGHT  OR  TEN  YEARS,  UNDER  PENAL  ENACTMENTS, 
WHICH  NEVER,  TILL  THEN,  WERE  KNOWN  TO  THE  LAWS  OF  ENG- 
LAND. 

No  language  can  describe  the  horrors  of  this  dreadful  change. 
Monks  and  nuns,  bishops  and  priests,  were  executed  on  the  slightest 
suspicion  of  murmuring  dissent. 


612  INVASION    OF    THE    SHRINES    OF    THE    DEAD. 

But — still  more  revolting — the  shrines  of  the  most  illustrious  dead  were 
invaded,  for  sake  of  the  mere  wealth  which  had  been  imbedded  in  them 
by  their  friends  or  admirers.  The  tomb  and  shrine  of  St.  Thomas  of 
Canterbury,  St.  Austin,  and  of  Alfred  the  Great,  were  amongst  the  most 
sacred  objects  desecrated  by  sacrilegious  hands,  and  the  interred  dust 
scattered  to  the  winds.  Many  of  the  old  and  beautiful  abbeys  were 
battered  down  or  blown  up  with  gunpowder.  The  vast  libraries,  that 
took  ages  to  accumulate,  were  taken  out  and  burned  at  their  doors, 
which  all  must  admit  was  a  loss  that  never  can  be  repaired. 

Of  course,  those  who  so  acted  did  all  in  their  power  to  blacken  the 
characters  of  the  trustees  of  this  vast  property.  "  Lazy  monies"  and 
"  moiikish  ignorance,"  were  phrases  coined  and  squeezed  into  the  English 
language,  to  generate  a  prejudice  in  the  minds  of  youth  towards  the 
old  occupants  of  the  monasteries.  If  those  who  seized  upon  all  tliis 
property  had,  when  they  turned  out  the  monks,  placed  in  their  stead 
commissioners  or  officers  under  the  eye  of  government,  to  administer  the 
trusts  according  to  the  wills  of  the  various  founders,  then  there  w.ould 
be  something  to  color  the  charge  of  impropriety  against  the  monks. 
But  not  one  of  the  duties  ever  performed  towards  society  by  the  monks 
has  been  ever  performed  by  those  who  got  their  lands,  from  that  day  to 
the  present. 

I  will  here  quote  one  other  extract  from  William  Cobbett,  on  this 
terrible  change :  "  The  whole  country  presented  the  appearance  of  a 
land  recendy  invaded  by  barbarians.  Nothing  has  ever  yet  come  to 
supply  the  place  of  what  was  then  destroyed.  This  is  the  view  for  us 
to  take  of  the  matter.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  mere  religion,  but  a  matter 
of  rights,  liberties,  real  wealth,  happiness,  and  national  greatness.  If  all 
these  have  been  strengthened,"  continues  this  great  English  writer,  "  or 
augmented  by  the  change,  even  then  we  must  not  approve  of  the  horri- 
ble means.  But  if  they  have  all  been  weakened  or  lessened  by  that 
reformation,  what  an  outrageous  abuse  of  words  it  is  to  call  the  event  by 
that  name.  And  if  I  do  not  prove,  clear  as  the  daylight,  that  before  the 
reformation  England  was  greater,  more  moral,  more  wealthy,  and  more 
happy,  than  she  has  ever  been  since ;  if  I  do  not  make  this  appear  as 
clearly  as  any  fact  was  ever  made  to  appear,  I  will  be  contented  to  be 
called  a  vain  pretender  for  the  rest  of  my  life."  That  able  Protestant 
writer  then  proceeds  to  show  the  alteration  for  the  worse,  which  this 
change  produced  in  die  condition  of  the  people  ;  to  which  work  the  read- 
er, who  wishes  to  be  more  fully  informed  on  this  subject,  is  referred. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  in  the  history  of  erratic  man,  that,  within  the  past 
year,  namely,  about  June,  1843,  a  leading  lord  of  ihe  British  parliament 


MONASTERIES    LEGALIZED    AGAIN    IN    ENGLAND.  613 

deplored  the  loss  of  those  charitable  religious  and  literary  corporations  to 
England,  showed  the  incredible  ignorance  that  every  where  prevailed, 
and  sighed  for  the  reestabhshment  of  monasteries  throughout  England, 
to  assist  in  the  restoration  of  morals  and  literature.  The  house  of  com- 
mons patiently  listened  to  the  noble  lord's  address,  and  consented,  on  his 
motion,  to  repeal  the  statute  of  mortmain,  which  was  passed  at  the 
reformation,  and  which  forbade  the  existence  of  any  religious  corporation 
in  England.  Nunneries  and  monasteries  are  again  growing  up  in  Lon- 
don, and  throughout  England,  under  the  authority  of  parliament.  Thus, 
then,  the  calumiated  monks  are  at  length  vindicated,  in  that  very  cham- 
ber, where,  three  hundred  years  ago,  they  were  sentenced  to  destruc- 
tion and  infamy. 

It  is  now  time  to  look  at  King  Henry's  government  in  Ireland. 

For  the  first  twenty-five  years  of  his  reign,  he  left  the  entire  manage- 
ment of  Ireland  to  his  deputies  and  the  little  parliament  of  the  Pale. 
Things  were  carried  on  pretty  much  as  they  had  been  for  the  three 
centuries  before  his  time.  During  the  early  part  of  King  Henry's  reign, 
the  Earl  of  Kildare,  the  king's  deputy,  and  the  Earl  of  Surry,  who  suc- 
ceeded him,  were  continually  engaged  in  strife  with  the  Irish  chiefs. 
Various  were  the  successes  and  reverses  of  the  opposed  parties.  Many 
great  men,  both  on  the  English  and  Irish  side,  fell.  The  chief  O'Neill, 
at  this  time  the  hereditary  king  or  prince  of  Ulster,  advanced  to  the  very 
confines  of  the  British  territory  in  Meath,  with  ten  thousand  foot  and 
four  thousand  horse,  and  offered  battle  to  the  English  deputy  ;  which, 
however,  he  thought  it  prudent  to  decline.  Henry  the  Eighth  subse- 
quently sent  O'Neill  a  collar  of  gold,  and  commanded  Surry  to  invite 
him  to  court. 

By  an  extract  from  the  proceedings  of  the  privy  council  at  Dublin, 
1534,  it  appears  that  "  neither  the  English  order,  tongue,  nor  habit,  was 
used,  nor  the  king's  laws  obeyed,  above  twenty  miles  in  compass  ;"  and 
the  council  declared  it  to  be  their  opinion  that,  unless  the  laws  be  duly 
executed,  the  "  litde  place  which  is  now  obedient,  will  be  reduced  to 
the  same  condition  as  the  remainder  of  the  kingdom." —  State  Papers, 
63.  —  Instructions  to  John  Allen.  —  The  Irish  chiefs,  however, 
in  every  direction,  indulged  their  animosities  towards  each  other,  and 
seemed  to  forget  the  presence  of  a  common  enemy  in  the  country  ; 
against  whom  had  they  heartily  united,  he  would  not  have  existed  in 
Ireland  twenty-four  hours. 

Soon  after  this,  the  English  brought  into  Ireland  three  pieces  of  can- 
non, which,  being  an  engine  of  warfare  then  new  to  the  Irish,  terrified 
them  exceedingly  in  those  parts  of  the  country  where  it  was  used. 


614  THE    KILi>AllE    iWir-il,!'. 

Althougli  the  Earl  of  Kildare,  as  lord  lieutenant,  and  after  him  his 
son  Gerald,  had  carried  fire  and  sword  throughout  Ireland,  in  obedience 
to  the  king's  command,  yet  the  enemies  of  this  earl,  consisting  of  the 
Ormonds,  the  Ossorys,  Lord  Chancellor  Allen,  and  others,  sent  an  em- 
bassy to  King  Henry,  representing  his  actions  in  a  treasonable  liglU; 
upon  which  Kildare  was  ordered  to  England,  where,  "on  his  arrival,  the 
king  had  him  shut  up  in  prison.  His  son,  Thomas  Fitzgerald,  to  whom 
he  gave  the  sword  of  state  during  his  absence,  hearing  what  had  befallen 
his  father,  and  suspecting,  moreover,  that  his  father  would  be  executed, 
threw  up  the  sword  of  stale,  and  declared  open  war  against  the  king. 
This  declaration  he  supported  with  all  his  might,  having  gathered  con- 
siderable forces.  His  chief  opposition,  however,  consisted  in  the  ene- 
mies of  his  family  amongst  the  Anglo-Irish  of  the  Pale.  His  father  had 
persecuted  the  old  Irish  too  vehemently  to  allow  many  of  them  to  join 
the  young  earl.  Yet  some  few  of  the  Irish  chieftains  did  flock  to  his 
standard,  and  he  undoubtedly  made  considerable  advances  towards 
shaking  off  the  power  of  England.  Having  fortified  his  castle  of  May- 
nooth,  and  several  other  strongholds,  he  went  into  Connaught  to  collect 
additional  forces ;  but  the  governor  of  his  castle,  after  withstanding  a 
siege  for  ten  days,  treacherously  offered  to  surrender  it,  expecting  to 
make  his  fortune  by  the  base  act.  It  deserves  to  be  recorded  that 
the  English  general,  on  receiving  the  castle,  paid  the  traitor  the  sum 
agreed  upon  for  surrendering  it,  but  had  him  shot  for  betraying  so  good 
a  master  in  his  absence  ;  which  proper  treatment  I  hope  will  be  a 
lasting  lesson  to  all  future  traitors. 

After  a  great  many  skirmishes  and  battles,  and  a  harassing  warfare, 
Lord  Thomas  Fitzgerald  proposed  terms  of  peace  to  Grey,  the  English 
deputy.  This  was  gladly  accepted,  and  the  young  earl  was  received 
at  court  and  pardoned.  But  King  Henry  requested  him  to  be  sent  to 
England,  and  under  the  assurance  of  safety  from  the  lord  deputy,  who 
proposed  to  accompany  him,  he  consented  to  risk  his  life  in  the  hands 
of  the  King.  On  his  arrival  in  London,  he  found  his  father  had  died 
in  prison,  into  which  he  was  himself  committed.  In  the  beginning  of 
the  year  1536,  five  uncles  of  the  young  earl,  who  had  been  under  arms, 
surrendered  on  condition  of  pardon,  and,  being  invited  by  the  deputy  to 
his  house,  were  arrested  at  dinner,  and  were  likewise  sent  to  London, 
where,  shortly  after  their  arrival,  they  and  their  distinguished  nephew 
were  treacherously  executed.  It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  this 
deputy,  Grey,  was  subsequently  beheaded  by  Henry,  his  master. 

There  was  still  a  youth, of  the  Fitzgerald  race  left  —  young  Gerald, 


BISHOP    BROWN    ANi>    TKE    FillMATi:    OF    AUiMAGH.  615 

thirteen  years  of  age,  who  was  secreted  by  various  relatives,  and  sent 
to  France,  whither  he  was  pursued  by  the  agents  of  King  Henry.  He 
found  means  to  escape  from  Paris  to  Flanders,  Irom  thence  to  Rome, 
where  he  received  protection  from  the  pope,  and  was  finally  restored  to 
his  possessions  by  Edward  the  Sixth,  which  was  again  confirmed  by 
Queen  Mary,  who.  restored  him  to  his  titles  and  honors. 

We  find  that,  in  these  times,  the  English  absent  from  their  Irish 
estates  were  deemed  so  injurious  to  the  interests  of  the  Pale,  that  sev- 
eral of  their  estates  were  confiscated  to  the  crown,  upon  this  ground. 
Amongst  the  estates  so  confiscated  were  those  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk, 
Lords  Berkley,  Waterford,  Shrewsbury.  Ormond,  together  with  those 
of  several  abbots,  who  resided  in  England.  A  further  act  against  the 
Irish  language  was  now  passed,  and  no  clerk  in  orders  was  permitted  to 
officiate,  who  could  not  speak  the  English  language  fluently. 

It  was  in  one  of  the  little  parliaments,  held  about  this  time,  that  the 
power  to  vote  for  members  of  it  was  restricted  to  those  who  had  an 
interest  o{  forty  shillings  per  annum  from  land. 

When  Henry  had  pretty  well  established  his  supremacy,  in  spiritual 
matters,  throughout  England,  he  sent  over  to  Ireland  Bishop  Brown, 
who  had  preached  much  in  London  in  favor  of  his  views.  With  him 
were  coupled  some  others,  as  commissioners,  to  introduce  the  principles 
of  the  new  worship,  which,  after  all,  did  not  differ  much  from  that  of 
the  old  Catholic  faith,  for  the  mass  and  sacraments  were  not  yet 
abolished. 

On  their  arrival  in  Dublin,  Bishop  Brown  summoned  a  convocation 
of  the  clergy,  to  whom  he  proposed  the  oath  of  supremacy;  but  no 
sooner  had  the  commissioners  opened  their  business,  than  Cromer,  arch- 
bishop and  primate  of  Armagh,  an  Englishman  by  birth,  openly  and 
boldly  declared  against  an  attempt,  in  his  opinion,  so  impious.  This 
declaration  was  followed  by  other  clerical  members  of  the  parliament. 
The  primate  retired  from  the  council  to  his  diocese,  where  he  sum- 
moned his  clergy,  and  addressed  them  in  strong  and  pathetic  language 
against  the  threatened  inroad  upon  their  religion.  The  clergy  were 
every  where  aroused  to  oppose  the  change,  and  nowhere  did  Henry 
meet  with  sympathy  or  encouragement.  His  commissioners  were  treated 
with  contempt  and  ridicule,  and  his  chief  vicar,  Thomas  Cromwell,  on 
account  of  the  meanness  of  his  birth,  was  the  object  of  popular  scorn. 
From  disdain  and  contempt  for  the  commissioners,  the  people  changed 
to  open  hostility,  and  threatened  the  life  of  Archbishop  Brown.  The 
deputy.  Grey,  the   trusty  and  well-beloved  of  Henry,  sallied  into  the 


616  MASSACRES  AND  SACRILEGE. 

diocese  of  Armagh,  with  an  army  of  pillagers,  for  the  purpose  of  striking 
terror  into  the  hearts  of  the  clergy.  He  entered  Lecale  and  the  Ardes, 
in  the  county  of  Down,  against  a  nobleman  of  English  extraction,  called 
Savage,  to  whom  Cox  and  others  give  the  appellation  of  "  a  degenerate 
Englishman."  He  took  the  castle  of  Dundruin,  belonging  to  Magennis, 
with  several  other  fortified  places,  and  laid  all  that  country  waste.  He 
next  laid  his  sacrilegious  hands  on  the  cathedral  church  of  Down,  which 
he  burned,  destroyed  the  monuments  of  St.  Patrick,  St.  Bridget,  and 
St.  Columbe  Kill,  and  committed  several  other  sacrilegious  acts.  He 
then  made  war  against  images,  which  were  destroyed  every  where,  at 
this  time,  particularly  those  that  were  most  revered  by  the  faithful.  The 
celebrated  statue  of  the  blessed  Virgin  at  Trim  was  burned,  as  also  the 
crucifix  of  the  abbey  of  Ballybogan,  and  St.  Patrick's  crosier,*  which  had 
been  removed,  by  order  of  William  Fitzadelm,  in  the  twelfth  century, 
from  Armagh  to  Dublin,  to  be  deposited  in  the  cathedral  church  of  the 
blessed  Trinity.  In  many  other  parts  of  the  kingdom,  the  example  of 
the  English  was  in  this  instance  followed ;  and  it  must  be  admitted  that 
all  the  wars  in  Ireland,  from  that  period  to  the  present,  have  been  wars 
on  account  of  religion. 

Bishop  Brown  suggested  to  King  Henry  the  calling  of  a  parliament 
in  Dublin,  by  which  acts  of  compulsion,  confiscations,  pains,  and  penal- 
ties, might  be  speedily  passed  into  law,  and,  by  force  and  terror,  produce 
that  change  in  men's  opinions  which  simple  reason  and  logic  failed  to 
effect. 

The  religious  persecutions,  instituted  by  Henry  towards  his  Irish  sub- 
jects, began  now  to  unite  both  English  and  Irish;  and  Archbishop 
Brown,  in  a  letter  to  Cromwell,  describes  the  slender  power  his  "  high- 
ness" now  had  in  Ireland,  by  reason,  he  adds,  that  "the  English  by 
descent,  and  the  ancient  Irish,  were  beginning  to  forget  their  national 
animosities  ;  "  and  notwithstanding  that  the  little  parliament  of  the  Pale 
passed  several  laws  in  conformity  with  his  highness's  wishes,  the  same 
could  not  be  enforced  twenty  miles  from  the  castle  of  Dublin. 

A  parliament  was  summoned  in  Dublin  by  Grey,  the  king's  lieutenant 
of  the  Pale.     The  parliament  was   made  up  by  summoning  together 

*  "  Providence,"  says  the  Abbe  M'Geoghegan,  "  has  preserved  a  crosier  to  posterity, 
vvrhich  St.  Patrick  had  used  at  the  baptism  of  Aongus,  king  of  Cashel,  the  holy  apos- 
tle having  left  it  with  O'Kearney  of  Cashel,  to  be  used  by  the  bishops  of  that  church 
on  days  of  ceremony,  whose  descendants  have  preserved  it,  with  veneration,  to  the 
present  time.  This  venerable  monument  of  Christian  antiquity  is  still  m  possession 
of  Brien  O'Kearney  of  Fethard,  in  the  county  of  Tipperary,  the  chief  of  the  ancient 
family  of  that  name." 


CONFISCATIONS    OF    IRISH    MONASTERIES.  617 

such  persons  as  he  judged  would  be  phant  to  the  king's  will.  So  lim- 
ited, at  this  time,  was  the  power  and  jurisdiction  of  the  parliament  of 
the  Pale,  that  the  master  of  the  rolls  wrote  to  the  king,  stating  that 
his  laws  were  not  obeyed  twenty  miles  from  the  capital.  Before  this 
little  parliament,  not  of  more  jurisdiction  than  a  town  corporation,  were 
the  important  propositions  of  Henry  submitted.  They  were  nothing 
more  than  transcripts  of  the  acts  passed  in  Westminster.  The  members 
of  this  assembly  were  promised  possessions  when  the  Irish  monasteries 
came  into  the  king's  hands.  They  had  seen  the  number  of  commoners 
that  were  raised  to  the  possession  of  large  estates,  which  belonged  to 
the  English  monasteries ;  and  they  each  of  them  naturally  calculated 
on  like  results  from  the  approaching  change  in  religion  in  Ireland.  Ac- 
cordingly king  Henry  the  Eighth  was,  by  their  first  act,  declared  su- 
preme head  of  the  church  of  Ireland.  All  appeals  to  Rome  in  spiritual 
causes,  and  all  connection  with  Rome,  were  forbidden  by  the  next  act. 
The  English  law,  making  it  penal  to  slander  the  king  for  these  innova- 
tions, was  next  passed.  Another  act  transferred  to  the  king  all  first 
fruits,  the  abbeys,  hospitals,  priories,  and  colleges  ;  another  renounced  the 
authority  of  the  bishop  of  Rome,  and  made  it  criminal  in  any  one  to 
acknowledge  it ;  another  required  all  officers  of  every  kind  and  degree, 
within  the  king's  authority,  to  swear  that  the  king  was  the  lawful  head 
of  the  church,  and  every  person  who  should  refuse  was  deemed  guilty 
of  high  treason  against  the  Icing,  and,  of  course,  forfeited  his  life. 

Then  followed  acts  for  the  suppression  of  monasteries,  and  vesting 
them  in  the  crown  ;  and  now  commenced  the  work  of  blood  in  Ireland, 
which  has  been  streaming  from  men's  hearts  from  that  day  to  the 
present. 

Previous  to  this  time,  the  religion  of  the  whole  people  of  Ireland,  — 
English  or  Irish,  —  whether  within  or  without  the  Pale,  was  Catholic. 
For  a  long  time,  there  was  no  one  professed  the  new  form  of  worship 
in  Ireland,  except  Bishop  Brown  and  the  commissioners  sent  over  by 
Henry,  together  with  some  members  of  the  parliament.  From  this 
parliament,  the  clergy  were  excluded  by  special  act  passed  on  the  first 
day  of  its  sitting.  I  should  have  said,  that  it  was  the  long-observed 
practice  of  this  little  parliament  to  summon  two  clergymen  from  every 
ecclesiastical  district ;  but  as,  on  the  first  parliament  which  met  in 
Dublin,  to  consider  Henry's  proposals,  these  clerical  members  strenuous- 
ly opposed  them,  therefore,  from  the  commencement  of  this,  the  second 
sitting  on  this  business,  the  clerg}'  were  ejected. 

Seeing  the  slaughter  committed  in  England,  the  Irish  abbots  were 
78 


618  BRIBERY    OF    THE    IRISH    GENTRY. 

frightened  into  submission ;  many  of  them  surrendered  the  abbeys 
and  properties  under  their  management  to  the  king,  receiving  pensions 
for  hfe. 

The  open  intention  of  Henry's  parliament,  not  at  all  disguised,  to 
effect  a  forcible  change  in  the  religion  of  the  nation,  and  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the  monasteries,  roused  the  people  to  a  sense  of  their  danger. 
The  chiefs  of  the  old  Irish,  and  the  chiefs  of  the  old  English  settlers, 
now  united  most  cordially  in  their  opposition  to  Henry's  authority ; 
and,  had  they  persevered,  there  is  no  doubt  but  they  could  have 
shaken  off  the  power  of  England  altogether.  But  Henry,  observing 
this,  changed  his  tactics,  and,  instead  of  acts  of  coercion,  showered 
presents,  titles,  honors,  and  emoluments,  of  one  sort  and  another,  upon 
all  the  Irish  chiefs  he  could  influence. 

The  kings  of  England  never  before  this  time  assumed  any  other  title 
over  Ireland  than  lords  of  Ireland.  This  venal  litde  parliament  enact- 
ed that  his  highness  the  king,  and  his  heirs,  should  in  future  be  denomi 
nated  kings  of  Ireland.  But  these  enactments  were  treated  with  scorn 
by  the  nation,  and  on  the  death  of  King  Henry,  many  of  the  chief  men, 
whom  he  had  cajoled  into  the  color  of  obedience,  relapsed  into  their 
former  state  of  independence. 

To  return  to  Henry :  After  Jane  Seymour's  death,  the  king  was  nearly 
two  years  seeking  another  wife ;  few  were  willing  to  trust  their  lives  to 
him.  In  1539,  he  found  a  mate  in  Anne,  the  sister  of  the  Duke  of 
Cleves.  When  about  seven  months  married,  he  obtained  a  divorce 
from  her.  There  was  no  fault  alleged  against  her,  no  crime  hinted ; 
the  husband  did  not  like  his  wife,  —  that  was  all,  —  and  this  reason  was 
alleged  as  the  ground  of  divorce.  His  pliant  archbishop,  Cranmer, 
who  had  divorced  him  from  two  wives  already,  was  called  upon  to 
annul  this  marriage"  with  Anne  of  Cleves.  The  husband  and  wife 
were,  by  the  archbishop's  potent  breath,  made  single  again. 

But  the  king  had  another  young  and  handsome  wife  in  his  view, 
namely,  Catharine  Howard,  niece  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  whom  he 
immediately  married. 

The  Duke  of  Norfolk,  (now  raised  to  power,)  and  several  of  the  old 
nobility,  hated  Thomas  Cromwell,  who  was  the  chief  instrument,  in  the 
nands  of  King  Henry,  in  all  the  important  changes  he  made.  He  had 
been  placed  above  all  the  nobility;  and,  besides  diis,  he  had  got  about 
thirty  of  the  estates  belonging  to  the  monasteries.  "  His  palace,"  says 
Cobbett,  "  was  gorged  with  the  fruits  of  the  sacking."  He  was  barbarous 
beyond  conception  to  the  poor  monks  and  nuns,  whom  he  had  butchered 


CROMWELL. DEATH    OF    HENKY   THE    EIGHTH.  619 

with  the  business  coolness  of  an  ordinary  butcher  in  his  slaughter-house. 
He  stood  by,  in  Canterbury,  and  superintended  the  scattering  of  the 
dust  of  St.  Thomas  a  Becket.  He  it  was  that  directed  the  scatter-, 
ing  of  the  ashes  and  tomb  of  Alfred  the  Great,  who  was  the  greatest 
Englishman  that  ever  lived.  His  own  hour  had  now  arrived.  The 
property  he  had  acquired  was  too  valuable  to  be  suffered  to  remain  in 
his  hands.  On  the  morning  of  the  10th  of  June,  1540,  he  was  all 
powerful.  In  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  he  was  in  prison  as  a 
traitor.  He  lay  in  prison  only  a  few  days,  when  he  was  brought  to  the 
block.  It  is  true  he  protested  his  innocence ;  but  so  did  thousands  of 
monks  and  nuns  protest  to  him  their  innocence.  He  was  not  more 
innocent  than  they  were,  yet  they  were  executed.  Although  Burnet, 
or  Fox,  has  denoniinated  this  Cromwell  the  valiant  soldier  of  the 
reformation,  yet  he  fawned  and  cringed  to  his  royal  master  like  a  very 
dastard.  In  one  of  his  letters  to  the  king,  he  "  besought  his  majesty  to 
suffer  him  to  kiss  his  balmy  hand  once,  that  the  fragrance  thereof 
might  make  him  fit  for  heaven  I  ^''  In  another  letter  to  the  king,  he 
says,  '•'  Most  gracious  prince,  I  cry  for  mercy,  mercy,  mercy  I  "  But  his 
gracious  master  disregarded  all  these  fawning  words,  and  he  was  brought 
to  suffer  that  very  death,  which  he  himself,  when  in  power,  had 
awarded  and  inflicted  on  so  many  thousands. 

During  the  succeeding  seven  years.  King  Henry  was  beset  witii 
vexations.  He  discovered,  or  pretended  to  discover,  that  his  new  wife 
was  unfaithful.  Her,  also,  he  sent  to  the  block  without  ceremony,  simply 
by  his  warrant,,  together  ivith  scores  of  her  relatives.  He  raged  and 
foamed  like  a  wild  monster ;  passed  still  more  stringent  laws,  and,  for 
the  last  time,  took  another  wife.  She  was  a  widow,  and  she  very  nar- 
rowly escaped  the  fate  of  the  others. 

For  some  years  before  his  death,  he  became  so  unwieldy  from 
gluttony  and  enjoyment,  that  he  could  not  be  moved  about  but  by 
mechanical  loungers  ;  but  he  still  retained  all  the  blood-thirsty  addic- 
tions of  his  previous  life.  His  principal  business  for  the  remainder  of 
it  was  ordering  accusations,  executions,  and  confiscations. 

When  he  was  on  his  death-bed,  every  one  was  afraid  to  intimate  his 
danger  to  him,  lest  death  to  the  intimater  should  be  the  consequence. 
He  died  before  he  was  aware  that  his  end  approached,  leaving  more 
than  one  death-warrant  unsigned  at  the  time.  And  Howard,  the  Duke 
of  Norfolk,  who  was  ordered  for  execution  on  the  very  morning  the 
king  died,  escaped  with  his  life  in  consequence. 

Thus  died  King  Henry  the  Eighth  of  England. 


620  LIMITED    POWER    OF    THE    ENGLISH    IN    IRELAND. 

Ere  I  close  the  reign  of  this  King,  I  shall  put  on  my  record  an  ex- 
tract from  a  state  paper,  published  in  O'Connell's  Memoir,  (page  77, 
.Casserly's  edition.)  "  The  document,"  says  the  illustrious  author,  "  is  to 
be  found  in  the  second  volume  of  the  state  papers,  lately  published  under 
the  authority  of  a  commission  from  the  crown,  containing  state  papers 
of  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  and  appears  to  be  a  representation 
made  to  that  monarch  of  the  state  of  Ireland,  with  a  plan  for  its  reforma- 
tion:"—  "And  fyrst  of  all,  to  make  his  Grace  understande,  that  there 
byn  more  than  sixty  countrys  called  regyons,  in  Ireland,  inhabyted  with 
the  king's  enemies :  some  region  as  big  as  a  shire,  some  more,  some  less 
unto  a  little ;  some  as  big  as  half  a  shire,  and  some  a  little  less ;  where 
reigneth  more  than  sixty  chief  captains,  whereof  some  calleth  themselves 
kings :  some  king's  peers,  in  their  language,  some  princes,  some  dukes, 
some  archdukes,  that  liveth  only  by  the  sword,  and  obeyeth  to  no  other 
temporal  person,  but  only  to  himself  that  is  strong.  And  every  of  the 
said  captains  maketh  war  and  peace  for  himself,  and  holdeth  by  sworde 
and  hath  imperial  jurisdiction  within  his  rome,  and  obeyeth  to  no  other 
person,  English  or  Irish,  except  only  to  such  persons  as  may  subdue 
him  by  the  sworde.  Also,  there  is  more  than  thirty  great  captains  of 
the  English  noble  folk,  that  followeth  the  same  Irish  order,  and  keepeth 
the  same  rule,  and  every  of  them  maketh  war  and  peace  for  himself, 
without  any  license  of  the  king,  or  of  any  other  temporal  person,  save 
to  him  that  is  the  strongest,  and  of  such  that  may  subdue  them  by  the 
sword.'" 

Next,  as  to  the  counties  that  had  thrown  off  the  English  authority, 
we  have  this  passage  :  "  Here  followeth  the  names  of  the  counties 
that  obey  not  the  king's  laws,  and  have  neither  justice,  neither  sheriffs, 
under  the  king :  — 

The  County  of  Waterfford, 

The  County  of  Corke, 

The  County  of  Kilkenny, 

The  County  of  Lymeryk, 

The  County  of  Kerry, 

The  County  of  Conaught,  [the  province  of  Connaught,] 

The  County  of  Wolster,  [the  province  of  Ulster,] 

The  County  of  Carlagh,  [Carlow,] 

The  County  of  Uryell,  [Monaghan,] 

The  County  of  Meathe,  [Westmeath,] 

Halfe  the  County  of  Dublin, 


TRIBUTES    PAID    TO    THE    IRISH    PRINCES.  621 

Halfe  the  County  of  Kildare, 
Halfe  the  County  of  Wexford. 

'•'  All  the  English  folke  of  the  said  counties,  of  Irish  habit,  of  Irish 
language,  and  of  Irish  conditions,  except  the  cities  and  the  walled 
towns. 

"  Here  followeth  the  names  of  the  counties  subject  unto  the  king's 
laws :  — 

Halfe  the  County  of  Uryell, 

Halfe  the  County  of  Meathe, 

Halfe  the  County  of  Dublin, 

Halfe  the  County  of  Kildare, 

Halfe  the  County  of  Wexford. 

"  All  the  common  people  of  the  said  halfe  counties,  that  obeyeth  the 
king's  laws,  for  the  most  part  be  of  Irish  birth,  of  Irish  habit,  and  of 
Irish  language." 

"  It  will  be  seen,  from  another  extract  from  the  same  paper,  how  com- 
pletely the  independence  of  the  Irish  chieftains  was  recognized  by  all 
the  English  constituted  authorities. 

"  Followeth  the  names  of  the  English  territories  that  hear  tribute  to 
the  wylde  Irish.  Tlie  barony  of  Liechahill,  in  the  county  of  Wolster, 
[Ulster,]  to  the  captain  of  Clanhuboy,  payeth  yearly  40  £  ;  or  else  to 
O'Neyll,  whether  of  them  be  strongest. 

"The  county  of  the  Uryell  [Monaghan]  payeth  yearly  to  the  great 
0\Neyll  40  £.' 

"The  county  of  Meathe  payeth  yearly  to  O'Connor  300 £.  The 
county  of  Kildare  payeth  yearly  to  the  said  O'Connor  20  £. 

"  The  king's  exchequer  payeth  yearly  to  M'Morough  eighty  marks. 
The  county  of  Wexford  payeth  yearly  to  M'Morough  and  to  Arte 
O'Boy  40  £. 

"The  county  of  Kilkenny  and  the  county  of  Tipperary  pay  yearly  to 
O'CarroU  40  £.  The  county  of  Limerick  payeth  yearly  to  O'Brien 
Arraghe,  in  English  money,  40  £.  The  county  of  Corke  to  Cormac 
M'Teyge,  40£. 

"  Also  there  is  no  folke  daily  subject  to  the  king's  laws,  but  half  the 
county  of  Uryell,  half  the  county  of  Meathe,  half  the  county  of  Dublin, 
and  half  the  county  of  Kildare." 


622        THE    BIBLE    FIRST    SUPPRESSED    BY    HENRY    THE    EIGHTH. 

It  is  usual  with  historians  to  sum  up  the  character  of  the  kings  and 
heroes  whose  actions  they  recount.  I  have  not,  generally,  attempted 
this,  and  in  the  instance  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  I  wish  to  avoid  it 
altogether.  Some  persons  have  regarded  him  as  an  apostle  of  a  great 
principle ;  others  think  differently.  I  have  placed  a  few  only  of 
the  materials  of  his  life  before  the  reader.  As  I  claim  the  liberty  to 
enjoy  my  own  opinions,  1  willingly  concede  the  same  to  the  read- 
er, who  is  welcome  to  form  what  opinion  he  pleases  of  Henry  the 
Eighth. 

I  wish,  however,  to  state  one  more  fact  about  this  memorable  re- 
former. We  hear  a  great  deal  said  every  day  about  reading  the  Bible, 
and  not  reading  the  Bible.  Who  will  believe  it  ?  —  Henry  the  Eighth 
was  the  first  person  we  read  of  who  forbade  to  the  common  people  the 
reading  of  the  Scriptures.  As  head  of  the  reformed  church,  he  issued, 
under  the  authority  of  parliament,  in  the  S4th  of  his  reign,  the  8th 
chapter,  a  prohibition  against  Tyndall's  version  of  the  Scriptures,  which 
was  ordered  to  be  destroyed,  as  "  cr of ty,  false,  and  untrue  ;  "  secondly, 
the  Bible,  by  this  act,  was  forbidden  to  be  read  to  others  in  public  ; 
thirdly,  the  permission  of  reading  it  to  private  families  was  confined  to 
persons  of  the  rank  of  lords  and  gendemen  ;  fourthly,  the  liberty  of 
reading  it  personally,  and  in  secret,  was  limited  to  men  who  were 
householders,  and  to  females  of  noble  or  gentle  birth.  Prior  to  this,  the 
king  issued  a  proclamation,  prohibiting  the  public  reading  of  the  Scrip- 
tures in  churches,  and  forbidding  any  one  to  expound  them  who  had  not 
received  a  regular  license  from  the  accustomed  authorities  for  that 
pur})ose.  Before  his  time,  there  never  was  any  restriction  imposed  on 
reading  the  Scriptures. 

On  the  death  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  his  son,  Edward  the  Sixth,  was 
advanced  to  the  throne.  As  he  was  then  but  ten  years  of  age,  Lord 
Hertford  was  appointed  lord  protector.  The  young  king,  with  his 
protector  and  Archbishop  Cranmer,  now  made  a  further  change  in  the 
national  religion.  The  mass  was  abolished,  and  the  clergy  were  per- 
mitted to  have  wives. 

Many  persons  came  into  England,  who  preached  a  still  greater 
change.  These  were  called  "  new  lights  ;  "  and  they  were  as  bitterly 
opposed  and  persecuted  by  Bishop  Cranmer  as  were  the  Catholics. 
Bishop  Cranmer,  who,  during  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  had  con- 
demned people  to  the  stake  for  not  believing  in  transubstantiation,  was 
now  ready  to  condemn  them  for  believing  in  it. 

Luther  found  in  Germany  others  who  went  much  farther  frorn   the 


INSURRECTION    IN    ENGLAND. QUEEN   MARY.  623 

old  worship  than  himself.  Many  of  these  German  sectarians  came  to 
England,  and  openly  preached  against  the  existence  of  gospel  ministers 
at  all.  Some  were  for  the  Common  Prayer  Book,  others  for  abolishing 
it.  And  now  began  that  diversity  of  opinion,  in  England,  which, 
without  reference  to  a  future  state,  produced  a  great  deal  of  bitterness 
and  animosity  amongst  the  people  —  which  yet  exists  ;  and  truth  com- 
pels me  to  add,  that  that  bitterness  has  extended  to  a  large  portion  of 
the  population  of  this  country,  though  the  clear  interest  of  people,  both 
in  this  life  and  in  view  of  the  next,  is  to  treat  one  another  with  the 
utmost  kindness  and  charity. 

The  preachers  of  the  various  new  opinions  disclaimed  altogether  the 
necessity  of  good  works  in  the  Christian  system  of  duties  and  worship. 
And  all  historians  agree  that  vices  of  all  sorts  were  never  so  great  or 
so  prevalent  before  in  England.  The  protector,  who  was  now  Duke  of 
Somerset,  pulled  down  several  churches  and  bishops'  mansions  in  Lon- 
don ;  with  the  materials  of  which  he  erected  for  himself  a  palace  that 
goes  by  the  name  of  "  Somerset  House  "  to  this  day  ;  in  which,  appro- 
priately enough,  the  commissioners  for  the  national  debt  have  their 
offices. 

The  further  changes  introduced  by  Somerset  in  the  religion  of  the 
nation,  produced  a  violent  insurrection  throughout  some  parts  of  Eng- 
land. German  troops  were  introduced  into  England,  at  the  head  of 
whom.  Lord  Russell  marched  and  defeated  the  revolters,  hanging  and 
butchering  many  clergymen  and  other  leaders  of  the  resistance.  The 
present  Lord  John  Russell  is  the  descendant  of  that  lord,  and  is  the 
owner  of  many  of  the  monastic  estates  then  taken  from  the  church. 

Somerset,  having  at  length  excited  the  envy  of  his  rivals  by  the 
enormous  wealth  he  acquired,  was  out-intrigued  by  the  Earl  of  Warwick, 
and  was  condemned  and  executed,  by  the  order  of  his  own  nephew,  the 
young  King  Edward,  who  wept  bitterly  on  being  compelled  to  sign 
the  death-warrant ;  so  that  he,  at  whose  instigation  many  priests  and 
pious  men  were  executed,  in  turn  fell  a  victim  to  the  bloody  system 
he  had  encouraged. 

We  have  heard  and  read  much  of  Queen  Mary  of  England,  whom 
the  English  historians  distinguish  by  the  special  epithet  "  bloody." 
Why  she,  beyond  others  of  that  age,  can  alone  be  accounted 
bloody,  and  sent  down  to  posterity  with  that  brand  upon  her  mem- 
ory, can  be  accounted  for  only  that  she  was  a  Catholic.  I  am  now 
coming  into  her  reign,  and  shall  examine  its  chief  events  with  im- 
pai'tiality. 


624  DEATH    OF    KING    EDWARD. 

Edward  the  Sixth  was  a  sickly  boy,  and  his  protector  foresaw  he 
could  not  live  long.  Northumberland,  therefore,  got  him  privately  to 
make  a  will,  bequeathing  the  crown  to  Lady  Jane  Grey,  the  daugh- 
ter of  the  Duke  of  Suffolk.  Henry  had  already  bequeathed  the 
crown  to  Mary,  and,  in  case  of  no  issue  from  her,  then  to  Eliza- 
beth. The  young  king,  however,  was  prevailed  on  to  break  that  will, 
and  set  aside  his  two  sisters.  Edward  soon  died  ;  and,  to  carry  this 
project  into  immediate  effect,  his  death  was  concealed  for  three  days. 
Northumberland  invited  the  two  princesses,  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  to 
London,  to  be  near  the  dying  prince.  His  object  was  to  have  them 
arrested  and  sent  to  the  Tower,  soon  after  which  they  were  to  be  tried 
for  refusing  to  conform  to  the  new  worship,  and  would,  of  course,  be 
executed.     Both  Mary  and  Elizabeth  were  still  Catholics. 

Bishop  Cranmer  was  deep  in  this  plot.  But  one  of  the  conspirators, 
Lord  Arundel,  sent  a  private  message  to  the  Princess  Mary,  to  warn 
her  of  her  danger,  and  intimating  that  the  young  king  was  dead. 

The  proclamation  in  behalf  of  Lady  Jane  Grey  was  prepared  ;  but 
the  judges  of  Westminster  Hall  refused  to  sign  it.  Bishop  Cranmer'' s 
was  the  first  signature  to  the  illegal  proclamation  ;  for  which,  and  for 
other  treasonable  acts  towards  Queen  Mary,  the  said  Cranmer  was 
subsequently  condemned  to  death,  and  burnt,  as  a  traitor,  by  order  of 
the  queen  and  her  council. 

Lady  Jane  Grey  was  declared  queen  of  England.  Northumberland, 
in  the  mean  time,  effected  a  marriage  between  her  and  his  son.  The 
conspirators  against  Mary  had  the  army,  navy,  and  reformers,  all 
ready  to  support  this  violation  of  the  succession.  She,  however, 
repaired,  on  horseback,  attended  only  by  a  few  persons,  to  Suffolk, 
where  she  had  herself  proclaimed  sovereign,  and  from  thence  issued 
her  commands,  to  the  council  in  London,  to  proclaim  her  queen.  This 
threw  them  into  the  utmost  confusion,  for  they  had  but  the  day  before 
proclaimed  Lady  Jane  Grey  as  queen  ;  and  it  shows  us  what  a 
courageous  woman  Mary  must  have  been,  thus  to  brave  death  in  the 
enforcement  of  her  just  rights.  They  sent  her  a  most  insolent  answer, 
but  she  heeded  it  not. 

The  old  nobility  and  gentry,  tired  of  Cranmer  and  the  protector, 
flocked  round  her  standard,  and  in  a  few  days,  she  saw  herself  sur- 
rounded by  thirty  thousand  volunteers,  who  agreed  to  fight  in  her  behalf 
without  pay. 

The  celebrated  Ridley,  a  bishop  of  the  new  faith,  preached  against 
her,  in  London,  and  the   Duke  of  Northumberland    marched    against 


'  GRAND  ENTRY  OF  MARY  INTO  LONDON.  625 

her  at  the  head  of  a  large  army ;  his  forces  mehed  away  as  he 
proceeded,  and  he  sent  to  London  for  a  further  reenforcement.  But 
the  news  of  Mary's  success  paralyzed  the  Londoners,  and  those  very 
men  who,  a  few  days  before,  shouted  for  Lady  Jane,  now  came  for- 
ward and  formally  acknowledged  Mary  as  their  lawful  queen.  North- 
umberland, who  had  helped  along  this  plot,  now  seeing  himself 
deserted,  turned  round,  and  was  the  first  to  offer  his  subjection  and 
flattery  to  Queen  Mary,  which  she  spurned  as  became  a  woman  of  her 
spirit ;  and  in  a  few  hours  after,  she  had  him  arrested  for  treason  to 
her  crown,  and  for  appearing  in  arms  against  her  authority.  This 
very  Northumberland,  when  brought  to  the  block  for  treason  to  the 
queen,  made  a  confession  in  favor  of  the  old  faith,  and  attributed  all 
the  blood  and  misery  of  the  preceding  thirty  years  to  the  change  effect- 
ed in  their  form  of  worship.  This,  Dr.  Heylyn,  a  good  English  au- 
thority, and  others,  testify. 

During  the  short  reign  of  the  infant  Edward,  which  occupied  only 
seven  years,  the  form  of  the  new  worship  was  changed  three  times. 
And  those  who  adhered  to  the  old  worship,  or  who  went  beyond  the 
letter  of  the  new,  were  punished  with  the  utmost  severity. 

Anno  1553.  Queen  Mary  arrived  in  London  in  July  of  this  year. 
As  she  approached  the  city,  the  crowds  to  applaud  and  welcome  her 
increased  on  every  side.  Amongst  the  rest  was  her  cautious  and  crafty 
sister,  Elizabeth,  who  joined  in  the  triumphal  entry,  riding,  by  the  side 
of  her  sister,  into  London,  amidst  the  greatest  enthusiasm  of  the  people. 
The  thoroughfares  through  which  they  passed  were  strewed  with 
flowers.  The  houses  were  lined,  and  the  very  tops  of  them  thronged, 
with  human  beings.  Queen  Mary,  who  had  ever  been  a  steadfast 
Catholic,  was  now  crowned  according  to  the  ritual  of  that  church. 
The  joy  of  the  people,  it  is  admitted  on  all  hands,  was  unbounded. 

Her  first  act  was  to  restore  the  currency  to  its  proper  standard,  which 
was  debased  in  the  preceding  reigns ;  her  second  to  pay  off  the  debts 
due  by  the  crown  ;  and,  for  this  purpose,  she  reduced  her  own  expenses 
to  the  very  lowest  standard.  The  new  forms  of  worship,  which  had 
obtained  a  footing  the  previous  three  years,  were  all  reversed ;  the 
old  altars  were  restored ;  the  married  clergy  were  dispensed  with  ; 
and,  in  short,  the  Catholic  religion  was  restored  in  England.  The 
bishops  ordained  by  Cranmer  were  removed,  and  Catholic  bishops 
placed  in  their  stead.  Cranmer  himself  was  imprisoned  on  a  charge 
of  treason ;  and  that  parliament,  which  voted  so  pliantly  all  that  was 
79 


626  MARRIAGE    OF    THE    QUEEN    WITH    PHILIP    OF    SPAIN. 

asked  of  them  by  the  preceding  kings,  now  voted  right  round  the  other 
way. 

They  brought  in  a  bill,  repealing  the  act  of  divorce  between  Henry 
and  Catharine  of  Arragon,  the  mother  of  the  present  queen.  They 
declared  that  marriage  lawful,  which  a  few  years  previously  they  had 
declared  the  contrary  ;  and  they  declared  Cranmer,  by  name,  the  cause 
of  that  divorce,  and  all  the  subsequent  troubles  that  befell  England. 

But  now  comes  the  most  curious  part  of  this  curious  history.  The 
queen  was  anxious  to  restore  the  pope's  supremacy  in  England,  and  to 
remove  from  her  own  shoulders  the  oppressive  weight  of  "  head  of  the 
church,"  assumed  by  her  father.  But  to  do  this  was,  she  saw,  impos- 
sible, without  effecting  a  compromise.  Every  leading  lord  or  com- 
moner in  her  dominion  had  got  some  of  the  church  property,  and, 
without  a  civil  war,  she  could  not  compel  them  to  give  it  up.  The 
compromise,  then,  was  based  on  the  principle  that  all  the  holders  of  the 
church  property  should  possess  it  forever. 

This  parliament,  then,  having  made  a  firm  bargain  to  hold  all  the  prop- 
erty, an  act  was  quickly  carried  through  both  branches,  in  which  these 
very  men  declared  "  that  they  had  been  guilty  of  a  most  horrible  defec- 
tion from  the  true  church ; "  professed  their  sincere  repentance  for  their 
past  transgressions,  and  declared  their  resolution  to  repeal  all  laws 
enacted  in  prejudice  of  the  pope's  authority.  After  this,  the  pope  sends 
a  legate  to  England  ;  and  who  should  he  be,  but  that  very  Cardinal 
Pole,  whose  mother  was  butchered,  though  seventy  years  of  age,  by 
Henry  the  Eighth  ? 

The  queen  married  Philip,  prince  of  Spain,  in  July,  1554.  In  No- 
vember, the  members  of  the  parliament  petitioned  the  king  and  queen  to 
intercede  with  the  pope,  and  obtain  for  them  forgiveness.  Cardinal 
Pole  was  received  at  Dover  by  two  thousand  of  the  nobility  and  gentry, 
on  horseback.  The  next  day,  the  queen  being  seated  on  the  throne, 
having  the  king  on  her  left,  and  the  pope's  legate  (Cardinal  Pole)  on 
her  right,  —  the  members  of  both  houses  appeared,  ivith  Bishop  Gar- 
diner at  their  head.  He,  on  their  part,  besought  the  king's  and  queen's 
interposition  with  his  eminence,  and  asked  forgiveness.  Cardinal  Pole 
pronounced  a  long  discourse ;  at  the  end  of  which,  he  blessed  them,  and 
forgave  them,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  —  the 
members  making  the  hall  resound  with  cries  of  "  Amen  ! " 

Thus  was  flngland  made  Catholic  again,  by  that  very  law,  and  by 
the  very  men  that  had  made  her  Protestant  in  the  last  two  reigns. 


WHY    CALL    MART    BLOODY?  627 

We  have  been  made  familiar,  in  our  school  days,  with  the  name  of 
"  Bloody  Mary,"  and  the  Smithfield  fires.  But  why  she  deserved  the 
appellation  of  bloody,  any  more  than  her  father  Henry,  or  her  sister 
Elizabeth,  I  cannot  make  out.  They  were  all  bloody;  and  although 
they  shed  blood  under  pretence  of  upholding  the  Christian  reHgion, 
the  genius  and  spirit  of  Christianity  wept  over  their  terrible  deeds. 
The  total  number  of  persons  put  to  death  by  Henry  the  Eighth,  for 
religious  and  political  opinions,  was  seventy-two  thousand.  The  total 
number  put  to  death  by  Queen  Mary  was  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
six.  The  total  number  put  to  death  by  Elizabeth,  in  England  and 
Ireland,  exceeded  a  million  of  human  beings. 

Now,  upon  what  ground  Queen  Mary  could  be  singled  out  as  more 
bloody  than  her  father  and  sister,  is  incomprehensible.  But,  on  the 
accession  of  Elizabeth,  the  celebrated  Fox  was  employed  to  write  a 
history  of  those  who  suffered  death  in  the  reign  of  Mary  ;  and,  curious 
enough,  some  of  the  "  martyrs "  included  in  Fox's  book  were  alive  in 
his  time,  and  confronted  him  to  his  face.  Bishops  Cranmer  and  Rid- 
ley were  executed  for  treason  against  Mary's  crown  ;  as  were  indeed 
very  many  of  the  two  hundred  and  seventy-six  that  were  executed  in 
her  reign.  But  Fox  gave  her  a  bad  name,  to  frighten  people  from  the 
Catholic  faith,  to  which  Queen  Mary  and  her  husband,  Philip,  were 
zealously  attached.  In  Ireland,  not  one  suffered  death,  for  religion's 
sake,  during  her  reign  ;  and  it  is  quite  certain,  that  seventy  Protest- 
ant families,  who  fled  from  Bristol,  under  an  apprehension  that  she  was 
about  to  retaliate  on  the  persecutors  of  her  mother,  were  kindly  and 
hospitably  received  by  the  Catholics  of  Dublin,  who  provided  for  them 
houses  of  entertainment  and  shelter.  Nor  was  this  the  only  instance  of 
Ireland's  hospitality  to  the  persecuted :  when  the  Huguenots  were 
driven  out  of  France,  in  a  subsequent  reign,  many  of  them  repaired  to 
Ireland  for  shelter,  and  found  it. 

From  Parnell's  Historical  Apology,  —  quoted  in  O'Connell's  Memoir. 
"  Though  the  religious  feelings  of  the  Irish  Catholics,  and  their  feelings 
as  men,  had  been  treated  with  very  little  ceremony  during  two  preced- 
ing reigns,  they  made  a  wise  and  moderate  use  of  their  ascendency. 
They  entertained  no  resentment  for  the  past,  they  laid  no 
PLANS  FOR  future  DOMINATION.  Evcu  Lelaud  allows  that  the  only 
instance  of  popish  zeal  was  annulling  grants  that  Archbishop  Brown  had 
made,  to  the  injury  of  the  see  of  Dublin.  The  assertors  of  the  reforma- 
tion, during  the  preceding  reigns,  were  every  way  unmolested  —  such 


628  IRELAND    A    REFUGE    FOR    THE    PERSECUTED. 

was  the  general   spirit  of  toleration    that   many    English   families, 

FRIENDS  TO  THE  REFORMATION,  TOOK    REFUGE  IN    IrELAND,  AND  THERE 
ENJOYED  THEIR  OPINIONS  AND  WORSHIP  WITHOUT  MOLESTATION." 

The  Irish  Protestants,  vexed  that  they  could  not  prove  a  single  in- 
stance of  bigotry  against  the  Catholics,  in  this  their  hour  of  trial,  invented 
a  tale,  as  palpably  false  as  it  is  childish,  of  an  intended  persecution,  (but 
a  persecution  by  the  English  government,  not  by  the  Irish  Catholics.) 
And  so  much  does  bigotry  pervert  all  candor  and  taste,  that  even  the 
Earl  of  Cork,  Archbishop  Usher,  and  Dr.  Leland,  were  not  ashamed  to 
support  the  silly  story  of  Dean  Cole  and  the  knave  of  clubs! 

How  ought  those  perverse  and  superficial  men  to  blush,  who  have 
said  that  the  Irish  Roman  Catholics  must  be  bigots  and  rebels  from  the 
very  nature  of  their  religion,  and  who  have  advanced  this  falsehood  in 
the  very  teeth  of  fact,  and  contrary  to  the  most  distinct  evidence  of  bis- 
toYj  !  The  Irish  Roman  Catholics  bigots  ?  The  Irish  Roman  Cath- 
olics    ARE     the    only    sect    THAT    EVER    RESUMED    POWER    WITHOUT 


EXERCISING    VENGEANCE 


Show  a  brighter  instance,  if  you  can,  in  the  whole  page  of  history. 
Was  this  the  conduct  of  Knox  or  Calvin  ?  or  of  the  brutal  council  of 
Edward  the  Sixth,  who  signed  its  bloody  warrants  with  tears?  Has 
this  been  the  conduct  of  Irish  Protestants  ?  Taylor,  the  Protestant 
author  of  the  Civil  Wars,  says,  p.  169:  —  "  It  is  but  justice  to  this  ma- 
ligned body,  the  Catholics,  to  add  that,  on  three  occasions  of  their- 
obtaining  the  upper  hand,  they  never  injured  a  single  person,  in  life  or 
limb,  for  professing  a  religion  different  from  their  own.  They  had  suf- 
fered persecution  and  had  learned  mercy  —  as  they  showed  in  the  reign 
of  Mary ;  in  the  wars  of  1641  to  1648;  and  during  the  brief  triumph 
of  James  the  Second." 

And,  in  looking  back  upon  the  early  history  of  Ireland,  we  find  re- 
corded by  O'Halloran,  that,  on  the  fall  of  Rome,  "  the  confusion  and 
distresses  in  Britain  and  Gaul  caused  numbers  of  people  fiom  these  and 
other  countries  of  Europe  to  flee  to  Ireland,  as  to  the  only  country  where 
peace,  subordination,  and  hospitality,  then  existed.  The  Irish  received 
these  strangers  with  their  accustomed  benevolence,  assigning  them  lands 
and  houses  to  live  in  and  occupy.  These  places  yet  retain  the  names 
of  the  different  people  on  whom  they  were  then  bestowed.  For 
instance,  in  the  county  of  Limerick  they  have  Gall-haile,  or  the  Gauls' 
town,  Baile  na  Francoigh,  or  the  Franks'  town  ;  and  scarcely  is  there 
a  county  of  the  kingdom  in  which  there  is  not  some  place  named  after 


MASSACRE    OF    MULLAGHMAST.  629 

the  persecuted  tribes  who,  in  those  days,  flew  to  Ireland  for  an  asylum. 
These  are  found  in  districts  in  every  direction,  and  are  called  after 
the  different  people  who  fled  to  its  hospitable  valleys;  as  "the British, 
the  Saxon,  Gaulish,  or  Franktown." 

Yet  let  justice  be  done  Mary,  "  though  the  heavens  fall."  She  was  a 
zealous  religionist,  a  conscientious  woman,  even  to  restoring  every  parti- 
cle of  the  church  property  she  had  been  bequeathed  by  the  king,  her 
father,  and  by  Edward,  her  brother.  As  to  Latimer,  Ridley,  and 
Cranmer,  —  who"  changed  from  whole  Catholics  to  half  Protestants, 
under  Henry  the  Eighth,  to  whole  Protestants  under  Edward  the  Sixth, 
and  offered  to  change  back  again  and  be  Catholics  under  Mary,  —  their 
deaths  never  could  be  ranked  amongst  the  deaths  of  martyrs.  Cranmer 
made  six  recantations  of  the  errors  of  the  Protestant  faith,  in  the  reign 
of  Mary  ;  but  all  did  not  save  him,  for  he  had  plotted  against  the 
queen's  crown,  and  had  been  guilty  of  too  many  butcheries  to  be 
pardoned. 

Mary  died  of  dropsy,  when  only  six  years  on  the  throne.  No  issue 
came  from  her  marriage  with  Philip,  who,  on  her  death,  returned  to 
Spain,  where  his  father,  Charles  the  Fifth,  resigned  him  a  part  of  the 
Spanish  empire,  then  the  greatest  in  the  world,  and  soon  after  retired 
to  a  monastery. 

During  the  most  brilliant  part  of  Queen  Mary's  reign,  in  England, 
she  confiscated,  in  Ireland,  the  immense  tract  of  country  owned,  for 
twelve  hundred  years,  by  the  O'Mores,  O'Connors,  and  O'Dempseys, 
of  Leinster,  which  tracts  were  changed,  in  name,  into  the  "  King's  and 
Queen's  counties."  It  was  during  the  battles  between  the  queen's 
deputy  and  the  chiefs  of  these  clans,  that  the  horrible  butchery  of 
Mullaghmast  took  place ;  where  three  hundred  chiefs,  who  had  been 
invited  to  a  peaceful  conference,  were  surrounded  and  basely  butchered, 
by  orders  of  the  Earl  of  Essex. 

O'Connell  thus  alluded  to  this  tragedy  at  the  dinner,  given  in  Sep- 
tember, 1843,  on  the  very  spot  where  the  butchery  took  place:  — 
"  It  is  not  by  accident  that  to-night  we  are  on  the  Rath  of  Mullagh- 
mast ;  it  was  deliberate  design ;  and  yet  it  is  curious  what  a  spot  we  are 
assembled  on.  I  anticipated  it,  and  I  now  rejoice  in  it.  Where  my 
voice  is  sounding,  and  you  are  quiet  hearers  attentively  listening,  there 
were  once  raised  the  yells  of  despair,  the  groans  of  approaching  death, 
the  agony  of  wounds  inflicted  on  the  perishing  and  the  unarmed.  On 
this  very  spot  they  fell  beneath  the  swords  of  the  Saxon,  who  used  them 


630  MASSACRE    OF    MULLAGHMAST. 

securely,  and  delightedly  grinding  their  victims  to  death.  Here  the 
Saxon  triumphed,  here  he  raised  a  shout  of  victory  over  his  unarmed 
prey.  Upon  this  very  spot  three  hundred  able  men  perished,  who,  con- 
fiding in  Saxon  promises,  came  to  a  conference  of  the  queen's  subjects, 
and  in  the  merriment  of  the  banquet  they  were  slaughtered.  There 
never  returned  home  but  one.  Their  wives  were  widowed,  and  their 
children  were  orphans;  in  their  homesteads  the  shriek  of  despair;  the 
father  and  the  husband  steeped  in  their  own  blood,  their  wives  and 
mothers  wept  over  them  in  vain.  O,  Saxon  cruelty,  how  it  does  de- 
light my  heart  to  think  you  dare  not  attempt  such  a  feat  again !  " 


MUSIC    AND   POETRT. 


63: 


THE    RATH    OF    MULLAGHMAST. 

IBy  the  Writers  of  the  '^JYation."    ^ir  from  Carolan.  —  ^^Eveleen's  Bower."} 


nat^ 

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1.     O'er  the  Rath  of     Mullagh  -  mast,  On    the     sol-eran 

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632 


MUSIC    A.ND    POETRY. 


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3: 


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When  the       wan  -  ing  moon  shines    pale         O'er  the 


curs'd  ground  there? 


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2. 

While  cup  and  song  abound, 

The  triple  lines  surround 

The  closed  and  guarded  mound, 

In  the  night's  dark  noon ! 
Alas !    too  brave  O'More ! 
Ere  the  revelry  was  o'er, 
They  have  spilled  thy  young  heart's  gore; 

Snatched  from  love  too  soon ! 


At  the  feast,  unarmed  all, 
Priest,  bard,  and  chieftain  fall 
In  the  treacherous  Saxon's  hall, 

O'er  the  bright  wine  bowl ! 
And  now,  nightly,  round  the  board. 
With  unsheathed  and  reeking  sword, 
Strides  the  cruel  felon  lord, 

Of  the  blood-stained  soul ! 

4. 

Since  that  hour,  the  clouds  that  passed 
O'er  the  Rath  of  Mullaghmast, 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


633 


One  drop  have  never  cast 

On  the  gore-dyed  sod ! 
For  the  shower  of  crimson  rain, 
That  o'erflowed  that  fatal  plain. 
Cries  aloud,  and  not  in  vain, 

To  the  most  high  God ! 

5. 

Though  the  Saxon  snake  unfold 
At  thy  feet  his  scales  of  gold, 
And  vow  thee  love  untold. 

Trust  him  not,  green  land  ! 
Touch  not  with  gloveless  clasp 
A  coiled  and  deadly  asp, 
But  with  strong  and  guarded  grasp, 

In  your  steel-clad  hand ! 

6. 

Then  raise  the  cry  to  Heaven ; 
Let  the  tyrant's  chains  be  riven, 
And  freedom  now  be  given 

To  our  own  green  land  1 
And  ever,  Graunia  Waile, 
Let  your  power  so  prevail. 
As  to  guard  your  children's  weal 

By  their  own  right  hand! 


FAIR    MARGARET. 


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gr^pjggg 


LECTURE    XVI. 


f^ROM    A.    D.     1560    TO    1603. 

Mary,  Queen  of  Scotland.  —  Elizabeth's  Jealousy. — Mary  Stuart's  Misfortunes. — 
Arrives  in  Scotland.  —  Darnley.  —  Rizzio.  —  Bothwell.  —  Rebellion.  —  Mary  put 
into  Prison.  —  Escapes  to  Elizabeth,  who  reconsigns  her  to  Prison.  —  Her  Con- 
demnation and  Murder.  —  Laws  against  the  Poor.  —  Penal  Laws  against  Catho- 
lics. —  The  English  Inquisition.  —  Sufferings  of  the  Catholics.  —  Catholics 
petition  the  Queen.  —  Sends  the  Bearer  of  the  Petition  to  Prison.  —  Invents 
Tortures.  —  The  Rack.  —  Cruelties  of  Elizabeth.  —  Her  Character  by  Wade.  — 
Extends  the  Reformation  to  Ireland.  —  Opposition  of  the  Parliament  of  the 
English  Pale.  —  Bribery.  —  Invasions  from  England. —  Nature  of  the  Irish  Clans. 

—  Tendency  to  Disunion.  —  Elizabeth's  Agents  crafty.  —  Swarms  of  English 
Adventurers  invade  Ireland.  —  Noble  Resistance  of  the  Irish.  —  Sketch  of  the 
Fifteen  Years'  War.  —  O'Neill,  Prince  of  Ulster.  —  Battle  of  Derry.  —  Defeat 
of  the  English  — Fall  of  O'Neill. —  His  Successor. —  Cosby 's  Massacre. — 
Foreign  Aid  from  the  Pope.  —  Bravery  of  Fitzmaurice. —  Success  of  Desmond 
against  the  Invaders.  —  The  Invaders  defeated  by  O'Byrne.  —  Surrender  of  the 
Spanish  Garrison.  —  Treacherous  Massacre.  —  Fall  of  Desmond .  —  Foreign  Semina- 
ries. —  Dreadful  Cruelties.  —  Confiscations  on  a  grand  Scale.  —  The  great  Hugh 
O'Neill. —  The  Spanish  Armada.  —  The  gallant  O'Ruark.  —  Trinity  College. — 
Battle  of  the  Ford  of  the  Biscuits.  —  The  War  in  Connaught.  —  O'Neill  takes  the 
Field.  —  His  Preparations.  —  Negotiation  opened  by  the  Invaders.  —  Several  Battles. 

—  Defeat  of  the  Invaders. —  Invaders  offer  Terms  of  Peace  to  O'Neill.  —  Declined. 

—  Battle  of  Armagh.  —  Defeat  of  the  Invaders.  —  Rising  of  Leinster.  —  Con- 
fusion in  England.  —  Further  Invasions. —  Battle  of  Binburb.  —  Defeat  of  the 
Invaders. — Their  Negotiations  for  Peace. —  Battle  of  Beal-an-a-Buidh.  —  Defeat 
of  the  Invaders.  —  Munster  League.  —  Confederacy  of  Leinster.  —  Of  Connaught. 

—  Great  Army  of  Invaders  land.  —  The  Earl  of  Essex.  —  The  Battle  of  the 
Pass  of  the  Plumes. — The  War  in  the  North. —  Battle  of  Corslieve.  —  Defeat 
of  the  Invaders.  —  Essex  seeks  a  Conference  with  O'Neill.  —  O'Neill  marches 
through  Ireland.  —  The  gallant  O'Moore.  —  Mount  Joy  sent  to  Ireland.  —  His 
Cruelty.  —  Reverses  of  the  Irish.  —  Spanish  Aid.  —  Fall  of  Desmond.  —  The 
War  in  the  South.  —  Aid  from  Ulster.  —  Surrender  of  Kinsale.  —  The  War  in 
Ulster.  —  War  in  Munster.  —  Siege  of  Dunboy.  —  Aid  from  Spain.  —  Great 
Battle  of  Dunboy.  —  Fall  of  Dunboy.  —  Retreat  of  O'Sullivan  Bearre.  —  Triumph 
of  O'Neill,  and  Peace.  —  Death  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  —  Her  Poor  Law. 

I  NOW  come  into  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  by  Anne  Boleyn.  EHzabeth,  during 
the  reign  of  her  brother,  Edward  the  Sixth,  was  a  Protestant ;  and, 


MARY    STUART. ELIZABETh's    JEALOUSY.  635 

durii)g  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary,  was  a  most  rigid  Catholic.  At  the 
time  of  her  sister's  death,  she  went  pubhcly  to  mass,  and  had  a  chapel 
and  confessor  in  her  own  house.  Queen  Mary,  on  her  death-bed,  required 
of  her  sister  a  frank  avowal  of  her  opinions  on  rehgion.  Ehzabelh,  in 
answer,  prayed  God,  that  the  earth  might  open  and  swallow  her,  if  she 
were  not  a  true  Roman  Catholic.  Her  accession  having  been  in  the 
usual  way  notified  to  foreign  powers,  she  sent  an  ambassador  specially 
to  the  pope,  who,  however,  refused  to  recognize  her,  on  the  ground  that 
Elizabeth  was  born  out  of  wedlock.  This  was  sufficient  to  alarm  and 
inflame  her  against  the  holy  see.  She  had,  also,  another  great  cause  of 
apprehension  about  her  quiet  enjoyment  of  the  throne  of  England ; 
which  was  the  real  and  legitimate  tide  to  that  throne,  and  to  that  of 
Scotland,  of  the  beautiful  but  unfortunate  Mary,  "  queen  of  Scots." 

Mary  Stuart  was  the  daughter  of  James  the  Fifth,  king  of  Scot- 
land, by  a  French  princess,  sister  of  the  celebrated  Duke  of  Guise. 
Mary  Stuart's  father  died  when  she  was  only  eight  days  old  ;  so  that 
she  became  the  reigning  queen  of  Scotland  while  in  the  cradle.  She 
was  the  grand  niece  of  Henry  the  Eighth.  Queen  Mary  being  dead, 
and  Elizabeth  having  been  bastardized,  both  by  acts  of  Henry's  and 
Mary's  parliaments,  —  in  addition  to  which,  not  being  recognized  by 
France,  Spain,  or  by  Rome,  —  Mary  Stuart  had,  therefore,  strong 
claims  and  most  likely  chances  to  sit  on  the  throne  of  England. 

A  regency  having  been  established  in  Scotland,  the  infant  queen  was 
taken  by  her  powerful  uncle,  the  Duke  of  Guise,  to  be  educated  in 
France  —  of  which  he  was  then  a  prime  minister.  The  French,  in 
order  to  secure  Scotland  to  their  interest  against  England,  got  Mary  be- 
trothed to  Francis,  son  of  Henry  the  Second  king  of  France;  and,  at 
seventeen  years  of  age,  the  young  queen  of  Scotland  was  married  to  the 
young  French  prince,  who  was  but  fifteen  years  of  age.  This  took 
place  in  1558,  the  very  year  that  Elizabeth  ascended  the  throne  of 
England.  In  a  few  months  after,  the  old  king  of  France  died,  and, 
by  this  death,  Mary  Stuart  was  elevated,  with  her  husband,  to  the 
throne  of  France.  Thus  she  was  queen  of  France  and  of  Scotland,  in 
fact,  and  the  legitimate  heiress  to  the  throne  of  England  ;  besides  all, 
she  was  the  most  beautiful  woman  in  Europe. 

Elizabeth's  natural  pride  found  in  all  these  circumstances  materials 
enough  for  excitement  and  alarm.  Rejected  by  the  pope  as  illegiti- 
mate, her  advisers  hinted  to  her  to  fall  back  on  the  Protestant 
feelings  of  such  as  favored  the  career  of  Henry,  her  father,  and  Edward, 


636  MARY  Stuart's  misfortunes. 

her  brother.  She  seized,  and  acted  on,  this  suggestion  with  vigor. 
Besides  this,  there  was  still  another  consideration  which  would  weigh 
with  the  English  —  Mary  Stuart  was  now  queen  of  France  ;  if  Elizabeth 
died  before  her,  or  died  without  issue,  then  England  had  become  a 
province  of  France.  The  bare  idea  of  this  —  the  remote  apprehension 
of  the  thing — was  quite  sufficient  to  stir  up  the  national  feelings  of  the 
English  nation.  The  nation  had  no  choice  but  one  ^either  to  uphold 
Elizabeth,  or  to  become  a  great  province  of  France.  To  the  latter 
they  would  not  submit,  and,  therefore,  they  decided  in  favor  of 
Elizabeth,  and  the  setting  aside  of  Mary. 

Before  I  come  to  the  direct  acts  of  Elizabeth,  in  reference  to 
Ireland,  I  will  trace  very  rapidly  the  career  and  fate  of  the  beautiful 
but  unfortunate  queen  of  the  Scots. 

As  I  have  already  said,  Mary  was  married  to  the  young  prince  of 
France,  whose  father  died  in  a  few  months  after  they  were  united. 
She  was  thus  placed  on  the  throne  of  France,  with  her  husband,  sur- 
rounded by  all  that  earth  could  offer  in  the  way  of  splendor,  power, 
human  admiration,  and  popular  applause.  But  these  enjoyments 
were  to  be  of  short  duration.  Her  husband,  Francis  the  Second, 
died  seventeen  months  after  his  accession ;  and,  as  the  laws  of  France 
forbid  the  occupancy  of  the  throne  by  a  woman,  Mary  was  suddenly 
obliged  to  retire  from  that  horizon  which  her  presence  illumined  for  so 
short  a  period.  She  was  still  a  queen  —  queen  of  the  Scottish  nation  ; 
and  to  that  nation  she  was  advised  by  her  friends  to  return,  and  assume 
its  government.  On  her  arrival  in  Scotland,  she  found  all  in  factious 
confusion.  Her  long  absence  had  encouraged  rival  chieftains  to  array 
the  country  in  hostile  clans ;  besides  which,  the  doctrines  of  the 
reformation  were  vigorously  preached  by  John  Knox,  who  had  been  a 
monk. 

Mary,  who  had  been  bred  a  Catholic,  and  who  was  deified  in  the 
court  of  France,  found  her  situation  in  Scotland  truly  miserable. 
Besides  all  this,  the  agents  of  Elizabeth  were  set  to  work  to  stir  up 
factions  against  her;  and,  through  the  agency  of  her  money,  became 
more  truly  the  rulers  of  Scotland  than  Mary.  About  three  years  after 
her  return  to  Scotland,  she  married  Henry  Stuart,  Earl  of  Darnley, 
her  cousin.  Darnley  was  a  Protestant,  Mary  a  Catholic  ;  they  soon 
differed  and  separated. 

Darnley  soon  after  became  jealous  of  the  queen's  private  secretary, 
JBdzzio;  and  with  a  band  of  assassins,  rushed  into  her  presence  while 


REBELLION. qUEEN    MARY    IMPRISONED AND    EXECUTED.     637 

seated  at  supper  with  the  ladies  of  her  court.  Rizzio  was  in  attend- 
ance.    They  seized  and  stabbed  him  at  her  feet. 

Darnley  was  himself  blown  up  by  gunpowder,  in  about  a  year  after, 
in  a  house  where  he  slept,  near  Edinburgh.  This  is  placed  at  the 
door  of  the  Earl  of  Bothwell.  Soon  after  this,  Mary  gave  birth  to  a 
son,  who  was  afterwards  James  the  First  of  England. 

The  Earl  of  Bothwell  shortly  after,  with  a  band  of  horsemen,  seized 
the  queen,  as  she  was  returning  from  a  visit  to  her  child.  He  carried 
her,  by  force,  to  his  castle  of  Dunbar,  where  she  was  partly  compelled 
to  promise  to  marry  him.  This  extorted  promise  she  complied  with  in 
the  most  solemn  manner,  in  a  few  days  after,  before  all  the  authorities 
of  Scotland. 

Whitaker,  an  English  historian,  acquits  Mary  of  all  participation  in 
the  crime  of  Darnley's  death  ;  so,  also,  does  William  Cobbett.  But,  be 
this  correct  or  not,  a  part  of  her  subjects  rebelled  against  her,  headed 
by  the  Earl  of  Murray,  her  natural  brother.  The  queen's  forces  were 
defeated  ;  Bothwell,  her  husband,  flew  to  Denmark  ;  she  was  put  into 
prison  by  her  own  subjects,  and  her  infant  son  was  crowned,  at  thirteen 
months  old.  King  of  Scotland,  Murray  assuming  the  regency. 

Mary  now  saw  herself  dethroned  and  in  prison.  Queen  Elizabeth, 
privately  gloating  over  her  fall,  affected  to  feel  pity  for  her  situation,  and 
aatually  invited  her  to  her  court  at  Windsor.  In  an  evil  hour,  Mary  lis- 
tened to  these  seductive  invitations ;  and  no  sooner  did  she  arrive  within 
the  authority  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  than  she  was  arrested  and  put  into 
prison,  where  she  remained  for  nineteen  years.  Her  prison  was 
changed  three  times ;  but  out  of  confinement  she  never  after  got. 
Elizabeth  had  her  tried  several  times  upon  various  charges,  which 
Whitaker  and  other  historians  pronounce  to  be  forged.  The  ministers 
of  Elizabeth  suggested  to  have  her  despatched  by  poison.  She  was  at 
length  tried,  on  some  trumped-up  charge  of  treason,  and  found  guilty 
by  a  court  composed  of  Elizabeth's  friends.  Her  death-warrant  was 
signed,  and  remained  for  four  months  unexecuted.  In  the  mean  time, 
the  emissaries  of  the  queen  tried  every  means  in  their  power  to  despatch 
the  queen  of  Scots  by  poison.  Execution  was  at  length  done  on  her, 
without  allowing  her  the  benefit  of  a  clergyman  of  her  own  communion, 
and  the  hypocrite  Elizabeth  affected  great  horror  on  hearing  of  her 
death,  and  actually  imprisoned  her  secretary,  Davison,  for  putting  her 
own  wishes  and  orders  into  execution. 

On  this  act  towards  Queen  Mary,  Whitaker,  an  English  protestant 
divine,  has  made  the  following  remarks :  — 


638  PENAL    LAWS    AGAINST    CATHOLICS. 

"  The  legal  murder  of  Mary  of  Scotland  took  place  on  the  8th 
February,  1587,  —  a  day  of  everlasting  infamy  to  the  memory  of  the 
English  queen,  who  had  no  sensibilities  of  tenderness,  and  no  sentiments 
of  generosity,  who  looked  not  forward  to  the  awful  verdict  of  history, 
and  who  shuddered  not  at  the  infinitely  more  awful  doom  of  God.  I 
blush,  as  an  Englishman,  to  think  that  this  was  done  by  an  English 
queen,  and  one  whose  name  I  was  taught  to  lisp,  in  my  infancy,  as  the 
honor  of  her  sex  and  the  glory  of  our  isle." 

The  people  of  England  sided,  however,  with  Elizabeth,  from  the 
moment  that  a  suspicion,  as  to  the  intentions  of  Spain  to  invade  Eng- 
land, took  root. 

On  the  destruction  of  the  abbeys  and  monasteries,  under  Henry  the 
Eighth,  the  artisans  who  had  been  usually  employed  in  decorating  and 
repairing  them,  and  the  poor  who  were  ever  received  and  fed  in  their 
hospitable  halls,  now  wandered  about  in  large  bands.  The  queen 
established  martial  law  about  London,  and  actually  chid  her  agents 
and  commissioners  for  their  tardiness,  in  hanging  up,  without  trial, 
those  whom  they  might  choose  to  denominate  idlers  and  vagabonds. 
The  poor  were  then  branded  in  the  flesh  with  red-hot  irons,  if  found 
begging. 

Before  I  present  a  view  of  the  tyranny  practised  by  this  woman  in 
Ireland,  we  must  have  a  glance  at  some  more  of  her  acts  in  England. 

Penal  laws  were  introduced  into  the  parliament,  which  imposed  fines 
and  punishments  on  all  those  who  refused  to  acknowledge  Queen 
Elizabeth  the  spiritual  head  of  the  English  church.  These  laws  were 
not  only  directed  against  the  Catholics,  but  against  those  dissenters  who 
went  farther  than  the  Protestants  of  Elizabeth's  laws.  Among  these 
were  the  great  body  of  dissenters  of  Scotland,  who  had  been  influenced 
by  the  preaching  of  John  Knox. 

Queen  Elizabeth,  though  having  thrown  off"  the  power  of  Rome,  and 
established  her  form  of  church  service,  was  intolerant  enough  to  look 
with  great  jealousy  on  the  levelling  of  clerical  distinctions  in  Scotland, 
and  stickled  as  firmly  for  a  church  establishment  of  bishops,  &c.,  as 
any  of  her  Catholic  predecessors.  Her  persecutions,  therefore,  were 
levelled  at  those  who,  she  thought,  believed  too  much,  as  against  those 
who,  she  thought,  believed  too  little ;  and,  to  shorten  the  tale,  she 
brought  in  several  penal  laws,  imposing  fines  on  all  who  did  not  attend 
and  practise  the  form  of  public  service  which  she  had  arranged.  The 
Catholits  were  the  objects  of  the  most  bitter  persecution ;   but   they 


THE    ENGLISH    INQUISITION.  639 

did  not  suffer  alone  ;  they  suffered  the  most,  however,  in  retaliation 
for  the  pope's  refusing  to  acknowledge  her  legitimacy. 

Queen  Elizabeth  established  an  inquisition,  —  that  is,  she  appeinted 
a  commission  composed  of  certain  bishops  and  others,  whose  power 
extended  over  the  whole  kingdom,  and  over  all  ranks  and  degrees  of 
the  people.  They  were  empowered  to  have  an  absolute  control  over 
the  opinions  of  all  men,  and  to  punish  all  men  according  to  their  dis- 
cretion. They  might  proceed  legally,  if  they  chose,  in  the  obtaining 
of  evidence  against  parties ;  but  they  had  power  given  them  to  employ 
impi-isonment,  the  rack,  or  torture  of  any  sort,  to  effect  a  conformity  in 
religious  opinion,  if  their  suspicions  alighted  on  any  man,  no  matter 
whether  it  referred  to  his  politics  or  religion  ;  and  though  they  had  no 
evidence,  not  even  hearsay,  these  commissioners  might  administer  an 
oath  to  him,  by  which  he  was  bound  to  reveal  his  thoughts  —  to  accuse 
himself,  his  friend,  his  brother,  or  father,  upon  pain  of  death. 

These  subaltern  tyrants  inflicted  what  fines  they  pleased  ;  they  put 
forth  whatever  new  articles  of  faith  they  pleased  ;  they  exercised,  in  the 
name  of  the  queen,  an  absolute  control  over  the  bodies,  minds,  and 
properties,  of  all  her  subjects.  It  was  a  terrible  tyranny  in  its  nature, 
and  terribly  did  they  exercise  it. 

William  Cobbett  —  who  was  an  Englishman,  a  Protestant,  and  who, 
in  his  younger  days,  had  written  against  the  Catholic  church  —  thus 
speaks  of  this  tyrannical  commission  :  "  When  one  looks  at  the  deeds 
of  this  tyrant ;  when  one  sees  what  abject  slavery  she  had  reduced  the 
nation  to ;  when  one  views  this  commission,  composed  of  greedy, 
rapacious  monsters,  let  into  the  full  swing  of  unbridled  tyranny  over 
every  man,  woman,  and  ciiild,  in  the  kingdom,  —  one  feels  humbled  at  the 
name  of  England,  that  tolerated  it  even  a  day.  It  is  impossible  for  us 
not  to  reflect  with  shame  on  what  we  have  so  long  being  saying  against 
the  Spanish  inquisition,  v/hich,  from  its  first  establishment  to  the  pres- 
ent hour,  has  not  committed  so  much  cruelty  as  this  ferocious  tyrant 
committed  in  any  one  year  of  the  forty-three  years  she  ruled  England." 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  attempt  to  describe  the  sufferings  that  the 
Catholics  had  to  endure  during  this  murderous  reign.  No  tongue,  no 
pen,  is  adequate  to  the  task.  To  hear  mass,  to  harbor  a  priest,  to  admit 
the  supremacy  of  the  pope,  to  deny  this  woman's  spiritual  supremacy, 
and  many  other  things  which  an  honorable  Catholic  could  scarcely 
avoid,  consigned  him  to  the  scaffold.  Not  only  were  men  punished  for 
not  confessing  that  the  new  religion  was  the  true  one,  —  not  only  for  con- 
tinuing to  practise  the  religion  in  which  they  had  been  born  and  bred,  — 


640  SUFFERINGS    OF    THE    CATHOLICS. 

but  were  actually  punished  for  not  going  to  the  new  assemblages,  and 
there  performing  what  they  must,  if  they  were  sincere,  necessarily  deem 
an  act  of  apostacy. 

No  new  priest  of  the  Catholic  faith  was  suffered  to  be  made  or 
educated  in  England,  on  pain  of  death.  It  was  death  for  a  priest  to 
come  into  England  from  abroad ;  death  to  harbor  him ;  death  for  him 
to  perform  his  functions  in  her  dominions ;  death  even  to  confess  to  him. 

Those  who  refused  to  go  to  her  churches  were  fined  twenty-five 
pounds  per  month,  of  the  money  of  those  times,  which  equals  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pounds  of  the  money  of  the  present  day.-  This  was  a 
fine,  or  tax,  inflicted  for  the  luxury  of  keeping  a  conscience,  equal  to 
seventeen  thousand  dollars  a  year  of  American  money. 

No  Catholic,  or  reputed  Catholic,  had  a  moment's  security  or  peace. 
At  all  hours,  but  generally  in  the  night-time,  the  agents  of  the  queen 
entered  his  house  by  breaking  it  open ;  rushed  in  different  directions 
into  the  rooms ;  broke  open  closets,  chests,  drawers,  rummaged  beds  and 
pockets,  every  where,  for  crosses,  vestments,  prayer  or  mass  books,  or 
any  thing  appertaining  to  the  Catholic  worship,  or  that  could  afford 
suspicion  that  a  priest  frequented  the  house.  As  to  the  poorer  portion 
of  the  Catholics,  those  who  were  not  able  to  pay  these  heavy  fines, 
they  were  whipped  publicly ;  they  were  branded  with  red-hot  irons  in 
the  forehead  or  ears ;  and  none  durst  let  them  in  or  harbor  them. 

At  last,  the  Catholics  entertained  a  hope  that,  by  declaring  their 
loyalty  as  subjects  to  her  throne,  they  might  be  able  to  mitigate 
the  rigor  of  her  oppressive  rule.  An  able  and  dutiful  address  was 
drawn  up ;  but  the  question  then  came,  who  would  present  it.  All 
trembled  at  the  danger  of  presenting  even  an  humble  petition.  At 
last,  Richard  Shelley,  of  Sussex,  undertook  the  dangerous  duty.  The 
humane  answer  of  this  tender  woman  to  the  petition  was,  the  imprison- 
ment for  life  of  Mr.  Shelley. 

But  this  was  nothing  to  other  acts  resorted  to  by  her,  to  produce  a 
change  in  the  opinions  of  her  people.  She  employed  the  rack  and 
torture  to  extort  information.  -;-  See  Cobbett,  article  Elizabeth. 

There  were  many  kinds  of  torture  invented  by  this  cruel  woman  ; 
but  her  favorite  engine  was  the  rack ;  which  we  must  examine  as  pre- 
sented to  us  by  the  English  historian.  Dr.  Lingard  :  — 

"  The  RACK  was  a  large,  open  frame  of  oak,  raised  three  feet  from 
the  ground.  The  prisoner  was  stretched  on  his  back,  on  the  floor, 
under  this  square  frame  ;  his  wrists  and  ankles  were  attached,  by  cords, 
to  two  rollers  at  the  ends  of  the  frame ;  these  were  tightened  by  draw- 


CRUELTIES    OF    ELIZABETH.  -     641 

ing  the  cords  in  opposite  directions,  by  levers,  till  the  body  rose  from 
the  floor  to  a  level  with  the  frame.  Questions  were  then  put  to  the  un- 
fortunate victim  ;  and,  if  the  answers  did  not  prove  satisfactory,  the 
sufferer  was  stretched  more  and  more,  till  the  bones  started  from  their 
sockets." 

Such  was  the  way  this  "glory  of  England"  changed  the  religious 
opinions  of  her  people !  Such  was  the  reign  of  Good  Queen  Bess  in 
England !  But  O,  horror  of  horrors !  what  was  it  in  Ireland  ?  The 
Genius  of  History  grieves  while  she  records  her  diabolical  acts,  and  the 
Spirit  of  Religion  shrieks  to  find  that  such  deeds  were  perpetrated  in  her 
name. 

I  may  be  told  that  this  dangerous  ground  should  be  avoided  ;  that 
persons  may  take  offence  at  ray  thus  laying  bare  the  acts  of  one  whom 
many  persons,  in  their  youth,  had  been  taught  to  look  upon  as  a  bold, 
chivalrous  woman,  —  a  heroine  of  the  English  nation.  My  answer  is, 
that  the  histories  of  England,  written  within  the  last  three  hundred  yeai"s, 
have  been  composed  of  about  equal  parts  of  truth  and  falsehood  ;  that 
Ireland  has  been  blackened  by  the  writers  who  praised  this  woman,  and 
it  is  necessary  to  tlie  cause  of  truth  to  unveil  her  whom  they  adore,  and 
vindicate  the  nation  which  they  would  blacken.  This  woman  perse- 
cuted Ireland  more  than  any  monarch  of  England  that  ever  lived.  She 
planted  there,  through  every  acre  of  its  surface,  the  seeds  of  religious 
and  political  strife,  and  turned  a  fair  garden  into  a  great  slaughter-yard. 
She  sent  in,  amongst  the  pious  and  hospitable  people  of  that  country,  a 
swarm  of  pillagers,  pirates,  plunderers  1  who  butchered  young  and  old, 
clergy  and  laity,  male  and  female;  mothers  with  their  infants  at  their 
breasts,  —  the  innocent  babes  seized  and  spitted  on  the  points  of  spears 
by  her  terrible  agents. 

Let  those  who  approve  of  the  acts  of  this  monster  feel  dissatisfied 
with  me.  The  historian,  after  all,  is  the  true  avenger.  Shall  I,  armed 
as  I  am  with  the  sword  of  justice,  prove  a  venal,  corrupt  officer?  What 
would  honest  men  say  of  me,  were  I  base  enough  to  pander  to  power 
or  to  falsehood  ?  Let  those  who  recoil  with  horror  from  association 
with  the  perpetrators  of  such  butcheries  and  such  robberies,  join  with 
us  in  redeeming  Ireland  from  the  state  of  slavery  to  which  Elizabeth  and 
her  successors  have  reduced  that  great  and  noble  country. 

Ere  I  touch  upon  her  treatment  of  Ireland,  let  me  put  on  record  a 

summing  up  of  her  character,  written  by  the  impartial  Wade,  her  own 

countryman,  who  has  brought  the  history  of  England  down  to  our  time 

"  Her  amiability  and  morality  must  be  at  once  given  up.     She  had  no 

81 


642    '  wade's  character  of  her. 

feminine  graces.  Like  her  person,  her  mind,  passions,  and  even  accom- 
plishments, were  masculine.  The  execution  of  the  unfortunate  Scottish 
queen,  though  deemed  necessary  by  her  ministers,  is  an  ineftaceable  blot 
on  her  mempry.  Amongst  the  legislative  and  judicial  machinery  she 
used,  her  absoluteness  was  ever  the  guiding  principle. 

"  First  was  the  Court  of  Star  Chamber,  [mark  that !]  whose  members 
held  their  places  during  the  pleasure  of  the  crown,  and  might  fine,  im- 
prison, and  punish  corporally,  by  whipping,  branding,  slitting  the  nos- 
trils and  ears.  The  queen,  if  present,  was  sole  judge;  and  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  court  extended  to  all  sorts  of  offences,  contempts,  and 
disorders,  that  lay  out  of  the  reach  of  the  common  law. 

"  The  Court  of  High  Coujmission  was  a  still  more  arbitrary  jurisdic- 
tion. Its  vengeance  was  directed  against  heresy,  which  was  defined  as 
a  difference  of  opinion  on  religion  and  morals  ivith  the  queen. 

"  Martial  law  was  first  introduced  by  her.  In  suspicious  times,  the 
jails  were  full  of  prisoners,  who  were  thrown  into  dungeons,  loaded  with 
irons,  and  frequently  tortured  to  extract  confessions.  Notunfrequently, 
in  the  agony  of  their  tortures,  the  unhappy  sufferers  wrongly  accused 
others  or  themselves.  Against  these  enormities  the  subject  had  no  re- 
dress ;  neither  judge  nor  jury  dared  to  acquit  when  the  crown  ivas  bent 
on  a  conviction.  The  queen,  by  special  warrants,  claimed  the  right  to 
interfere  to  stop  the  course  of  justice.  There  are  many  records  of  spe- 
cial warrants  granted  by  the  queen  to  save  malefactors  from  death ; 
these  warrants  were  neitlier  to  be  canvassed,  disputed,  nor  examined." 

There  is  the  immortal  picture  of  Elizabeth,  drawn  by  her  country- 
man. Wade,  a  living  historian. 

Talk  of  English  glory,  English  bravery,  English  liberty,  after  that ! 
Talk  and  boast  of  a  nation  that  submitted,  for  forty-three  years,  to  such 
a  monster !  I  may  be  told  that  Ireland,  too,  submitted  to  her  will. 
./  deny  it  I  The  Irish  opposed  their  hearts'  blood  to  her  terrible  edicts  ; 
they  died  in  the  gory  field,  rather  than  submit  to  such  tyranny  ;  they 
purified  their  nation,  by  rivers  of  tlieir  blood,  from  the  stain  of  sub- 
mitting to  such  a  monster  ;  they  parted  with  all  that  was  dear  to  them 
in  this  life,  and  offered  their  dead  bodies,  in  the  field  of  battle,  as 
evidences  of  their  determination  not  to  submit  to  her  tyranny,  her 
morals,  or  her  laws  ;  and,  after  fighting  and  beating  her  armies 

FOR    fifteen    years,    COMPELLED    HER    TO    SUE    FOR    PEACE    AT    LAST. 

I  am  sick  of  listening  to  the  cant  of  "  British  power,"  "  British  honor," 
and  "  British  freedom."  These  terms  may  pass  in  the  court  and  pres- 
ence of  Queen  Victoria  :  but  I  and  my  countrymen,  and  our  fathers,  have 


SHE    EXTENDS-  THE    REFORMATION    TO    IRELAND.  643 

suffered  too  much  by  it,  to  allow  that  cant  to  have  sway  in  this  free 
country,  where  truth  has  a  dwelling-place,  and  where  justice  is  enthroned 
in  the  hearts  of  the  people. 

The  gauze  and  tinsel  that  conceal  the  deformed  features  of  the 
British  government  must  be  torn  away  ;  her  brow  must  be  branded 
with  the  term  "perjlcli/;"  her  government  must  be  denounced  abroad, 
and  subdued  at  home  ;  we  will  array  the  public  opinion  of  the  civil- 
ized world  against  her;  and  that  Ireland,  which  she  persecuted  for 
centuries,  must,  at  last,  be  vindicated  and  disenthralled. 

Let  us  now  follow  Elizabeth's  government  into  Ireland.  She  had 
directions  sent  to  Lord  Sussex  to  have  a  parliament  of  the  Little  Pale 
summoned  from  ten  counties  around  the  metropolis.  Previous  to  this, 
the  little  parliament  was  composed  of  no  more  than  members  of  six 
counties.  There  were  thirty-two  counties  in  Ireland  ;  and  previous  to 
this  period,  say  1560,  the  power  of  the  English  Pale  went  not  outside 
of  these  six  counties  ;  the  rest  of  the  nation  was  governed  by  their  old 
provincial  princes,  and  their  old  Brehon  or  Brehave  laws.  The 
religion  of  the  whole  people,  as  well  in  the  Pale  as  without,  was  Ro- 
man Catholic. 

Elizabeth,  then,  commenced  a  reformation  of  the  religious  opinions 
of  the  people  of  Ireland  ;  and  her  first  step  was  to  have  the  little  parlia- 
ment of  the  Pale  summoned.  On  their  assembling,  several  acts  were 
proposed  by  her  deputy,  —  one  of  which  required  that  all  her  people 
should  renounce  the  errors  of  their  former  religion,  disconnect  themselves 
from  the  court  of  Rome,  acknowledge  her  as  spiritual  head  of  the 
church,  adopt  the  prayers  and  religious  ceremonies  which  she  had  pre- 
pared, and,  lastly,  conform  to  her  system  of  religious  belief  and  practice. 
But  the  parliament  rejected  these  propositions.  Sussex  found  it  neces- 
sary to  dissolve  the  parliament.  He  then  repaired  to  England,  to  give 
the  queen,  in  person,  an  account  of  the  reception  her  laws  had  met  with. 

In  a  few  years  after,  she  had  another  parliament,  assembled  at  Dublin, 
of  men  whom  she  had  previously  tampered  with  and  moulded  to  her 
wishes.  Numbers  of  Englishmen  were  sent  over,  and  returned  to  the 
parliament  for  places  they  had  never  set  foot  in.  Sir  Edmond  Butler, 
and  many  more  of  the  old  English  settlers,  protested  against  this  corrupt 
act.  Four  days  were  spent  in  debates,  at  the  very  threshold  of  her  new 
legislation;  the  honest  portion  of  the  members  declared  against  receiving 
any  bill,  or  passing  any  law,  in  so  illegal  an  assembly.  Great  confu- 
sion prevailed  between  the  members  of  this  parliament ;  and,  finally, 
Barnwell  and  Butler  —  the  Grattan  and  Flood  of  the  day  —  opposed 


644  IRISH    CLA>-5. 

this  party,  proDounced  it  a  base  faction,  and  determined  to  resist  its 
doings. 

But  Elizabeth  let  the  storm  of  their  virtuous  indignation  pass  by. 
she  relied  upon  the  pliancy  to  be  obtained  by  briber}-,  which  she  ad- 
ministered vrith  an  unsparing  hand.  Independently  of  this,  she  hinted 
at  the  confiscations  ■«  hich  w  ere  to  follow,  —  the  rich  prizes  she  had  in 
store  for  those  who  were  willing  to  pander  to  her  will.  Soon  the  scene 
changed ;  a  majority  of  the  parliament  became  subservient  to  her  will ; 
the  whole  machinery  of  tyranny,  which  she  had  constructed  in  Eng- 
land, was  sent  by  her  into  Ireland,  and  adopted,  without  discussion, 
by  this  parliament.  The  church  property  was  ever}*  where  seized ; 
the  leading  men,  who  opposed  her  will,  were  imprisoned  and  executed. 
A  scheme  of  extermination  was  commenced :  the  lands  of  all  the  old 
Irish  chieftains  were  seized,  by  acts  of  this  little  parliament,  and  par- 
celled out  to  English  adventurers,  ere  the  owners  were  aware  of  it. 
Chief  after  chief  fell  victims  to  her  vengeance,  and  district  after  distinct 
vcas  parcelled  out  to  the  swarms  of  pillagers  which  now  appeared  to 
pour  into  Ireland,  as  if  a  change  had  been  effected  in  the  very  laws  of 
nature. 

A  mania  for  pillage  and  rapine  seized  the  people  of  England,  which 
■R"as  fostered  by  this  unprincipled  woman.  Fleets,  armies,  myriads  of 
them  flocked  over  to  unfortunate  Ireland,  to  seize  on  the  lands  and  pos- 
sessions of  the  old  inhabitants. 

It  would  take  more  than  all  the  pages  of  this  book  to  hold  the  details 
of  those  butcherly  and  robberies.  In  some  places  subjection  was  ob- 
tained by  compromise,  in  others  by  treachery,  and  most  generally  by 
wars  of  local  extermination.  For  the  previous  four  hundred  years  the 
battles  between  the  Eno-llsh  and  Irish  were  senerallv  confined  to  the 
English  deputy  and  some  five  or  six  thousand  men,  on  one  side,  and 
some  distinguished  Irish  chieftain,  at  the  head  of  his  mountain  clan,  on 
the  other.  These  wars  generally  terminated  favorably  to  the  Irish  ;  for 
the  utmost  the  English  could  obtain  by  their  battles  was  an  armistice  or 
compromise  of  some  sort. 

The  Irish  clans,  under  the  name  of  their  respective  princes,  never 
died.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  chieftain  of  the  day,  when  captured  by 
the  English,  was  beheaded,  and  bis  head  placed  upon  a  spike.  There 
was  anon  '•  another  Richmond  in  the  field."  These  clans  were  regu- 
lated by  a  singularly  republican  law.  The  property  of  the  clan  or  tribe 
was  owned  almost  in  common.  On  the  death  of  any  member,  all  the 
property  belonging  to  him  was  cast  into  the  common  lot,  and  redistrib- 


NATURE    OF    THE    IRISH    CLANS. TANISTRY.  645 

uted  amongst  bis  family.  When  the  chief  of  the  clan  died,  either  in  his 
bed  or  on  the  field,  his  place  was  supplied,  by  election,  from  the  best  of 
his  family.  Those  chiefs  acknowledged  obedience  to  provincial  kings, 
and  these  again  to  the  chief  monarch  of  the  kingdom.  The  chiefs, 
who  were  called  tanists  or  thanes,  were  able  soldiers,  well  calculated,  in 
bodily  strength  and  courage,  to  defend  their  country. 

The  great  evil  of  their  political  system  was  its  tendency  to  create 
ambitious  rivalry  among  themselves.  Had  only  the  one  fourth  of  the 
chiefs  of  Ireland  united  against  the  common  enemy,  at  any  period  o(  the 
three  hundred  and  eighty  years  from  the  invasion  of  Henry  the  Second 
to  the  time  of  Elizabeth,  their  country  could  have  been  rid  of  them  in  a 
single  campaign.  But  the  very  nature  of  the  chieftain's  power  forbade 
this  union.  Ever  bound,  by  the  increasing  number  of  his  tribe,  to  extend 
their  territory,  and  by  his  natural  ambition  to  extend  his  own  sway,  his 
neighbor  clans,  east,  west,  north,  and  south,  were  viewed  with  as  much 
jealousy  by  him  and  his,  as  the  common  enemy  of  their  race,  the  Anglo- 
Normans. 

This  erroneous  political  and  social  principle,  ever  acting  at  all  points 
of  the  kingdom,  gave  the  crafty  invader  great  advantages,  and  this  was 
ever  the  secret  source  of  English  domination  in  Ireland. 

The  agents  of  Elizabeth  pursued,  by  her  direction,  a  crafty  course. 
They  did  not  disclose  their  objects  of  general  confiscation  and  extermina- 
tion. They  engaged  in  the  warfare  of  the  chiefs  and  clans  against  each 
other.  In  some  places  they  warred  openly,  and  vanquished  and  cut  down 
whole  districts,  parcelling  out  the  lands  of  the  slain  amongst  the  swarms 
of  English  adventurers  who  now  came  into  the  country.  On  the 
breaking  up  of  the  monasteries  in  England,  and  the  consequent  with- 
drawal of  employment  and  relief  which  had  been  previously  afforded  to 
the  people  by  the  industrious  and  considerate  monks,  the  towns  of  Eng- 
land became  thronged  with  idle,  starving  people,  who  gladly  enlisted  in 
any  enterprise  which  promised  them  a  change  from  their  present  con- 
dition. Already  had  a  scale  of  booty  been  laid  down  and  offered  to  all 
those  who  should  volunteer  into  the  queen's  army  for  the  conquest  of 
Ireland.  To  a  footman  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  and  to  a  horse- 
man two  hundred  acres,  of  the  lands  of  Ireland,  were  proposed  to  be 
given,  which  were  to  be  held  in  fee  from  the  queen,  or  from  some  of  her 
favorites,  on  payment  of  a  penny  or  twopence  per  annum,  per  acre,  by 
the  fortunate  soldier. 

It  does  not  surprise  us  to  be  told  that  the  half  of  the  inhabitants  of 
England  and  Scodand  were  in  motion  for  the  pillage  and  butchery  of 


646  SWARMS    OF    ENGLISH    ADVENTURERS    INVADE    IRELAND. 

the  unfortunate  people  of  Ireland.  To  heighten  the  materials  of  strife, 
the  sacred  name  of  religion  was  introduced  between  the  combatants. 
The  whole  system  of  the  penal  laws  of  England,  against  those  who  ad- 
hered to  the  Catholic  religion,  was  transferred  to  Ireland.  Those  who 
refused  to  conform  to  the  queen's  standard  of  worship  were  fined  so 
heavily,  that  their  estates  were  soon  consumed.  These  estates,  whether 
owned  by  persons  of  English  or  Irish  extraction,  were  confiscated  to  the 
queen,  and  given  to  her  new  favorites,  for  distribution  among  their  fol- 
lowers. 

Religion  was  only  used  as  a  pretence,  to  seize  on  all  the  property  of 
the  nation  ;  and,  more  absurdly  monstrous,  the  Irish  people  really  did 
not  know  what  the  form  of  faith  was  which  the  queen  proposed  for  their 
adoption.  England  had  just  then  changed  her  religion  five  times  in  the 
course  of  thirty  years.  They  were  Catholics  in  1529  ;  immediately 
after  they  became  schismatics,  and  formed  a  religion,  no  part  of  which 
they  understood  ;  in  Edward's  reign,  the  doctrines  of  Zwingle  prevailed  ; 
under  Mary,  the  Catholic  religion  was  restored  ;  and  on  the  accession 
of  Elizabeth,  another  was  established,  composed,  with  some  alterations, 
of  the  tenets  of  Luther  and  Calvin,  to  which  was  given  the  name  of  the 
English  church.  Such  was  the  undefined  worship  which  the  Irish  were 
called  upon  to  adopt,  or  forfeit  liberty,  property,  and  life. 

Although  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  enter  into  the  detail  of  the  great 
contest  which  now  began  between  Protestant  England  and  Catholic 
Ireland,  yet  a  notice  of  the  chief  actions  of  men  who  nobly  struggled,  in 
that  age,  for  homes  and  altars,  is  due  to  their  memories  ;  and  I  condense 
a  few  particulars  from  the  voluminous  Abbe  M'Geoghegan  : 

THE  FIFTEEN  YEARS'   WAR. 

O'Neill's  power  engrossed  much  of  the  attention  of  the  English 
government  at  this  time.  The  queen  despatched  Knolls  to  Ireland 
to  concert  measures  with  the  deputy  to  reduce  that  nobleman,  either 
by  kindness  or  by  force.  She  even  offered  to  him  the  titles  of  Earl  of 
Tyrone  and  Baron  of  Dungannon.  O'Neill  received  the  proposal 
with  a  haughtiness  expressive  of  his  contempt  for  English  titles  of 
honor,  which  he  looked  upon  as  beneath  the  name  of  O'Neill.  The 
commissioners  who  were  intrusted  with  the  negotiation,  received  from 
him  the  following  reply :  '  If  Elizabeth,  your  mistress,  be  queen  of 
England,  I  am  O'Neill,  king  of  Ulster  ;  I  never  made  peace  with  her 
without  having  been  previously  solicited  to  it  by  her.  I  am  not  am- 
bitious of  the  abject  title  of  earl ;  both  my  family  and  birth  raise  me 


♦         BATTLE  OF  DEURY.  DEFEAT  OF  THE  ENGLISH.       647 

above  it.  I  will  not  yield  precedence  to  any  one' ;  my  ancestors  have 
been  kings  of  Ulster.  I  have  gained  that  kingdom  by  my  sword,  and  by 
the  sword  I  will  preserve  it.'  He  then  spoke  contemptuously  of 
M'Carty  More,  who  had  just  accepted  the  title  of  earl. 

The  English  government,  finding  O'Neill  fixed  in  his  determination, 
thought  necessary  to  use  force  against  him.  For  this  purpose.  Colonel 
Randolph  was  despatched,  at  the  head  of  seven  hundred  men,  to  Derry, 
a  small  town  in  the  northern  extremity  of  Tyrone.  They  took  posses- 
sion of  the  town,  and  converted  the  ancient  church  of  St.  Columbe 
into  a  magazine  for  powder  and  warlike  stores  ;  the  priests  and  monks 
being  driven  out,  and  other  sacrileges  committed  in  the  churches. 

O'Neill  saw  plainly  that  it  was  against  his  interest  to  suffer  an  enemy 
to  establish  a  garrison  so  near,  and  always  in  readiness  to  attack  him. 
He  marched,  therefore,  to  Derry,  without  loss  of  time,  with  two  thousand 
five  hundred  infantry,  and  three  hundred  cavalry,  and  posted  himself 
within  two  miles  of  the  town.  They  soon  came  to  an  engagement, 
and,  during  or  subsequent  to  the  battle,  the  powder  magazine  took  fire, 
and  the  town  and  fort  of  Derry  were  blown  up,  by  which  nearly  seven 
hundred  Englishmen,  and  Randolph,  their  chief,  met  a  miserable  end. 

Discord  still  prevailed  between  O'Neill  and  O'Donnel.  The  latter 
was  supported  by  the  English,  whose  aim  was  to  weaken  O'Neill,  as 
his  power  was  an  obstacle  to  the  reformation,  which  they  wished  to 
introduce  into  Ireland,  and  to  the  conquest  of  the  country,  which  was 
not  yet  complete.  These  two  princes  fought  many  battles  with  unequal 
success.  O'Neill,  at  length,  having  collected  all  his  forces,  gained,  over 
the  queen's  troops  that  were  sent  to  assist  O'Donnel,  the  celebrated 
victory  of  the  red  Sagums,  called,  in  the  Irish  language,  '  Cah  na 
gassogues  DeargsJ  In  this  battle,  four  hundred  English  soldiers  were 
killed,  besides  several  officers  who  had  lately  arrived  from  England. 

The  great  exploits  of  O'Neill  were  not  sufficient  to  save  him 
from  ruin.  He  was  brave,  and  his  vassals  well  disciplined  ;  but  they 
fought  better  in  the  field  than  in  their  attacks  on  towns,  or  in  defending 
them.  The  English  deputy  was  more  frequendy  victorious  by  strata- 
gem than  by  force  of  arms ;  he  was  in  possession  of  fortifications  and 
garrisons,  from  which  he  made  occasional  incursions  on  the  lands  of 
O'Neill,  and  was  artful  enough  to  foment  discord  between  that  prince 
and  his  neighbors.  He  detached  Maguire,  of  Fermanagh,  a  powerful 
nobleman  of  the  country,  from  his  interest,  and  always  supported 
O'Donnel  against  him  ;  so  that  O'Neill,  finding  himself  hemmed  in  on 
all  sides,  and  his  forces  weakened,  was  reduced  to  the  sad  alternative  of 


648  FALL    OF    o'nEILL. HIS    SUCCESSOR. 

seeking  safety  among  his  enemies.  He  had  twice  defeated  the  Scotch ; 
in  the  first  battle,  he  had  killed  their  chief,  James  M'Donnel,  and  in  the 
second,  Surly  Boy  M'Donnel,  brother  of  the  latter,  was  taken  prisoner. 
Still  his  misfortunes  forced  him  to  have  recourse  to  those  whom  he  had 
beaten.  He  restored  Surly  Boy  to  his  liberty,  and  set  out  for  Northern 
Clanneboy,  where  the  Scotch,  to  the  number  of  six  hundred,  were  en- 
camped, under  the  command  of  Alexander  M'Donnel,  A.  D.  1567. 
O'Neill  appeared  with  a  few  attendants  in  the  camp,  where  he  was 
received  with  apparent  politeness ;  but  the  Scotch,  either  through  re- 
venge for  the  injuries  they  had  received  from  him,  or  hoping  to  obtain 
a  considei'able  reward  from  the  English  government,  stabbed  him,  with 
all  his  followers,  and  sent  his  head  to  the  deputy,  who  exposed  it  upon 
a  pole  on  the  castle  of  Dublin. 

An  account  of  the  expenses  of  this  war  against  O'Neill  was  sent  to 
the  queen  ;  according  to  which  it  amounted  to  one  hundred  and  forty- 
seven  thousand  four  hundred  and  seven  pounds  sterhng,  besides  the 
taxes  raised  on  the  country.  Her  majesty  also  lost  about  three 
thousand  five  hundred  men  of  her  own  troops,  who  were  killed  by  the 
Ulster  prince  and  his  allies,  with  several  of  the  L-ish  and  Scotch,  who 
had  taken  up  arms  against  him. 

Turlough  Lynogh  O'Neill,  who  had  been  acknowledged  chief  of 
that  illustrious  name,  continued  to  support  the  cause  of  his  country. 
The  noblemen  of  Ulster  and  Scodand  made  frequent  alliances,  about 
that  time.  O'Neill  married  the  Earl  of  Argyle's  aunt,  and  kept  Scotch 
troops  in  his  pay.  This  prince  was  planning  an  expedition  against  the 
English  province,  but  was  prevented  from  carrying  it  into  execution. 
His  life  being  endangered  by  a  musket-shot  he  received  either  by  acci- 
dent or  by  design,  the  Scotch  began  to  desert  him,  and  the  tribe  was 
about  to  appoint  another  chief.  Having,  however,  recovered,  while  pre- 
paring to  accomplish  his  first  project  against  the  English,  the  deputy 
despatched  two  commissioners,  Judge  Dovvdal  and  the  Dean  of  Armagh, 
on  the  part  of  the  queen,  to  his  camp  at  Dungannon  ;  and  a  treaty  was 
entered  into  between  them  in  January,  which  was  ratified  by  the  deputy 
in  the  month  of  March  following. 

Thomas  Smith,  an  Englishinavi,  and  counsellor  to  the  queen,  finding 
that  his  countrymen  were  making  rapid  fortunes  in  Ireland,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  old  inhabitants,  and  wishing  to  have  a  share  in  the  spoils, 
asked  permission  from  his  royal  mistress  to  send  over  his  son  to  found, 
an  English  colony  at  Ardes,  in  Ulster.  The  queen  having  given  her 
consent,  young  Smith  was  equipped  for  the  enterprise.     One  Chatter- 


COSBy's    massacres.  AID    FROM    THE    POPE.  649 

ton  being  appointed  his  governor,  with  a  suitable  retinue,  they  sailed 
for- Ireland;  but,  on  approaching  the  place  of  his  destination,  unfortu- 
nately for  Smith,  he  met  Brien  M'Art  O'Neill,  to  whom  Ardes  be- 
longed, ready  to  receive  him.  The  pretended  Lord  of  Ardes  was 
killed  in  a  skirmish,  and  his  troops  dispersed  by  Brien  M'Art. 

Francis  Cosby,  being  appointed  governor  of  Leix,  ruled  that  coun- 
try as  a  true  tyrant.  His  son  Alexander  equalled  him  in  cruelty,  and 
wreaked  his  vengeance  on  inoffensive  Catholics  for  the  hard  treatment 
he  had  received  from  O'Morra,  [O'Moore.]  Having  convened  a  meet- 
ing of  the  principal  inhabitants  in  the  castle  of  Moliach,  under  pre- 
tence of  the  public  welfare,  he  had  them  all  murdered  by  assassins 
posted  there  for  the  purpose,  violating  thereby  all  honor  and  public 
faith.  One  hundred  and  eighty  men  of  the  family  of  O'jMorra.  with 
many  others,  were  put  to  death  upon  this  occasion.  This  cruel  and 
bloody  tyrant  took  such  delight  in  putting  Catholics  to  the  torture,  that 
he  hanged  men,  women,  and  children,  by  dozens,  from  an  elm-tree  that 
grew  before  his  door,  at  Stradbally,  where  he  resided.  He  subsequently 
lost  his  life  at  the  battle  of  Glendaloch. 

Fitzmaurice,  one  of  the  southern  chieftains,  made  his  way  to  Rome, 
to  solicit  money  and  military  assistance  from  the  pope,  for  the  protection 
of  the  Catholics.  His  holiness  advanced  him  a  considerable  sum,  and 
raised  two  thousand  volunteers,  who  were  to  assemble  in  Portugal. 
About  the  half  of  this  force  did  assemble  under  Stukely,  a  foreigner,  at 
Lisbon  ;  but,  on  his  arrival,  this  treacherous  leader,  with  his  whole  force, 
joined  the  king  of  Portugal,  in  his  M^ars  on  Africa.  When  Fitzmaurice 
arrived  with  the  remainder  of  the  force,  amounting  to  seven  or  eight 
hundred,  great  was  his  mortification  to  find  what  had  occurred.  How- 
ever, he  embarked  his  litde  army  in-  six  small  vessels,  and  arrived  safe, 
bringing  arms  for  four  thousand  men,  with  suitable  ammunition.  He 
got  into  the  harbor  of  Smerwick,  in  the  county  of  Kerry,  in  July, 
1579.  Here  he  threw  up  some  fortifications,*  and  called  around  him 
the  neighboring  chiefs.  They  soon  drove  the  English  out  of  Tralee, 
put  their  chiefs  to  the  sword,  and  then  prepared  to  march  tov/ards 
Connaught. 

Previous  to  the  march  of  the  grand  army,  Fitzmaurice,  with  a 
few  men,  went  into  the  friendly  parts  of  Connaught,  with  the  view  of 
conciliating  the  chiefs ;  but,  on  his  way,  he  was  attacked  by  Theobald 
Burke,  of  Castle  Connel,  who,  from  a  desire  to  please  Elizabeth,  sacri- 
ficed religion  and  country.  Finding  it  impossible  to  avoid  an  engage- 
ment, Fitzmaurice  resolved  to  conquer  or  die.  Being  wounded  in  the 
82 


650  SUCCESS    OF    DESMOND    AGAINST    THE    QUEEN. 

breast  by  a  musket-ball,  and  roused  to  a  last  effort,  he  cleared  a  passage 
through  the  enemy,  and  cut  off  the  head  of  Burke  with  a  single  blow. 
The  brothers  of  that  captain  fell  also,  and  their  entire  force  was  routed. 
The  victory,  however,  proved  a  dear  one  to  Fitzmaurice.  His  wound 
being  mortal,  he  died  in  six  hours  after  the  action. 

Sir  John  Desmond  took  the  command  of  the  Catholic  army,  accord- 
ing to  the  will  of  Fitzmaurice  ;  and  now  the  English  deputy  penetrated 
into  Munster,  in  order  to  extinguish  the  rebellion.  Sir  John  Desmond 
posted  himself  near  a  forest  called  Blackwood  ;  whither  the  English 
deputy  sent  a  strong  detachment,  under  Captains  Herbert  and  Price, 
with  orders  to  force  his  camp.  On  the  appearance  of  the  English,  both 
armies  drew  up  in  order  of  battle  ;  the  first  shock  was  favorable  to  the 
English,  but  they  were  afterwards  cut  to  pieces  by  a  body  of  men 
whicli  Desmond  had  concealed  in  the  wood,  and  which,  attacking  them 
in  flank,  soon  destroyed  them.  A  great  number  was  killed,  and 
amongst  them  Herbert  and  Price. 

The  loss  of  this  battle  caused  great  affliction  to  the  English  deputy, 
but  he  was  relieved  by  the  arrival  of  six  hundred  English,  under  Captains 
Bourcheir,  Carew,  and  Dowdal,  sent  by  the  queen  to  Waterford,  to 
reenforce  the  army.  Sir  John  Perrot  arrived  in  Cork,  with  six  vessels, 
to  protect  the  coast.  Being  joined  by  this  reenforcement,  the  deputy 
went  on  another  equally  unsuccessful  expedition  to  Counello.  Having 
fallen  sick  from  excess  of  fatigue,  he  sent  for  Malby,  the  governor  of 
Connaught,  to  command  the  troops,  and  withdrew  to  Waterford. 

Various  now  were  the  successes  and  reverses  of  the  brave  Desmond. 
During  all  these  changes,  the  English  army  was  continually  increasing, 
whilst  the  gold  and  promises  of  Elizabeth  were  daily  winning  off 
the  supporters  of  her  brave  opponent.  Every  mean  act  of  treachery 
towards  Desmond,  committed  by  any  of  his  degraded  countrymen,  was 
rewarded  with  magnificent  grants  of  land  and  titles.  Those  of  his  fol- 
lowers, who  were  caught,  obtained  no  quarter  from  the  English.  It  was 
death  to  correspond  with  him. 

In  the  mean  time  a  new  deputy,  named  Greij,  was  sent  to  Ireland, 
who,  like  most  of  the  English  deputies  on  their  first  arrival,  set  out 
through  the  country  with  a  view  to  whip  it  into  subjection  by  a  few 
shots.  This  braggadocio  marched  to  the  Wicklow  Mountains,  where 
the  Irish,  under  the  chieftain  O'Byrne,  were  posted.  Grey  collected  for 
this  expedition  all  the  troops  of  Leinster;  but  at  the  memorable  wood  of 
Glendaloch  he  was,  after  a  long  and  obstinate  battle,  defeated  by  the 


SURRENDER    OF    THE    SPANISH    GARRISON.  651 

Irish.  A  dreadful  carnage  was  made  of  the  Enghsh  troops,  and  the 
deputy  and  his  staff  flew  for  safety  to  DubHn.  At  this  battle,  Cosby, 
who  took  such  delight  in  hanging  Catholics,  fell  an  unmourned  victim  of 
his  own  cruelty. 

The  deputy  now  collected  the  remnant  of  his  forces,  and,  with  the 
supplies  from  England,  proceeded  to  the  south,  where  the  Spaniards, 
under  Desmond,  were  still  unconquered.  He  laid  siege,  by  sea  and 
land,  to  the  garrison  of  Smerwick,  which  bravely  held  out  several 
weeks.  At  length,  a  flag  of  truce  was  sent  to  the  garrison.  Deputies 
were  appointed  to  treat.  Some  confusion  occurred  between  the  inter- 
preters and  the  Spanish  commander.  Large  terms  were  offered  to  the 
garrison-,  who.  being  many  days  without  provisions,  clamored  for  a 
capitulation  :  it  was  at  length  accepted,  and  as  soon  as  these  poor 
fellows,  numbering  six  hundred,  laid  down  their  arms,  they  were  in- 
stantly butchered  by  their  honorable  enemy.  It  is  from  this  event 
that  Jldes  Greia,  or  '  the  faith  of  Grey,'  became  a  phrase  expressive 
of  perfidy. 

John  Desmond,  brother  of  the  hero  Desmond,  was  shortly  after, 
when  nearly  alone,  waylaid  by  the  English,  while  about  to  cross  the 
River  Blackwater.  He  was  wounded  in  the  heroic  conflict  with  his 
captors,  and  died  on  his  way  to  Cork,  whither  they  carried  his  body, 
having  sent  his  head  to  Dublin,  where  it  was  placed  on  the  castle ;  and 
his  body  was  tied  to  a  gibbet,  at  the  gates  of  Cork,  where  it  remained 
three  years,  till  it  was  carried  into  the  sea  by  the  wind. 

We  have  now  come  to  the  last  year  of  the  life  of  Desmond,  A.  D. 
1583.  Finding  himself  unassisted  by  the  Spaniards,  and  deserted  by 
his  adherents,  he  became  a  fugitive  through  the  country.  On  arriving 
in  the  county  of  Kerry,  with  a  few  followers,  he  took  refuge  in  a 
small  house  in  the  middle  of  a  wood,  called  Gleam-a-Ginkie,  four 
miles  from  Tralee,  where  he  was  subsisted  by  whatever  GofFred 
M'Sweeny,  who  was  faithfully  attached  to  him,  could  procure  by 
hunting.  Being  surprised  at  length  by  his  enemies,  his  head  was  cut 
off,  and  sent  to  Cork,  whence  it  was  brought  soon  after  to  England, 
fastened  on  a  pole,  and  exposed  to  public  view  on  the  bridge  of 
London. 

Thus  perished  the  hopes  of  Ireland  in  the  south  ;  for  the  smaller 
chieftains  now  fell  an  easy  prey  before  the  accumulated  troops  from 
England. 

Persecution,  which  had  somewhat  abated  during  the  war,  began 
anew  with  increased  severity  after  the  death  of  the  Earl  of  Desmond 


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DREADFUL    PERSECUTIONS.  653 

had  his  plan  for  the  pacification  of  Ireland.  It  was  no  other  than  that 
of  creating  famine  and  insuring  pestilence !  And  he  encouraged  the 
repetition  of  these  diabolical  means  by  his  own  evidence  of  their  efficacy. 
He  recommended,  indeed,  that  twenty  days  should  be  given  to  the  Irish 
to  come  in  and  submit,  after  the  expiration  of  which  time  they  were  to 
be  shown  no  mercy.  But  let  me  quote  his  own  words  :  '  The  end 
will  (I  assure  mee)  bee  very  short,  and  much  sooner  than  it  can  be  in 
so  greate  a  trouble  as  it  seemeth  hoped  for ;  altho  there  should  none  of 
them  fall  by  the  sword,  nor  be  slaine  by  the  soldiour,  yet,  thus  being 
kept  from  manurance,  and  their  catde  from  running  abroad,  by  hard 
restraint,  they  would  quietly  consume  themselves,  and  devour 
ONE  another.'  —  Spenser^ s  Ireland,  p.  165. 

"  These  counsels  of  Spenser  were  carried  into  effect.  Take  the  fol- 
lowing specimens  from  Hollinshead's  description  of  the  progress  of  the 
English  army  in  the  south,  during  the  contest  with  Desmond,  who  was, 
in  fact,  forced  into  rebellion  :  '  As  they  went,  they  drove  the  whole 
country  before  them  into  the  Ventrie,  and  by  that  means  they  preyed 
and  took  all  the  cattle  in  the  country,  to  the  number  of  eight  thousand 
kine,  besides  horses,  garrons,  sheep,  and  goats  ;  and  all  such  people  as 
met,  they  did  tmthout  mercy  put  to  the  sword.  By  these  means,  the 
whole  country  having  no  catUe  nor  kine  left,  they  were  driven  to  such 
extremities  that,  for  want  of  victuals,  they  were  either  to  die  and  perish 
for  famine,  or  to  die  under  the  sword.'  — Hollinshcad,  VI.  427. 

"  '  The  soldiers  likewise,  in  the  camp,  were  so  hot  upon  the  spur,  and 
so  eager  upon  the  vile  rebels,  that  day,  they  spared  neither  man, 
woman,  nor  child,  but  all  was  committed  to  the  sword.'  —  Hollins- 
head,  VI.  430. 

"  I  give  the  next  quotation  to  show  how  trivial  it  was  considered  to 
slaughter  four  hundred  unarmed  people  in  a  single  day  —  it  was  thought 
an  insufficient  day's  service :  '  The  next  daie  following,  being  the 
twelfe  of  March,  the  lord  justice  and  the  earle  divided  dieir  armie  into 
two  several  companies,  by  two  ensigns  and  three  together,  the  lord  jus- 
tice taking  the  one  side  of  Sleughlogher ;  and  so  they  searched,  the  woods, 
burned  the  town,  and  Icilled  that  daie  about  foure  hundred  men,  and 
returned  that  night  ivith  all  the  cattle  which  they  found  that  day. 
And  the  said  lords  being  not  satisfied  with  his  dale's  service,  they  did 
likewise  the  next  daie  divide  themselves,  spoiled  and  consumed  the 
whole  countrie  until  it  was  night.'  —  Hollinshcad,  VI.  430. 

"This  is  but  a  specimen  of  the  mode  in  which  the  war  was  carried  on, 
I  give  a  few  more  instances,  and  I  could  multiply  them  by  hundreds  • 


654  DREADFUL    PERSECtTTIONS. 

'  He  divided  his  companies  into  foure  parts,  and  they  entered  into  foure 
severall  places  of  the  wood  at  one  instant,  and  by  that  means  they 
scoured  the  wood  throughout,  in  MUing  as  manie  as  they  tooJce,  but  the 
residue  fled  into  the  mountains.'  —  HoUinshead,  VI.  452. 

" '  Tliere  were  some  of  the  Irish  taken  prisoners  that  offered  great 
ransomes,  but  presently,  upon  their  bringing  to  the  campe,  they  were 
hanged.''  — Pacata  Hibernia,  421. 

"  Here  are  some  specimens  of  the  way  in  which  they  were  working  out 
Spenser's  plan :  '  By  reason  of  the  continuall  persecuting  of  the 
rebells,  who  could  have  no  breath  nor  rest  to  relieve  themselves,  but 
were  alwaies  by  one  garrison  or  other  hurt  and  pursued ;  and  by  reason 
the  harvest  was  taken  from  them,  their  cattells,  in  great  numbers,  preied 
from  then),  and  the  whole  countrie  spoiled  and  preied,  the  poor  people, 
who  lived  only  on  their  labors,  and  fed  by  their  milch  cowes,  were  so 
distressed,  that  they  would  follow  after  their  goods  which  were  taken 
from  them,  and  offer  themselves,  their  wives,  and.  children,  rather  to  be 
slaine  by  the  armie,  than  to  suffer  the  famine  wherewith  they  were  now 
pinched.'  —  HoUinshead,  VI.  433. 

"  Again,  take  the  following  from  Sir  George  Carew  :  '  The  presi- 
dent having  received  certaine  information,  that  the  Munster  fugitives 
were  harboured  in  those  parts,  having  before  burnt  all  the  houses  and 
come,  and  taken  great  preyes,  Owny,  Onubrian,  and  Kilquig,  a  strong 
and  fast  country,  not  farre  from  Limerick,  diverted  his  forces.  East 
Clanwilliam  and  Muskery  Guirke,  where  Pierce  Lacy  had  lately  be- 
come succoured  ;  and,  harrassing  the  country,  killed  all  mankind 
THAT  WERE  FOUND  THEREIN,  for  a  terrour  to  those  who  should  give 
releefe  to  runagate  traitors.  Thence,  wee  came  into  Arleaghe  Woods, 
where  wee  did  the  like,  Tjo^  leaving  behind  us  man  or  beast,  corn  or 
cattle,    except   such    as    had    been    conveyed    into   castles.'      It  was 

THOUGHT  NO  ILL  POLICY  TO  MAKE  THE  IRISH  DRAW  BLOOD  UPON 
ONE    ANOTHER,    WHEREBY    THEIR    PRIVATE     QUARRELS    MlfiHT    ADVANCE 

THE  PUBLIC  INTEREST.  —  Pttcata  Hibemia,  189."  —  O'Connell's 
Memoir,  p.  86,  Casserly's  edition. 

I  cannot  intrude  upon  limited  space  the  many  similar  speci- 
mens which  are  to  be  found  in  O'Connell's  Memoir. 

"  O'Hurle,  archbishop  of  Cashel,  falling  into  the  hands  of  Sir  William 
Drury,  in  the  year  1579,  was  first  tortured  by  his  legs  being  immersed 
in  jack-boots  filled  with  quick  lime,  water,  &c.,  until  they  were  burnt 
to  the  bone,  in  order  to  force  him  to,  take  the  oath  of  supremacy  ;  and 
he  was  then,  with   other  circumstances  of  barbarity,   executed  on  the 


gallows.  As  this  martyr  was  dying,  he  told  his  persecutor,  Drury, 
that  he  should  meet  him  before  the  tribunal  of  Christ  within  ten  days ; 
and  it  came  to  pass  that  Drury  died  within  that  time,  suffering  the 
most  excruciating  pains.     According  to  Bourke's  Hibemia  Dominicina, 

IT  WAS  A  USUAL  THING  TO  BEAT  WITH  STONES  THE  SHORN  HEADS 
OF    THEIR    CLERGY     TILL     THEIR     BRAINS     GUSHED     OUT  ;     many     Were 

Stretched  upon  the  rack  or  pressed  under  weights;  others  had  their 
bowels  torn  open,  which  they  were  obliged  to  support  with,  their 
hands."  —  Milner's  Letters. 

Queen  Elizabeth,  in  her  instructions  to  Carew,  1598,  on  his  going 
over  to  carry  her  exterminating  schemes  into  operation,  authorized  her 
officers  to  "  put  suspected  Irish  to  the  rack,  and  to  torture  them  when 
they  should  find  it  convenient." 

Numberless  instances  occur  where  the  English  soldiers  fell  in  with 
sick  and  wounded  men  on  the  Irish  side,  attended  by  their  wives,  sisters, 
or  mothers,  every  one  of  whom,  including  women  and  children,  were 
put  to  death!  The  southern  province  became  totally  depopulated, 
except  within  the  cities,  exhibiting  a  hideous  scene  of  fan)ine  and 
desolation.  In  some  parts  of  Munster,  after  Desmond's  death,  after 
the  entire  suppression  of  his  revolt,  great  companies  of  Irishmen,  with 
their  women  and  children,  were  often  forced  into  castles  and  other 
houses,  which  were  then  set  on  fire,  and,  if  any  of  them  attempted  to 
escape  from  the  flames,  they  were  shot  or  stabbed  by  the  soldiers  who 
guarded  them.  It  was  a  diversion  to  these  inhuman  monsters  to  take 
up  infants  on  the  point  of  their  spears,  and  whirl  them  about  in  their 
agony,  apologizing  for  their  cruelty  by  saying,  that,  if  they  suffered 
them  to  live  to  grow  up,  they  would  become  Popish  rebels ;  many  of 
their  tvomen  ivere  found  hanging  on  trees,  with  their  children  at  their 
breasts,  strangled  with  the  mothers'  hair !  And  Hollinshead  proceeds 
in  the  horrible  detail  to  show  that  the  unfortunate  people  were  so  re- 
duced by  starvation,  that  they  took  up  dead  bodies  out  of  the  graves, 
and  ate  of  them  ;  and,  lastly,  di9  kill  and  devour  one  another,  as  dis- 
tressed and  starving  mariners  have  been  known  to  do  at  sea  ;  and  in  the 
entire  country,  from  Smerwicke,  in  the  south,  to  Waterford,  a  distance 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  not  a  human  being  or  beast  v*'as  to 
be  met  with,  nor  yet  a  blade  of  corn,  or  other  fruit  of  the  earth  ! 

Confiscation  now  commenced  on  a  grand  ^cale.  The  estates  of 
Desmond,  and  all  the  others  lately  found  in  opposition  to  the  invaders, 
were  parcelled  out.  Circulars  were  sent  into  England,  to  all  the 
nobility,  inviting  their  youngest   sons  to  come   and  settle  in    Ireland, 


656  HUGH    o'nEILL. SPANISH    ARMADA. 

on  certain  conditions,  one  of  which  was,  that  they  should  hold  these 
lands  from  the  crown,  at  threepence  per  acre,  in  the  counties  of 
Limerick,  Connelloe,  and  Kerry,  and  twopence  per  acre  in  the 
counties  of  Cork  and  Waterford  ;  and  that  no  Irishman  should  be 
suffered  to  reside   on   them. 

The  south  having  been  pretty  generally  subdued,  and  an  expedition 
of  two  thousand  Scotchmen,  who  came  to  aid  the  Irish,  having  been 
secretly  intercepted  and  destroyed,  Elizabeth  now  turned  her  attention 
to  the  north  of  Ireland,  which  had  been  purposely  left  unmolested  by 
the  crafty  queen,  until  the  subjection  of  the  south  could  be  established. 
She  loaded  the  great  Hugh  O'Neill  with  honors,  invited  him  to  court, 
and  begged  him  to  accept  the  title  of  Tyrone,  which  was  despised  and 
refused  by  his  father,  and  which  he  affected  to  accept  with  a  deep  sense 
of  the  honor.  But  O'Neill  was  a  wise  and  an  able  man  ;  he  had  been 
of  the  illustrious  house  of  the  Hy  Nialls,  who  were  monarchs  of  Ire- 
land on  St.  Patrick's  arrival,  and  who  continued  its  chief  monarchs 
till  the  eleventh  century,  when  the  succession  was  broken  up  by 
the  Munster  house,  in  the  person  of  Brien  Boroimhe.  O'Neill  in- 
curred the  queen's  displeasure  by  harboring  some  of  the  scattered 
Spanish  armada.  And  here  may  be  a  proper  place  to  insert  a  short 
account  of  that  celebrated  attempt  to  relieve  the  Catholics  of  both 
England  and  Ireland. 

Philip,  king  of  Spain,  finding  negotiations  unavailing,  turned  his 
thoughts  to  war,  and  determined  to  make  a  descent  upon  England. 
For  this  purpose,  he  equipped  the  most  formidable  fleet  that  had  been 
ever  known,  from  whence  it  was  called  the  invincible  armada.  This  fleet 
consisted  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  vessels,  of  various  sizes,  having  on 
board  nineteen  thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety  troops,  eight  thousand 
and  fifty  sailors,,  two  thousand  and  eighty  .men  from  the  galleys,  and 
two  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty  pieces  of  cannon.  The  Prince  of 
Parma,  governor  of  the  Low  Countries,  received  orders  to  hold  himself 
in  readiness,  with  the  fifty  thousand  men  he  commanded,  and  to  have 
boats  of  a  crooked  form,  and  deep  in  the  centre,  (each  of  which  was  to 
contain  thirty  horses,)  constructed.  With  these  boats,  he  intended  to 
convey  his  army  to  the  mouth  of  the  Thames,  at  the  time  of  the  in- 
tended arrival  of  the  fleet  from  Spain. 

On  the  other  hand,  all  the  measures  necessary  to  oppose  the  designs 
of  the  Spaniards  were  adopted  by  the  queen  of  England.  Admiral 
Lord  Charles  Howard,  and  Vice-Admiral  Sir  Francis  Drake,  had  orders 
to  repair  on  board  the  fleet  at  Plymouth.     Lord  Henry  Seymour,  at 


THE    SPANISH    ARMADA. o'rUAKK.  657 

the  bead  of  forty  English  and  Dutch  ships,  was  appointed  to  guard  the 
coasts  of  the  Low  Countries,  to  prevent  the  Prince  of  Parma  from  sail- 
ing. The  land  forces  were  stationed  along  the  southern  coast,  under 
the  command  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  who  established  his  bead-quar- 
ters at  Tilbury,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Thames.  The  ports  on  every 
side  were  fortified  and  strongly  garrisoned. 

Matters  being  thus  prepared  on  both  sides,  the  Spanish  fleet,  com- 
manded by  the  Duke  of  Medina,  and  Jean  Martin  Recalde,  vice-admiral, 
sailed  from  the  Tagus  on  the  20th  May.  Soon  after  sailing,  the  fleet 
was  dispersed  in  a  violent  gale.  Having,  however,  collected  the  vessels 
again  with  difficulty,  they  appeared,  in  July,  on  the  coast  of  England. 
The  English  fleet,  stationed  at  Plymouth,  set  sail  immediately,  and,  in 
the  course  of  six  days,  three  battles  were  fought  with  unequal  success. 
The  Spaniards,  hoping  to  receive  assistance  from  the  Prince  of  Parma, 
cast  anchor  opposite  Calais.  The  Spanish  admiral  despatched  a 
courier  to  the  prince,  with  orders  to  join  the  fleet  with  his  troops,  and, 
in  the  mean  time,  to  send  him  some  cannon  balls,  of  which  he  was  in 
extreme  need.     This  the  prince  could  not  accomplish. 

The  expedition  was  fatal  to  the  Spaniards,  but  the  English,  accord- 
ing to  their  national  characteristic,  boast  too  highly  of  their  success. 
The  Spanish  fleet  was,  in  the  beginning,  shattered  by  a  violent  storm, 
and,  on  the  coast  of  Britain,  it  was  disappointed  of  the  succors  that 
were  expected  from  the  Low  Countries,  with  which  hope  the  expedition 
had  been  principally  undertaken.  In  their  battles  with  the  English,  the 
Spaniards  were  in  want  of  ammunition  ;  their  fleet,  too,  consisted  of 
large  ships,  hard  to  be  managed,  without  frigates  or  small  vessels,  so 
necessary  in  an  engagement.  The  advantage  was  entirely  in  favor  of 
the  English. 

All  hopes  of  succeeding  on  the  shores  of  England  being  destroyed, 
the  Spanish  admiral  sailed  for  Spain,  through  the  Orkneys.  When 
coasting  round  the  north  of  Ireland,  his  fleet  was  v^recked,  whereby  he 
lost  more  men  and  ships  than  in  his  battles  with  the  English.  The 
disappointment  evinced  by  PhiHp,  when  informed  of  this  circumstance, 
and  of  the  defeat  of  his  fleet,  was  mildly  expressed  in  these  words : 
"  I  sent  them  to  fight  against  men,  not  with  the  elements." 

The  gallant  O'Ruark,  of  Breffiiy,  for  having  treated  some  of  those 

Spaniards  hospitably,  and  for  refusing  to  give  them  up  to  the   English 

governor,  was   brought  to   England,  condemned  by  the  council,  and 

beheaded.     Scandal  has  whispered  that  the  queen,  falling  in  love  with 

83 


658  DUBLIN    UNIVERSITY. 

his  fine  person,  kept  him  in  her  palace  for  some  time,  ere,  like  other 
of  her  favorites,  she  sent  him  to  the  block. 

Elizabeth,  about  this  time,  revived  the  Dublin  University.  In  a 
debate,  which  took  place  in  the  month  of  July,  1844,  in  the  British  parlia- 
ment, Mr.  Wyse,  the  member  for  Waterford,  gave  the  following  account 
of  this  university,  which  was  uncontradicted  by  any  member :  — 

"  It  was  said,  indeed,  that  the  Dublin  University  was  necessarily  a 
Protestant  university.  It  was  generally  supposed  to  have  been  founded 
by  Elizabeth,  but  that  was  merely  a  revival.  A  university  was  founded 
at  an  early  period,  in  1312,  by  John  Elyard,  bishop  of  Dublin,  who 
obtained  a  bull  from  the  pope,  to  confirm  the  foundation.  It  was  after- 
wards richly  endowed  by  several  persons.  In  1475,  the  university  was 
revived  in  the  capital,  and  a  fresh  bull  issued  to  renew  the  foundation, 
owing  to  the  exertions  of  the  Dominican  friars.  This  university  was 
long  supported  by  those  who  resorted  there.  But  in  Elizabeth's  time, 
the  establishment  was  for  the  education  of  youth,  without  any  inter- 
ference with  their  religion.  From  the  commons' journals  of  Ireland,  it  _ 
appeared  that  continual  interference  was  made  with  the  establishment ; 
and  the  preservation  of  its  library  was,  ultimately,  entirely  ow  ing  to  the 
exertions  of  a  Catholic  missionary.  Catholics  were  at  length  excluded 
in  1703,  not  from  education  there,  certainly,  but  from  the  fellowships  ; 
and  so  it  had  continued  down  to  the  present  time.  No  doubt,  as  re- 
garded the  professorships,  a  few  were  filled  by  Catholics.  One  of  those 
was  the  professorship  of  foreign  languages.  Now,  what  were  the  funds 
of  this  college  ?  He  could  not  speak  positively,  but  he  understood  the 
landed  pro[)erty,  belonging  to  the  university,  to  be  not  less  than  two 
hundred  and  thirty-one  thousand  acres  in  extent." 

CDonnel,  and  two  other  northern  princes,  who  had  been  in  close 
confinement,  in  Dublin  Castle,  for  seven  years,  found  means  to  escape.* 
O'Donnel,  who  was  next  in  rank  to  O'Neill,  now  raised  the  standard 
of  revolt  against  England.  Assisted  by  Maguire,  the  Lord  of  Fer- 
managh, they  raised  a  resolute  force,  with  which  they  attacked  the 
English,  and  all  those  who  aided  them,  in  every  direction  :  for  a  while 
their  success  was  astonishing,  extending  into  Connaught,  and  through 
other  parts  of  the  country,  and  alarming  very  seriously  the  queen's  deputy. 

The  Earl  of  Kildare,  and  O'Byrne,  of  Wicklow,  raised  the  standard 
of  revolt  in  Leinster,  which  they  overran  ;  but,  having  received  advan- 
tageous terms  of  peace  from  the  queen,  they  relapsed  again  into  inactivity. 
O'Donnell  and  Maguire  made  a  gallant  stand  against  a  large  force  of  the 
English  invaders,  on  the  banks  of  the  River  Farna,  near  Inniskillsn. 
•  They  got  out  through  the  sewer  which  led  from  the  tower  to  tlie  River  Poddle. 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  NORTH  AND  IN  CONNAUGHT.        659 

Both  armies  passed  the  night  in  firing  on  each  other.  At  break  of  day, 
the  English  general,  having  discovered  a  ford,  made  his  army  cross  the 
river,  and  marched  towards  the  enemy  in  battle  array.  The  battle 
began  at  eleven  in  the  morning,  and  lasted  till  night,  with  great  slaugh- 
ter on  both  sides  ;  but  the  English  were  at  length  completely  routed,  by 
the  superior  skill  of  tbe  Irish  generals,  and  the  bravery  of  the  soldiers 
under  their  command.  Those  who  escaped  the  carnage  endeavored  to 
repass  the  river ;  but,  being  pursued  by  the  Irish,  several  were  drowned 
in  the  endeavor  to  escape.  According  even  to  Camden,  the  loss  of  the 
English  was  immense ;  which  avowal,  from  Englishmen,  is  worthy  of 
remark.  The  place  where  the  battle  was  fought  was  called  Vadum  Bis- 
coctorum  Panum,  or  the  Ford  of  Biscuits  ;  the  confusion  of  the  English 
being  so  great,  that  they  were  obliged  to  throw  the  biscuit  which  had 
been  intended  for  the  garrison  of  Inniskillen  into  the  river.  This  gar- 
rison, having  now  lost  all  hopes  of  succor,  from  the  defeat  of  their 
countrymen,  opened  the  gates  to  O'Donnel,  who  restored  it  to 
Maguire,  to  whom  it  belonged. 

After  the  reduction  of  Inniskillen,  O'Donnel  tflarched  to  Connaught, 
to  revenge  the  tyranny  which  had  been  practised  in  that  province  by 
Bingham,  the  governor.  He  carried  terror  wherever  he  passed,  putting 
every  English  Protestant,  from  the  age  of  fifteen  to  sixty,  who  could  not 
speak  Irish,  to  the  sword.  O'Donnel  afterwards  entered  Annaly,  and 
burned  the  district  of  Longford,  which  belonged  to  the  O'Ferrals.  It 
had  been  usurped  by  an  English  Protestant,  named  Brown  ;  so  that 
the  English  in  Connaught,  who  escaped  the  sword  of  the  conqueror, 
being  deprived  of  all  they  had  amassed,  except  those  who  were  under 
the  protection  of  the  garrisons  and  fortresses,  were  obliged  to  return  to 
England,  highly  indignant  with  those  who  had  induced  them  to  seek 
their  fortunes  in  Ireland. 

Theobald  Burke,  a  powerful  lord  of  Connaught,  of  the  house  of 
M'William,  was  deprived,  about  this  time,  by  the  JEnglish,  of  the  estates 
of  his  ancestors,  and  confined  in  a  dungeon  at  Athlone.  Being  rescued 
from  his  captivity,  he  had  recourse  to  O'Donnel,  who  gave  him  a  body 
of  men,  to  assist  him  in  recovering  his  patrimony.  Burke  thereon  re- 
turned to  his  province,  laid  siege  to  Bealike,  one  of  his  fortresses,  which 
was  in  possession  of  the  English,  and  defeated  George  Bingham  and 
other  chiefs,  who  were  advancing,  at  the  head  of  an  English  army,  to 
the  relief  of  the  besieged. 

Such  was  the  state  of  affairs  in  Ulster.  War  was  raging  between  the 
principal  nobles  of  the  province  and  the  English  force.  Disturbances 
also  began  to  break  out  in  the  provinces  of  Leinster  and  Connaught. 


660  THE    GREAT    HUGH    o'nEILL. 

Hugh  O'Neill,  Earl  of  Tyrone,  had  acted  his  part  ably.  He  had 
spent  seven  years  in  organizing  his  forces,  and  in  providing  provisions, 
and  all  sorts  of  warlike  stores.  He  always  appeared  to  act  in  the 
queen's  interests :  still  the  English  distrusted  him,  while  the  Irish  blamed 
his  inactivity.  During  his  occasional  sojourns  in  England,  he  made 
himself  master  of  their  tactics,  which  he  combined  with  those  of  Ireland, 
and  was  thus  enabled  to  discipline  the  germ  of  the  best  military  force 
that  ever  appeared  in  Ireland.  In  order  to  avoid  giving  the  English 
any  alarm,  it  was  his  practice  to  disband  his  men  as  soon  as  they  became 
'perfectly  disciplined,  and  to  call  around  him  a  new  set  from  the  felds, 
who  were,  in  turn,  disbanded,  to  make  ivay  for  other  sets  in  like  suc- 
cession, whom  it  was  his  delight  and  amusement  to  instruct.  In  this 
way,  he  formed  a  peasant  army  of  about  five  or  six  thousand  men,  who 
gave  to  other  parts  of  Ireland,  during  the  war,  a  race  of  commanders 
which  all  the  power  of  England,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  following  pages, 
could  not  subdue. 

He  only  waited  a  favorable  moment  to  avow  himself;  and  this  year 
(A.  D.  1595)  he  renounced  the  title  of  earl,  assumed  the  O^Neill, 
removed  the  mask,  and  declared  against  the  queen.  He  was  afterwards 
nominated  commander-in-chief  of  the  Irish  league,  which  consisted  of 
several  branches  of  the  O'Neills,  Maguires,  M'Mahons,  Magennises, 
M'Donnels,  O'Cahans,  O'Flannagans,  and  many  other  powerful  nobles 
of  the  province,  with  their  vassals.  O'Donnel,  on  his  side,  commanded 
the  Tyrconnel  troops.  These  princes  sometimes  acted  separately, 
but  always  for  the  good  of  the  common  cause,  which  was  that 
of  their  religion  and  their  country.  This  was  the  most  powerful 
opposition  which  the  Lish  had  yet  made  since  the  first  English 
invasion. 

The  frequent  victories  which  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  gained  over  the 
English  alarmed  the  court  of  England.  The  queen  was  so  afflicted  by 
these  disasters,  that  she  determined  to  put  an  end  to  them  by  subduing 
the  Catholics.  For  this  purpose,  she  sent  for  the  old  troops  who  were 
serving  in  the  Netherlands  against  Philip  II.,  and  despatched  three 
thousand  of  them  over  to  Ireland,  under  the  orders  of  Sir  John  Nonis, 
with  the  title  of  captain-general.  This  diversion  was  highly  favorable 
to  Spain. 

Norris,  having  landed  with  his  forces  in  Ireland,  was  joined  by  the 
deputy,  and  the  troops  under  his  command,  in  all  amounting  to  about 
ten  thousand  men.     The  deputy  requested  that  Baskervile  should  have 


NEW    INVASION.  NEGOTIATIONS.  661 

the  command  of  this  reenforcement ;  but  the  court  thought  proper  to 
confer  it  on  Norris,  as  being  more  experienced.  He  had  aheady  served 
in  Ireland,  as  governor  of  Munster ;  and,  having  afterwards  commanded 
the  English  army,  in  Brittany  and  the  Low  Countries,  against  the  king 
of  Spain,  he  was  considered  to  be  the  ablest  captain  in  England,  and 
capable  of  opposing  Tyrone.  He  was  so  fully  persuaded  of  this  him- 
self, that,  in  taking  leave  of  the  queen,  he  said  he  would  reduce  O'Neill 
to  obey  her  majesty,  or  force  him  to  leave  Ireland.  He  did  not,  hoiv- 
ever,  accomplish  his  promise. 

O'Neill,  having  heard  that  Norris  was  marching  towards  Ulster,  col- 
lected his  forces,  and  began  hostilities,  by  taking  a  fort  called  Portmor, 
on  the  Blackwater,  near  the  district  of  Tyrone,  where  there  was  an 
English  garrison,  the  fortifications  of  which  he  destroyed.  He  dien 
marched  to  lay  siege  to  Monaghan.  In  the  mean  time,  in  order  to  vin- 
dicate his  conduct,  O'Neill  wrote  letters,  in  the  form  of  manifestoes,  to 
the  Earl  of  Ormond,  Wallop,  and  Russel  the  deputy,  declaring  to  them 
that  it  was  not  his  wish  to  make  war,  but  to  live  in  peace  with  the  queen, 
provided  he  and  his  followers  were  allowed  to  profess  the  religion  of 
their  ancestors,  on  which  condition  he  was  ready  to  lay  down  his  arms. 
He  wrote  in  the  same  terms  to  the  queen  and  Captain  Norris ;  but  the 
two  last  letters  were  intercepted  and  suppressed  by  Marshal  Bagnal, 
who,  though  O'Neill's  brother-in-law,  was  his  avowed  enemy.  How- 
ever, instead  of  receiving  favorable  answers  to  his  letters,  he  was  pro- 
claimed a  rebel  and  a  traitor  to  his  country,  with  O'Donnel,  O'Rourke, 
Maguire,  and  M'Mahon. 

The  English  government,  after  some  little  time,  was  still  desirous  of 
treating  with  O'Neill  and  the  other  Catholic  confederates  ;  for  which 
purpose  they  agreed  upon  a  truce  of  two  months,  from  the  27th 
of  October  till  the  beginning  of  January.  In  the  mean  time,  the 
Castle  of  Monaghan  surrendered  to  the  besiegers,  commanded  by 
Conn,  (son  of  O'Neill,)  O'Donnel,  and  M'Mahon.  The  truce 
ended  on  the  1st  of  January.  On  the  8th,  the  government  sent 
a  commission  to  Sir  Robert  Gardiner  and  Sir  Henry  Wallop,  with  full 
power  to  conclude  a  treaty  with  the  Catholics  of  Ulster.  The  com- 
missioners repaired  to  Dundalk  ;  but  the  Irish,  through  distrust  of  the 
English,  refused  to  meet  them,  so  that  they  were  obliged  to  hold  the 
conference  in  a  plain,  in  presence  of  the  two  armies.  The  Catholics 
demanded  three  things  to  be  granted  —  first,  a  general  liberty  of  con- 
science ;  second,  a  full  pardon  for  the  past ;  and  lastly,  the  entire 
removal  of  the  English  garrisons,  their  sheriffs,  and  other  officers  of 


662  HOSTILITIES    COMMENCED. 

justice,  from  the  province,  except  the  towns  of  Newry  and  Carrickfergus. 
The  English  commissioners  not  approving  of  these  articles,  the  confer- 
ence ended  without  coming  to  any  decision,  except  that  of  renewing  the 
truce  till  the  1st  of  April, 

At  the  expiration  of  this,  Russel,  the  deputy,  and  General  Norris, 
led  their  army  to  Dundalk.  The  jealousy  between  these  two  noblemen 
about  the  command,  was  the  cause  of  much  disunion.  The  deputy  left 
Dundalk,  with  his  army,  to  possess  himself  of  Armagh  ;  but  O'Neill, 
accompanied  by  Maguire,  O'Cahan,  the  O'Hanlons,  and  other  nobles,  and 
their  men,  met  him  on  his  march.  The  action  began  at  Killcluona, 
with  great  fury  on  both  sides ;  but  the  English  were  forced  to  retreat  to 
Newry,  leaving  six  hundred  men  dead  on  the  field  of  battle.  O'Neill's 
loss  did  not  exceed  two  hundred  men. 

The  ill  success  of  the"  deputy,  in  Ulster,  made  him  quit  the  province, 
and  return  to  Dublin.  He  gave  up  his  command  of  the  troops  to 
Norris.  The  Catholics  of  Leinster  were  in  arms ;  Fiach,  son  of  Hugh, 
chief  of  the  O'Byrnes,  of  Wicklow,  and  Donald  Spaniagh,  or  the 
Spaniard,  chief  of  the  Cavenaghs,  having  united  their  forces,  ravaged 
the  whole  country,  from  Dublin  to  Wexford.  The  O'Connors  acted  in 
the  same  manner  in  OfFaly.  Connaught  was  disturbed,  and  the  in- 
habitants, being  joined  by  a  body  of  Scotch,  carried  terror  wherever 
they  marched.  The  deputy  led  his  army  to  this  province,  and  be- 
sieged Losmage  Castle,  belonging  to  O'Madden.  He  summoned  the 
garrison  to  surrender,  but  was  answered  by  the  besieged,  that,  were  his 
army  composed  of  deputies,  they  would  hold  out  to  the  last.  However, 
as  it  was  not  fortified,  he  made  himself  master  of  it,  the  besieged  having 
lost  about  forty-six  men. 

The  deputy  left  the  affairs  of  Ulster  to  Norris,  who  marched  towards 
Monaghan,  in  which  there  had  been  a  garrison,  since  it  was  abandoned 
by  the  Irish.  O'Neill,  on  receiving  intelligence  of  the  march  of  Norris, 
intercepted  him  at  Cluoin  Tiburuid,  in  a  plain  at  a  short  distance  from 
Monaghan.  Both  armies  were  divided  by  a  rivulet.  The  English 
general  endeavored  to  force  his  passage,  but  was  twice  repulsed  by  the 
Irish  fusileers  ;  he  had  a  horse  killed  under  him,  and  he,  with  his 
brother,  Thomas  Norris,  was  wounded  ;  after  which  the  action  of  an 
individual  decided  the  victory.  An  officer,  called  Segrave,  belonging  to 
the  army  of  Norris,  and  a  native  of  the  county  of  Meath,  led  on  a  de- 
tachment of  cavalry  to  attack  the  quarter  where  O'Neill  fought.  In  the 
midst  of  the  engagement,  Segrave  forced  his  way  to  the  chief,  and  en- 
gaged  him    in  single  combat.     The  two  heroes,    having  broken   two 


INVADERS    OFFEIl    TERMS    OF    PEACE    TO    o'nEILL.  663 

lances  each,  fell.  At  this  moment,  O'Neill,  attacking  his  adversary  with 
his  sword,  slew  him,  and,  by  his  success,  completed  the  defeat  of  the 
English,  who  left  seven  hundred  men  dead  upon  the  field  of  baiile. 
The  loss  of  the  Irish  was  inconsiderable.  The  day  following,  Norris, 
wishing  to  return  to  the  charge,  was  repulsed  with  some  loss  at  Bealach- 
Finnuis.  Monaghan  surrendered  to  the  Irish,  and  the  garrison  marched 
out  with  the  honors  of  war. 

Whilst  O'Neill  was  supporting  the  cause  of  his  country  so  gloriously 
in  Ulster,  O'Donnel  marched  to  the  relief  of  the  Irish  in  Con- 
naught.  Young  George  Bingham  occupied  the  Castle  of  Sligo,  at  that 
time,  with  a  garrison  of  two  hundred  men,  both  English  and  Irish.  The 
Irish  belonging  to  the  garrison  attacked  the  English,  slew  Bingham,  and 
gave  up  the  castle  to  O'Donnel,  who  appointed  Burke  to  the  govern- 
ment of  it.  About  the  same  time,  the  castle  of  Ballimot,  in  the  same 
county,  (Sligo,)  was  torn  from  the  elder  Bingham  by  Tumultach  and 
Cahal  M'Donagh,  to  whom  it  belonged.  After  the  taking  of  these  two 
places,  the  affairs  of  the  English  in  Connaught  were  in  a  very  un- 
promising state.     The  army  of  O'Donnel  kept  them  in  check. 

As  the  queen  and  her  council  were  particularly  desirous  of  making 
peace  with  O'Neill,  commissioners  were  frequently  appointed  to  propose 
terms  to  him.  General  Norris  and  Geoftroy  Fenton,  secretary  of 
state,  were  appointed  to  make  overtures  in  1596.  They  repaired  to 
Dundalk,  where  they  had  an  interview  with  O'Neill.  He  had  not  con- 
fidence enough  in  the  English  to  treat  with  them  ;  besides,  the  principal 
condition  he  required  was  a  freedom  of  religion,  so  that  this  conference 
was  not  more  successful  than  the  preceding  ones.  Sir  Edward  Moor 
was  soon  afterwards  intrusted  to  carry  the  queen's  pardon  to  O'Neill, 
which  he  peremptorily  refused. 

Three  small  vessels,  laden  with  powder,  arrived  about  ttiis  time  from 
Spain,  for  O'Donnel.  They  brought  two  hundred  men  also,  and 
promises  of  more  efficient  aid.  O'Neill  wrote  letters  on  the  common 
cause  to  Fiach,  chief  of  the  O'Byrnes,  and  other  noblemen  of  Leinster, 
his  allies,  to  which  he  received  favorable  answers.  He  kept  up  a  cor- 
respondence also  with  the  best  disposed  characters  in  Munster,  by  means 
of  the  clan  Shyhyes,  whom  he  sent  thither  for  that  purpose,  with  confi- 
dential letters  from  himself. 

His  letters  to  many  of  the  lords  of  Leinster  had  the  desired  effect. 
Fiach  O'Byrne  renewed  hostilities,  by  taking  the  fort  of  BalH-ne-cor, 
the  fortifications  of  which  he  destroyed.  The  O'Morras,  O'Connors, 
O'TooleSj  Cavenaghs,  and  Butlers,  took  up  arms  likewise,  and  demanded 


6B4  •  BATTLE    OF    ARMAGH. 

the  restoration  of  their  confiscated  estates.  The  deputy  marched 
against  O'Byrne  ;  the  Butlers  were  pursued  by  the  Earl  of  Ormond, 
who,  after  renouncing  his  religion,  persecuted  his  relatives ;  the  O'Mor- 
ras  and  O'Connors  were  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  Sir  Anthony  St* 
Leger.  Connaught  was  in  as  great  a  ferment  as  Leinster ;  Richard 
Bingham,  governor  of  that  province,  having  taken  up  arms  against  the 
Burkes  and  O'Rourkes. 

The  king  of  Spain  was  aware  that  Elizabeth  had  made  frequent 
proposals  of  peace  to  O'Neill,  O'Donnel,  and  the  other  Irish  lords. 
His  Catholic  majesty  sent  an  agent  to  encourage  these  princes  to  perse- 
vere, and  to  renew  the  promises  he  had  already  made  to  them.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  English  took  Armagh  by  surprise,  and  placed  a  garrison 
in  it.  O'Neill  beheld,  with  sorrow,  this  holy  city,  that  was  founded  by 
St.  Patrick,  profaned  by  the  invaders,  to  whom  nothing  was  sacred. 
The  garrison  was  strong,  and  protected  by  the  army,  which  was  en- 
camped near  it,  under  General  Norris.  O'Neill,  not  deeming  it  prudent 
to  undertake  a  siege,  brought  Norris  to  an  engagement  near  the  church 
of  Killoter.  The  English,  being  confident  in  their  strength,  were  eager 
to  engage,  but  were  vigorously  repulsed  and  put  to  flight  by  O'Neill's 
forces,  who  pursued  them  as  far  as  Armagh,  and  killed  several  of  their 
men.  After  this,  Norris  left  five  hundred  troops  in  the  garrison,  under 
the  command  of  Francis  Stafford,  and  withdrew,  with  the  remainder  of 
his  army,  towards  Dundalk.  O'Neill,  being  master  of  the  field,  was 
enabled  to  intercept  the  provisions  that  were  intended  for  Armagh,  so 
that  famine  was  the  consequence.  This  was  succeeded  by  a  plague, 
which  carried  off  their  men  in  great  numbers.  The  English  of  Dun- 
dalk, hearing  of  the  sad  condition  of  their  garrison  in  Armagh,  sent  a 
supply  of  provisions,  under  an  escort  of  three  companies  of  infantry 
and  a  troop  of  horse.  O'Neill  surprised  the  convoy,  and  put  the  troops 
that  were  guarding  it  to  the  sword.  His  penetrating  mind  guided  him 
in  turning  every  thing  to  advantage.  He  now  bethought  of  a  stratagem 
in  which  he  was  most  successful ;  he  got  some  of  his  men,  both  foot 
and  horse,  to  assume  the  uniform  of  the  English  who  were  killed,  and 
ordered  them  to  retreat  with  English  banners  towards  a  ruined  monastery 
that  was  within  a  gun-shot  of  Armagh.  The  prince  pursued  these  supposed 
English,  with  the  rest  of  his  troops,  within  view  of  the  garrison  ;  both 
parties  began  a  discharge  of  their  musketry,  loaded  only  with  powder ; 
whereupon  the  men,  as  instructed,  fell  on  every  side,  without  sustaining 
any  injury.  This  sham  battle  soon  drew  the  attention  of  the  garrison 
of  Armagh ;  Stafford,  the  commander,  gave  orders  that  half  of  the  gar- 


DEFEAT    OF    THE    INVADERS.  G65 

rison  should  take  up  arms,  and  advance  rapidly  to  the  field  of  battle,  to 
the  relief  of  their  supposed  countrymen.  The  English  found  not  only 
O'Neill's  troops,  but  those  to  whose  succor  they  came,  drawn  up  in 
order  of  battle,  and  ready  to  charge  them,  whilst  Conn,  son  of  O'Neill, 
who  lay  in  ambush  with  some  infantry  in  the  neighboring  monastery, 
attacked  them  in  the  rear.  The  English,  being  now  between  two  fires, 
were  cut  to  pieces,  within  view  of  the  garrison.  Stafford,  who  was  in 
Armagh,  finding  himself  outgeneraled,  submitted  to  O'Neill,  who  per- 
mitted him  to  join,  with  the  rest  of  the  garrison,  the  English  army  at 
Dundalk.  Upon  a  subsequent  occasion,  this  same  place  was  taken  by  the 
English,  and  retaken  by  O'Neill,  who,  with  unprecedented  magnanim- 
ity, sent,  on  both  occasions,  the  English  garrisons  back  to  their  general. 
O'Donnel,  accompanied  by  the  M'Sweeneys,  O'Dogherty,  the  brave 
Maguire,  O'Rourke,  M'William,  O'Kelly,  M'Dermot,  O'Connor  Roe, 
and  O'Dowd,  entered  Connaught  with  their  troops.  He  was  also  joined 
by  Murrough  M'Sweeney,  at  the  head  of  three  hundred  men,  whom  he 
assisted  in  a  petty  war  with  the  English,  during  two  years,  in  Munster. 
Clifford,  who  was  appointed  the  new  governor  of  Connaught,  had  not 
yet  arrived.  General  Norris  was  weary  of  serving  in  Ulster,  where, 
instead  of  gathering  fresh  laurels,  he  was  losing  those  which  he  had 
gained  in  foreign  countries.  Being  desirous  of  trying  his  fortune  in 
other  parts,  he  undertook  an  expedition,  against  O'Donnel,  into  Con- 
naught, either  to  make  terms  with  him.  or  reduce  him  by  force.  For 
this  purpose,  he  repaired  to  Athlone,  where  he  was  joined  by  the  Earls 
of  Thuomond  and  Clanrickard,  and  others.  He  also  received  a  reen- 
forcement  from  England,  which  increased  his  army  to  ten  thousand  men. 
Norris  knew  that  O'Donnel  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ballinroab,  near 
Lake  Mask,  at  the  head  of  five  hundred  men  ;  and,  having  set  out  upon 
his  march,  he  soon  found  himself  in  view  of  the  enemy,  from  whom  he 
was  divided  by  a  small  river.  The  night  was  spent  in  firing,  and,  at 
break  of  day,  Norris  demanded  a  conference  with  O'Donnel,  in  which 
peace  was  proposed  between  the  general  of  the  queen  and  the  Irish 
chiefs.  The  terms  offered  to  O'Donnel  were  advantageous,  but  were 
not  accepted.  The  conference  lasted  for  some  days,  during  which  both 
armies  kept  up  hostilities,  and  fought  in  detached  bodies,  without  coming 
to  a  general  engagement.  Theobald  the  Naval,  having  attacked  the 
right  wing  of  the  Irish  army,  at  the  head  of  a  heavy  detachment,  was 
repulsed  with  the  loss  of  three  hundred  men.  The  negotiation  lasted  for 
a  month  between  the  Prince  of  Tyrconnel  and  Norris,  without  any 
thing  being  settled  upon.  The  latter  suffered  heavy  losses,  both  in  skir- 
84 


666     RISING    OF    LEINSTER.  CONFUSION    IN    ENGLISH    COUNCILS. 

mishing  and  by  the  desertion  of  some  nobles  who  joined  the  standard 
of  the  Catholics.  After  being  harassed  in  his  retreat  by  the  troops  of 
O'Donnel,  he  lost  several  of  his  men,  and  was  forced  to  quit  the 
province  in  disgrace. 

The  deputy  undertook  an  expedition,  in  May,  into  the  county  of 
Wicklow,  where  he  surprised  and  killed  Fiach  M'Hugh,  chief  of  the 
illustrious  tribe  of  the  O'Byrnes,  and  the  champion  of  the  Catholic  cause 
in  Leinster.  Fiach  left  two  sons,  Felim  and  Raymond,  who  inherited 
his  bravery  and  zeal  for  country.  Felim  left  the  command  to  his 
brother,  and  went  to  visit  O'Neill  in  Ulster,  to  ask  him  for  assistance. 
The  Prince  of  Tyrone  expressed  great  friendship  for  the  young  noble- 
man, and,  having  condoled  with  him  on  the  death  of  his  father,  gave 
him  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  men,  under  the  command  of  Brian 
Riach  O'Morra,  a  nobleman  of  Leinster.  On  returning  with  this  reen- 
forcement,  Felim  fought  some  skirmishes  with  the  Eni^lish,  and  look 
possession  of  his  father's  patrimony,  which  had  been  seized  upon  by  the 
foreigners.  After  this  expedition,  Brian  O'Morra  marched  with  the 
same  troops  towards  Loughgarme,  (Wexford,)  pillaged  all  the  English 
he  met  with  on  his  march,  and  cut  a  large  body  of  them  to  pieces, 
besides  four  hundred  Irish  auxiliaries. 

The  young  chief  of  O^Morra  gave  battle  to  St.  Leger,  who,  after  an 
obstinate  resistance,  was  forced  to  retreat,  leaving  Jive  hundred  men  dead 
on  the  field. 

Some  step  was  now  necessary  to  be  taken,  in  order  to  restore  the 
English  power  in  Ireland.  The  queen  recalled  Russel,  the  deputy, 
and  appointed  Lord  Burrough  to  succeed  him.  He  first  exercised  his 
power  over  General  Norris,  whom  he  sent  back  to  his  office  of  governor, 
in  Munster,  forbidding  him  to  leave  it  without  his  permission.  Norris 
was  too  proud  to  brook  this  insult ;  he  had  been  already  disgraced  by 
O'Neill,  who  had  deprived  him  of  the  high  military  reputation  he  had 
acquired  abroad,  and  at  length  died,  loaded  with  ignominy. 

Burrough  was  haughty  ;  he  commanded  for  a  long  time,  in  Holland, 
against  Philip  the  Second,  whereby  he  became  expert  in  the  art  of  war. 
A  truce  was  made  by  this  deputy,  for  one  month,  with  O'Donnel, 
O'Neill,  and  other  Irish  chiefs,  and  terms  of  peace  were  offered  to 
them,  but  in  vain.  The  month  being  expired,  the  English  generaJ 
marched  to  Ulster,  at  the  head  of  a  powerful  army.  Besides  the  troops 
which  served  under  Russel  and  Norris,  a  large  reenforcement  was  sent 
to  him  from  England. 

The  Anglo-Irish  of  Meath  were  zealous  to  signalize  themselves  in  the 


tirrell's  pass.  667 

cause  of  Elizabeth.  They  assembled  at  Mullingar,  to  the  number  of  a 
thousand  men,  under  the  command  of  Barnewall,  Baron  of  Trimles- 
town,  and  marched  after  the  deputy.  In  their  route,  however,  they  met 
with  a  signal  defeat. 

Richard  Tirrell  served  at  that  lime  in  the  army  of  O'Neill.  His 
talents  peculiarly  fitted  him  to  command  a  flying  camp.  From  the 
rapidity  of  his  expeditions,  and  capability  of  sustaining  fatigue,  he  had 
already  become  formidable  to  the  English,  and  his  memory  is  still 
respected  by  the  true  Irish. 

O'Neill  saw,  with  calm  reflection,  the  preparations  that  were  in  prog- 
ress against  him ;  the  march  of  the  deputy  was  known  to  him  ;  ho 
therefore  prepared  to  oppose  him,  and  to  cause  a  diversion.  Captain 
Tirrell  was  despatched,  at  the  head  of  four  hundred  infantry,  with  orders 
to  act  in  eidier  Meath  or  Leinster,  according  to  emergencies.  Tirrell 
marched  through  the  whole  of  Meath  without  meeting  an  enemy,  and, 
having  reached  FertuUagh,  he  encamped  in  order  to  give  his  army  some 
repose.  The  iroojis  which  had  been  assembled  at  Mullingar,  as  has 
been  already  observed,  being  apprized  of  Tirrell's  march,  determined  to 
take  him  by  surprise.  The  baron,  who  commanded  them,  looked  upon 
this  expedition  as  unworthy  of  himself,  on  account  of  the  small  number 
of  the  enemy  he  had  to  fight,  and,  therefore,  commissioned  his  son  to 
undertake  it,  thinking  it  a  good  opportunity  for  him  to  signalize  himself. 
At  the  dawn  of  day,  Tirrell  received  information,  through  his  spies,  that 
the  enemy  were  in  full  march  to  surprise  him.  Without  losing  a 
moment,  he  put  himself  in  a  state  of  defence,  but  made  a  feint  of  fly- 
ing before  them  as  they  approached  ;  by  which  movement  he  gained  a 
defile  covered  with  trees,  which  has  been  since  called  TirrelVs  Pass. 
He  then  detached  half  of  his  litde  army,  and  posted  them  in  a  hollow 
adjoining  the  road,  giving  the  command  to  his  lieutenant,  O'Connor,  a 
brave  and  intrepid  man,  like  himself.  He  then,  in  order  to  influence 
his  enemy  to  pursue  him,  marched  on  with  his  division.  While  the 
English  were  passing  the  ambuscade,  O'Connor  sallied  forth  with  his 
troops,  and  caused  the  drums  and  fifes  to  play  Captain  Tirrell's 
march.  This  was  the  signal  agreed  upon  for  an  attack.  The  English 
army,  having  got  between  two  fires,  were  cut  to  pieces  ;  and  so  general 
was  the  slaughter,  that  one  or  two  only  escaped,  through  a  neighboring 
bog,  to  carry  the  news  to  Mullingar,  from  whence  the  army  had  set  out 
three  days  before.  Tirrell  had  sufficient  generosity  to  spare  the  life  of 
the  young  nobleman  who  commanded  his  enemy,  but  brought  him  a 
prisoner  to  O'Neill.     During  the  action,  O'Connor's  hand  became  so 


668  BATTLE    OF  BENBURB.  DEFEAT    OF    THE    INVADERS. 

swollen,  that  it  became  necessary  to  cut  off  the  handle  of  his  sword 
with  a  file,  before  it  could  be  disengaged. 

Burrough,  the  deputy,  having  reached  Ulster  with  all  his  forces,  his 
first  step  was  to  take  possession  of  Armagh  and  Portmor,  which  O'Neill 
had  abandoned  after  destroying  the  fortifications.  The  English  general, 
being  afraid  to  proceed  farther,  repaired  to  Portmor,  where  he  left  a 
garrison  of  five  hundred  men,  and  drew  off  the  remainder  of  his  army. 
He  boasted  highly  of  this  act  of  prowess,  proclaiming  every  where  that 
he  held  the  key  of  Ulster,  which  he  could  enter  at  his  pleasure.  This 
boast  was  truly  characteristic  of  his  countrymen,  who  considered  the 
most  trifling  advantage  a  complete  victory.  It  was  carefully  circulated 
in  foreign  countries,  where  it  was  reported  that  the  Irish  had  lost  all 
their  towns,  and  that  they  were  obliged  to  escape  into  the  woods  and 
inaccessible  places.  A  similar  falsehood  had  been  already  published  at 
Brussels,  on  the  supposed  reduction  of  O'Neill,  the  folly  of  which  we 
shall  discover  in  the  sequel. 

The  deputy  was  on  his  way  to  Dublin,  when  he  learned  that  Tirrell 
was  besieging  Portmor ;  so  he  immediately  returned,  collected  his  forces, 
and  crossed  the  Blackwater,  but  was  prevented  from  advancing  by 
O'Neill,  who  divided  his  army,  and  formed  two  camps,  sufficiently  near 
to  assist  each  other.  The  command  of  the  first  division  he  gave  to  his 
brothers,  Cormac  and  Art  O'Neill,  and  M'Mahon,  at  Droum-Fluich,  on 
the  road  to  Beaun-Bhoruib,  at  present  Benburb,  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
river.  The  prince  himself  commanded  the  second  camp  at  Tobuir- 
Masain,  and  was  assisted  by  James  M'Donnel,  Prince  of  the  Glynns. 
The  deputy  endeavored,  in  spite  of  O'Neill's  position,  to  force  a  pas- 
sage;  but  O'Neill's  two  divisions  having  united,  they  made  a  desperate 
attack.  In  the  onset,  Burrough  was  mortally  wounded,  and  was  carried 
to  Newry,  where  he  died  in  a  few  days.  This  battle  was  renewed 
several  times.  The  Earl  of  Kildare,  on  whom  the  command  of  the 
English  army  devolved,  after  Burrough's  retreat,  suffered  the  same  fate ; 
having  been  wounded,  and  twice  thrown  from  his  horse,  his  two  foster 
brothers  were  killed  in  endeavoring  to  put  him  again  on  horseback :  he 
fled  from  the  field  of  batde,  and  died  of  his  wounds  a  few  days  after. 
The  carnage  was  dreadful ;  numbers  of  the  English  lay  dead  upon  the 
field  ;  many  were  drowned  in  the  river,  and  very  many  wounded.  The 
persons  of  note  who  fell  upon  the  English  side,  besides  the  deputy  and 
the  Earl  of  Kildare,  Were  Francis  Waghan,  the  deputy's  brother-in- 
law,  Thomas  Walen,  and  Turner. 

Clifford,  governor  of  Connaught,  received  orders  to  march   with  his 


FURTHER    EFFORTS    OF    THE    INVADERS    FOR    A    PEACE.  669 

troops  to  the  relief  of  the  deputy  in  Ulster.  He  accordingly  set  out  at 
the  head  of  seven  hundred  men,  but,  having  the  misfortune  to  meet 
with  O'Donnel,  he  was  completely  defeated.  Clifford  lost  several  men 
of  rank  on  this  occasion,  amongst  whom  was  the  Baron  of  Ineschete. 

The  queen  saw  her  forces  greatly  diminished  in  Ireland  by  the  fre^ 
quent  advantages  gained  over  them  by  the  confederates,  and  could  not 
find  persons  qualified  to  succeed  Burrough  and  Norris.  She,  however, 
nominated  provisional  magistrates  and  officers  for  the  administration  of 
affairs.  Sir  Thomas  Norris,  president  of  Munster,  was  appointed  lord 
justice  ;  but  his  grief  for  the  death  of  his  brother  caused  him  to  resign 
in  a  month.  The  government  then  received  an  account  of  the  state 
of  affliirs  from  the  council,  who  informed  them  that  the  war  was  a 
general  revolt  of  the  Irish,  with  an  intent  to  shake  off  the  English 
yoke.  Thomas  Duff  Butler,  Earl  of  Ormond,  accepted  the  commis- 
sion of  lieutenant-general.  Ambition  being  the  guide  of  this  noble- 
man's acts,  he  was  drawn  into  a  faction  that  was  opposed  to  his 
country  ;  but  he  never  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being  a  great  captain. 
Among  other  instructions  which  the  Earl  of  Ormond  received  from  the 
court  of  England,  he  was  enjoined  to  endeavor  to  bring  about  a  peace 
with  O'Neill  ;  for  which  purpose,  a  truce  for  two  months  was  agreed 
upon.  Tliey  met  at  Dundalk,  and  O'Neill  proposed  the  terms ;  the 
first  and  principal  one  being  the  free  exercise  of  the  Catholic  religion 
throughout  the  kingdom.  The  other  conditions  proposed  by  this  prince, 
regarded  the  grievances  of  the  Irish,  and  the  reparation  of  the  injustice 
which  was  practised  towards  them.  These  overtures  were  submitted  to 
the  English  council,  and  acceded  to  in  every  thing,  except  the  free 
exercise  of  religion ;  whereon  the  truce  was  broken  off,  and  hostilities 
resumed. 

About  the  end  of  the  summer,  1598,  O'Neill  collected  all  his  troops, 
and  laid  siege  to  the  Fort  of  Blackwater,  called  also  Portmor.  At  the 
same  time,  he  sent  fifteen  hundred  chosen  men  to  assist  his  ally, 
O'Moore,  of  Leix,  who  was  then  besieging  Maryborough,  where  there 
was  an  English  garrison.  These  movements  produced  a  diversion,  and 
compelled  the  Earl  of  Ormond  to  divide  his  forces.  He  first  despatched 
three  thousand  men  against  O'Morra.  Five  thousand  men  were  then 
sent  against  O'Neill,  of  Ulster,  commanded  by  Bagnal,  tl}e  marshal. 
Brian  Riach  O'Morra  defeated  the  three  thousand  English  that  were 
sent  against  him  ;  fifteen  hundred,  besides  the  commander,  being  slain, 
and  Maryborough  was  taken.  O'Morra  died,  in  a  few  days  after,  from 
his  v/ounds,  and  the  command  devolved  upon  Owen  O'Morra. 


670  o'neill  surprised. 

During  these  transactions  in  Leinster,  Marshal  Bagnal,  having  the 
command  of  the  army  in  Ulster,  repaired  to  Newry,  which  was  a  gen- 
eral place  of  meeting  for  the  English.  O'Neill  was  then  encamped 
with  his  army  at  MoUach-Ban,  on  the  road  to  Armagh,  and,  wishing  to 
cut  off  all  communication  between  that  place  and  the  enemy,  he  sent  his 
brother  Cormac,  with  a  body  of  five  hundred  men,  to  defend  the  passes. 
Bagnal  was  considered  an  able  creneral :  he  knew  that  O'Neill  was 
waiting  to  give  him  battle,  on  his  march  to  Armagh,  which  city  he 
wished  to  relieve ;  but  he  deceived  the  prince.  He  marched  circuitously 
from  Newry  to  Armagh,  and  supplied  the  garrison  with  provisions,  in 
spite  of  the  brave  resistance  of  Cormac  O'Neill,  who  maintained  his 
ground  for  some  time,  but  was  at  length  forced  to  yield  to  superior 
numbers.  Flushed  at  this  trifling  advantage,  Bagnal  determined  to  tak« 
O'Neill's  camp  by  surprise  ;  and,  setting  out  by  night,  he  put  the  enemy's 
advance-guard  to  the  sword.  They  then  surromided  O^NeiWs  tent, 
who  had  escaped  in  his  shirt,  luith  some  of  his  attendants  ;  but  some 
servants,  that  were  left  to  guard  it  and  the  baggage,  were  killed.  As 
soon  as  day  appeared,  O'Neill  collected  the  forces  that  were  near  him, 
and,  having  forced  the  English  to  abandon  their  booty,  he  then  put 
them  to  flight.     Both  sides  lost  some  men  in  this  action. 

The  English  were  masters  of  some  towns  in  Ulster,  which  were 
favorable  for  their  depredations,  and  afforded  them  a  secure  retreat ;  the 
principal  of  them  were  Newry,  Dundrum,  and  Carrickfergus.  Sir  John 
Chichester,  the  English  governor,  marched,  about  the  same  time,  at  the 
head  of  five  hundred  infantry  and  a  troop  of  horse,  to  plunder  the 
neighborhood.  Coming  up,  at  Alfracha,  with  James  M'Donnel,  Prince 
of  Antrim,  who  had  with  him  about  four  hundred  foot  and  sixty  horse, 
to  oppose  these  robbers,  they  came  to  an  engagement  which  was  fatal 
to  the  English.  Their  captain  having  fallen,  they  were  cut  to  pieces, 
so  that  scarcely  one  remained  to  bring  the  intelligence  to  Carrickfergus. 
About  the  same  time,  the  Baron  of  Triinlestovvn  made  some  inroads  on 
Monaghan,  with  the  Anglo-Irish  of  Meath,  and  a  few  English  troops, 
but  was  defeated  by  the  M'Mahons. 

The  vanity  and  bad  fliith  of  the  English  will  not  suffer  them  to 
admit  the  victories  the  Irish  armies  gained  over  them.  Their  his- 
torians either  pass  them  over  in  silence,  or  obscure  them,  so  that  the 
advantage  may  appear  to  be  in  favor  of  their  countrymen.  Invectives 
are  poured  out  against  a  generous  people,  who  fought  for  their  religion 
and  their  freedom,  and  the  epithets  of  traitor,  rebel,  and  barbarian,  aro 
heaped  upon  the  Irish  for  not  calmly  yielding  to  a  hateful  yoke.     An 


BATTLE    OF    BEAI--AN-A-BUIDH.  671 

Englishman  must  be  well  beaten  before  he  will  admit  it.  A  brilliant 
victory  was  gained,  this  year,  over  those  foreigners,  by  O'Neill.  The 
truth  of  this  is  not  questioned  even  by  the  English  themselves,  since 
they  acknowledge  that  it  was  the  bloodiest  defeat  they  met  with  since 
their  arrival  in  the  island. 

O'Neill  endeavored  to  bring  the  English  marshal  to  an  engagement, 
and,  being  joined  by  O'Donnel,  Maguire,  the  general  of  the  cavalry, 
and  other  noblemen  of  the  province,  he  laid  siege  to  Portmor,  having 
in  this  a  double  object  in  view ;  first,  to  reduce  the  place  by  famine,  by 
cutting  off  the  supplies  ;  and,  secondly,  to  compel  the  English  to  fight, 
by  forcing  them  to  relieve  it.  The  hopes  of  O'Neill  were  equalled  by 
his  success.  In  the  beginning  of  August,  Bagnal  marched  with  the 
flower  of  his  army  to  the  relief  of  Portmor,  and,  when  arrived  within  a 
mile  of  Ardmagh,  he  met  with  O'Neill,  at  a  place  called  Beal-an-a-buidk, 
between  two  plains,  bordered  by  a  bog  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other 
by  a  thick  wood.  The  battle  commenced,  and  the  slaughter  was 
terrible.  Marshal  Bagnal,  with  twenty-four  of  his  principal  officers, 
and  two  thousand  of  his  army,  was  killed  upon  the  spot;  and  the 
remainder  of  his  forces  put  to  flight.  The  loss  of  the  English  was 
heightened  by  an  accident  that  happened  in  the  beginning  of  the 
action,  in  the  quarter  where  the  reserve  forces  lay.  The  powder 
magazine  having  taken  fire,  five  hundred  men,  who  were  guarding 
the  baggage,  were  blown  up.  The  spoils  that  were  wrested  from 
them  also  were  very  considerable ;  twelve  thousand  pieces  of  gold, 
their  warlike  stores,  thirty-four  stand  of  colors,  all  their  instruments 
of  war,  all  their  artillery,  and  provisions  of  every  kind,  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Irish.  The  English  who  had  the  good  fortune  to  escape, 
took  the  road  to  Ardmagh.  Several  were  slain  in  the  pursuit,  and 
both  horsemen,  and  about  fifteen  hundred  foot  soldiers,  sought  safety 
in  the  churches  of  that  city.  This  victory  cost  O'Neill  about  two 
hundred  men  killed  and  six  hundred  wounded,  and  was  followed  by 
the  surrender  of  Portmor.  (On  this  battle,  one  of  the  poets  of  the 
"  Nation  "  has  written  a  good  song,  which  will  be  found  in  the 
"  Spirit  of  the  Nation.") 

These  brilliant  campaigns  of  O'Neill,  and  of  the  other  princes  and 
noblemen  of  Ulster,  had  opposite  influences  on  the  English  and  Irish 
people  ;  the  alarm  of  the  former  was  great,  while  the  joy  of  the  latter 
was  universal.  They  looked  upon  O'Neill  as  the  liberator  of  his 
country.  Many  of  the  chiefs  ranged  under  his  command,  and  sought 
his  protection. 


672         DISMAY  OF  THE  QUEEN. MUNSTER  LEAGUE. 

The  queen's  officers  sent  letters  to  her  majesty,  complaining  of  the 
sad  state  of  things  in  Ireland,  and  saying  that,  so  far  from  being  able  to 
maintain  an  offensive  war  in  that  country,  they  could  not  defend  them- 
selves against  the  enemy  without  speedy  assistance,  and  more  powerful 
resources  than  any  that  had  been  previously  sent.  The  queen  was 
averse  to  abandoning  the  cause  of  her  English  province  in  Ireland. 
She  attached  heavy  blame  to  the  Earl  of  Ormond  for  not  having  gone 
in  person  against  O'Neill ;  and  commanded  Bingham,  who  had  been 
lately  removed  from  the  government  of  Connaught  for  his  cruelty,  to 
repair  to  Ireland,  and  succeed  Bagnal  in  the  office  of  marshal.  Two 
thousand  foot,  and  a  hundred  horse,  were,  at  the  same  time,  despatched 
thither,  under  the  orders  of  Sir  Samuel  Bagnal.  These  troops  landed  at 
Wexford,  and  were  harassed  in  their  march  to  Dublin  by  the  Irish, 
who  killed  a  great  number  of  them.  Bingham  arrived  in  Dublin  with 
great  difficulty,  where  he  soon  after  died. 

The  example  of  the  men  of  Ulster  roused  the  fallen  courage  of  the 
Irish  in  other  provinces  of  Ireland,  particularly  in  Munster,  where  the 
bravery  of  the  celebrated  Earl  of  Desmond  was  still  fresh  among  hJs 
illustrious  allies.  This  feeling  it  was  necessary  to  encourage ;  and  to 
effect  that  object.  Sir  Peter  de  Lacy,  a  powerful  nobleman  in  the  county 
of  Limerick,  wrote  to  Owen  or  Owny  M'Rory-Ogue  O'Morra,  who  had 
an  army  on  foot,  and  invited  him,  in  the  name  of  the  Irish  Catholics 
in  Munster,  to  come  to  their  relief.  O'Morra,  having  consulted  with 
O'Neill,  undertook  the  expedition.  He  committed  tiie  government  of 
Leix  to  his  brother  Edmond,  and,  at  the  head  of  eight  hundred  infantry 
and  some  horsemen,  set  out  on  his  march  for  Munster.  Raymond  Burke, 
Baron  of  Leitrim,  and  his  brother  William,  as  also  Dermod  O'Connor 
and  his  brothers  Cairbre  and  Conn,  with  Richard  Tirrell,  of  FertuUagh, 
accompanied  O'Morra  in  this  expedition.  He  frightened  the  Earl  of 
Ormond,  and  passed  triumphandy  on  through  the  country. 

The  success  of  O'Morra  (O'Moore)  produced  an  almost  univers-xl 
rising  of  the  noblemen  in  Munster  against  the  queen. 

The  chief  men  that  formed  a  league  against  the  queen  were  Fitz- 
maurice,  Baron  of  Lixnaw ;  William  Fitzgerald,  Knight  of  Kerry  and 
Lord  of  Kafinnin  ;  Edmond  Fitzgerald,  Knight  of  the  Glinn  ;  Sir 
Edmond  Fitzgerald,  called  the  white  livight,  with  many  other  branches 
of  that  celebrated  house ;  Dermod  and  Donogh  M'Carty,  rival  candi- 
dates for  the  principality  of  Alia  ;  Daniel,  son  of  M'Carty  More ; 
Patrick  Condon ;  O'Donohoe  More,  of  Onachte  ;  O'Donoghoe,  of  the 
Glinn  ;  Roche,  Viscount  Fermoy ;  Richard  Butler,  Viscount  of  Mont- 


UfUNSTER    LEAGUE.  BATTLES.  673 

garret,  w  ho  bad  married  the  daughter  of  O'Neill ;  and  Thomas  Butler, 
Bai-on  of  Cahir.  The  same  disposition  animated  the  several  tribes  of 
the  O'SuUivans,  the  O'Driscols,  the  O'Donnevans,  and  the  O'Mahonys, 
of  Carbry,  who  signalized  themselves  in  the  common  cause  of  their 
country.  The  confederates  appointed  for  their  leader  James,  son  of 
Thomas  Fitzgerald,  surnamed  the  Red,  and  acknowledged  him  as  Earl 
of  Desmond,  and  leader  of  the  confederates  in  that  province,  where 
the  memory  of  the  Earls  of  Desmond  was  still  dear  and  respected. 

Religion  was  not  the  sole  cause  of  the  above  alliance.  The  tyranny 
of  the  English  governors,  and  the  intolerable  insolence  of  the  adven- 
turers who  had  been  sent  to  occupy  the  estates  of  Desmond  and  other 
noblemen,  contributed  greatly  to  the  undertaking.  These  adventurers 
became  the  first  victims  to  the  rage  of  the  confederates.  They  were 
driven  from  their  ill-gained  possessions,  and  their  castles  razed  to  the 
ground.  Finding  themselves  now  unprotected  by  the  governor,  Norris, 
who  was  scarcely  able  to  defend  himself,  they  fled  to  Waterford,  and 
embarked  for  their  own  country. 

By  this  great  stroke,  the  adventurers,  who  had  lately  come  over  from 
England  into  Munster  and  Connaught,  were  completely  driven  back  to 
their  native  country. 

Norris,  who  shut  himself  up  in  Cork,  and  remained  inactive  while 
the  war  was  blazing  in  the  province,  to  the  command  of  which  he  had 
been  appointed,  felt  heavily  the  shame  of  it ;  and,  in  order  to  screen 
his  character,  he  formed  the  resolution  of  attacking  the  Irish.  For 
this  purpose,  all  his  forces,  amounting  to  two  thousand  five  hundred  men, 
were  mustered  by  him  in  Cork ;  and  he  marched  upon  Kilmallock. 
Norris  effected  his  object  concerning  the  garrison  of  Kilmallock,  but 
was  attacked,  on  his  return,  at  Ard-Scieth,  by  the  Earl  of  Desmond. 
It  was  rather  a  disordered  retreat  than  a  battle.  The  above  chiefs  pur- 
sued him  the  entire  day  for  eight  miles  of  his  march.  Many  fell  in  the 
several  skirmishes ;  but  the  heaviest  loss  was  sustained  by  the  fugitives, 
who,  being  favored  by  the  night,  were  at  length  fortunate  enough  to  get 
back  into  Kilmallock. 

Norris  undertook  a  second  expedition,  which  had  no  better  success 
than  the  first ;  he  marched,  with  two  thousand  four  hundred  foot  and 
three  hundred  horse,  against  Lord  Roche,  Viscount  Fermoy.  At  first, 
the  viscount  abandoned  Baile  Androhid,  a  place  not  fortified,  and  with- 
drew to  Bailean  Caislean,  which  was  stronger.  Norris  at  length  sent 
away  some  of  his  baggage  by  night,  and  took  the  route  for  Cork. 
85 


674  CONFEDERACY    OF    LEINSTER OF    CONNAUGHT. 

He  was  pursued  by  the  Irish,  who  killed  two  hundred  of  his  men  at 
Mainister-na-Mona. 

Some  months  after  the  expedition  of  Norris,  Thomas  Burke  sought 
to  be  admitted  into  the  confederate  army.  For  this  purpose,  he  applied 
to  Raymond  Burke,  Baron  of  Leitrim,  and  to  his  brother  William  ;  and 
they  appointed  him  to  the  command  of  two  hundred  men.  With  this 
little  band,  Thomas  wished  to  surprise  some  places  belonging  to  the 
English  in  Muskerry.  He  met  with  General  Norris  at  Killtili,  at  the 
head  of  twelve  hundred  men.  To  avoid  fighting  was  impossible  ;  and, 
notwithstanding  the  disproportion  of  their  numbers,  he  acted  intrepidly, 
and  by  one  bold  stroke  decided  the  affair.  A  young  man,  named  John 
Burke,  having  forced  his  way  into  the  ranks,  struck  Norris  with  his 
lance,  and  disabled  him  ;  and  the  English  army,  seeing  their  leader  fall, 
dispersed.  The  English  general  was  brought  to  Mallow,  where  he 
died,  in  fifteen  days,  of  his  wounds. 

A.  D.  1599.  O'Neill  beheld  with  pleasure  the  league  that  was  formed 
in  Munster,  and  the  advantages  already  gained  over  the  English. 
This  prince,  desirous  of  strengthening  the  alliance  which  he  had  made 
with  his  confederates,  granted  their  demands  for  assistance,  by  sending 
them  his  brother  Conn  O'Neill,  at  the  head  of  three  thousand  men, 
well  provided  with  arms  and  ammunition.  The  English  lay  in  ambush 
to  dispute  his  passage,  but  Conn  escaped  their  snares,  by  opening  his 
way,  sword  in  hand,  through  the  enemy.  After  leaving  two  thousand 
of  them  dead  upon  the  field  of  battle,  he  continued  his  march  to  Mun- 
ster, where  he  acquired  a  high  reputation  for  his  military  exploits. 

The  state  of  affairs  at  this  time  in  Ireland,  says  Camden,  was  de- 
plorable, the  rebellion  having  become  general  through  the  kingdom. 
The  sway  of  the  English  in  Ulster  was  confined  to  a  few  strong  for- 
tresses. The  greater  part  of  the  nobility  in  Munster  were  up  in  arms 
against  them.  The  O'Morras,  the  O'Connors,  the  O'Byrnes,  the 
O'Tooles,  the  Cavanaghs,  the  Eustaces,  and  other  chiefs  of  Leinster, 
with  the  O'Molloys,  the  M'Geoghegans,  and  the  Tirrells,  of  Meath, 
were  leagued  to  accomplish  their  freedom.  The  O'Rorkes,  and  some 
branches  of  the  Burkes,  besides  some  other  chiefs  in  Connaught,  took 
up  arms  for  the  same  cause,  so  that  Elizabeth  saw  herself,  by  this  gen- 
eral revolt,  on  the  eve  of  losing  all  her  authority  in  Ireland.  She  had 
no  person  in  that  country  capable  of  governing  it.  INIarshal  Bagnal 
was  killed ;  Richard  Bingham,  who  had  been  sent  by  the  court  to 
succeed  that  general,  died  on  his  arrival  in  Dublin  ;  Norris,  who 
governed  Munster,  and  St.  Leger,  the  president  of  Leix,  perished  by 


GREAT    ARJIY    OF    INVADERS    LAND.  THE    EARL    OF    ESSEX.      675 

the  sword  of  the  Catholics.  The  Earl  of  Ormond  commanded  the 
army  :  his  name,  however,  only,  and  not  his  capability,  was  suited  to 
his  zeal  in  the  cause  of  his  mistress.  In  this  position  of  her  affairs,  the 
queen  consulted  with  her  council  on  the  choice  of  a  man  capable  of 
remedying  the  disasters  that  she  suffered  in  Ireland.  Her  majesty,  and 
most  of  her  counsellors,  cast  their  eyes  on  Charles  Blunt,  Lord  Baron 
Mountjoy.  But  Robert  d'Evereux,  Earl  of  Essex,  whose  ambition 
knew  no  bounds,  was  at  length  appointed  lord  lieutenant,  and  with  priv- 
ileges more  extensive  than  those  of  any  of  his  predecessors.  Her  majesty 
invested  him  with  the  prerogative  of  pardoning  any  crime,  even  that  of 
high  treason  ;  besides  the  power  of  appointing  to  offices  of  trust ;  of 
removing  those  who  enjoyed  them  without  a  patent ;  of  suspending 
others  from  exercising  them ;  also  of  making  military  laws  and  carrying 
them  into  execution  ;  of  conferring  in  fief,  according  to  his  pleasure,  the 
confiscated  estates  of  the  Catholics,  reserving  a  moderate  and  yearly 
revenue  from  them  for  the  crown  ;  and,  in  absence  of  the  high  admiral 
of  England,  he  had  the  command  of  the  fleet,  and  the  privilege  of 
applying  the  money  in  the  exchequer  to  any  purposes,  without  being 
accountable  for  it.  A  powerful  and  well-provided  army  was  given  to 
him  ;  it  consisted  of  seventeen  thousand  foot  and  thirteen  hundred 
horse,  —  the  most  powerful  force  that  had,  up  to  that  period,  ever 
been  sent  to  Ireland. 

All  matters  being  arranged,  the  Earl  of  Essex,  accompanied  by  three 
young  noblemen,  who  wished  to  be  partakers  of  his  glory  in  the  expe- 
dition, set  out  from  London  for  Ireland,  at  the  end  of  March,  amidst  the 
acclamations  of  the  people.  The  fleet  having  sailed,  they  were  over- 
taken and  dispersed  by  a  violent  storm,  by  which  many  lives  were  lost. 
Notwithstanding  this  misfortune,  he  landed,  on  the  15th  of  April,  in 
Dublin,  where  he  took  the  usual  oath,  and  received  the  sword  of  justice 
as  lord  lieutenant. 

The  principal  instructions  given  to  Essex  were,  first,  not  to  confer  the 
honor  of  knighthood  on  any  but  subjects  of  acknowledged  merit ; 
secondly,  to  block  up  O'Neill  with  all  his  forces,  by  placing  strong  gar- 
risons in  the  forts  of  Loughfoyle  and  Ballyshannon.  He  had  scarcely 
landed  in  Ireland,  when  his  creatures  began  to  publish  in  foreign  coun- 
tries false  accounts  of  his  wonderful  exploits  ;  atone  time,  that  his  arrival 
had  filled  the  confederate  Catholics  with  terror,  causing  them  to  conceal 
themselves  in  woods,  and  other  inaccessible  places  ;  at  another,  that 
almost  every  one  of  them  was  accepting  the  offers  of  pardon  held  out 
by  him.  The  falsehood  of  these  vain  boastings  was,  however,  proved 
by  the  ill  success  of  his  expedition. 


676  THE    PASS    OF    THE    PLUMES. 

The  first  act  of  the  jurisdiction  of  Essex  in  Ireland  was  to  publish  a 
proclamation  in  the  queen's  name,  excluding  the  ancient  Irish,  her 
majesty's  inveterate  enemies,  from  all  hopes  of  pardon.  The  Anglo- 
Irish  were  promised  pardon  and  religious  toleration.  The  holy  sacrifice 
of  the  mass  was  celebrated  ki  private  families,  and  the  other  sacraments 
administered  with  more  freedom ;  his  policy  even  induced  him  to  set  at 
liberty  some  priests  who  had  been  confined  in  dungeons,  and  to  confer 
the  grade  6f  knights  of  the  golden  spur  on  some  Catholics,  with 
whose  opinions  he  was  acquainted. 

After  making  some  regulations  respecting  the  civil  administration, 
Essex  turned  his  thoughts  to  the  campaign,  but  did  not  follow  the 
plan  that  was  laid  down  for  him  in  London.  Instead  of  marching  with 
all  his  forces  against  O'Neill  and  the  confederates  in  Ulster,  according  to 
his  instructions,  he  divided  them  by  giving  three  thousand  foot  and  five 
hundred  horse  to  Henry  Harrington,  to  watch  the  movements  of 
the  O'Morras,  the  O'Byrnes,  and  other  confederates  of  Leinster,  and 
sent  three  thousand  more  to  Clifford,  governor  of  Connaught,  to  keep 
the  nobles  of  that  province  in  check.  These  detachments  reduced 
considerably  his  combined  forces.  Accompanied  by  three  hundred 
gentlemen,  who  volunteered  in  London  to  accompany  him,  he  set  out 
from  Dubhn,  on  the  20th  of  May,  with  the  remainder  of  his  army,  and 
marched  towards  Munster.  In  passing  tlirough  Leinster,  the  rear- 
guard of  the  English  was  severely  handled  in  a  defile,  by  Owen 
O'Morra,  at  the  head  of  five  hundred  men,  who  killed  several  officers 
and  privates.  The  place  where  they  fought  was  called,  after  this, 
Beania-na-Gleti,  which  signifies  the  Pass  of  the  Plumes,  on  account 
of  the  quantity  of  them  which  the  English  lost  in  it. 

This  check  did  not  prevent  Essex  from  continuing  his  march  into 
Munster.  He  laid  siege  to  the  castle  of  Cahir^  situate  on  the  River 
Suire.  The  confederate  Irish  had  in  it  but  a  garrison  of  seven  or 
eight  soldiers,  without  artillery,  so  that  they  were  unable  to  maintain  a 
siege  against  the  army  of  Essex. 

Essex  had  the  castle  of  Cahir  repaired,  and,  leaving  a  strong  garrison 
in  it,  with  cannon  and  ammunition,  he  marched  to  the  relief  of  Askea- 
ton.  His  army  received  a  considerable  reenforcement  by  the  junction 
of  some  national  troops,  under  the  Earls  of  Thomond  and  Clanrickard, 
M'Pieris  Baron,  and  Henry  Norris.  On  his  way  back  from  Askeaton,  he 
was  pursued  by  Daniel  M'Carty  More  and  the  Earl  of  Desmond,  at  the 
head  of  two  tliousand  five  hundred  men.  These  chiefs  having  attacked 
his  rear-guard,  at  a  place  called  Bnilc-en-Finitcre,  the  action  was  very 
bloody  :  it  lasted  from  nine  in  the  morning  till  five  in  the  afternoon.     A 


TOTAL    DEFEAT    OF    ESSEX.  677 

great  number  of  the  English  were  killed,  and  Henry  Norris,  one  of  their 
leadei-s,  was  found  among  the  slain.  The  loss  on  the  side  of  the  Irish 
was  not  so  great.  After  this  battle,  Essex  encamped  for  a  few  days  at 
Cruomui,  to  refresh  his  troops ;  he  then  marched  to  Waterford,  and  was 
pursued  and  harassed  during  six  days  by  the  Irish  army. 

General  Harrington,  in  the  mean  time,  received  a  heavy  check  in  the 
principality  of  Leix.  This  general,  who  was  appointed  to  restore 
peace  to  that  district,  having  suiTounded  the  troops  of  O'Morra,  flat- 
tered himself  that  he  would  be  able  to  reduce  them  with  little  loss 
to  himself;  but  the  bravery  of  the  Irish  snatched  the  victory  from 
him.  He  lost  in  this  engagement  twelve  hundred  men,  with  all  their 
officers,  and,  among  the  rest,  Adam  Loftus,  son  of  the  Protestant  arch- 
bishop of  Dublin,  who  was  found  among  the  slain.  The  remainder  of 
the  anny  was  put  to  flight. 

Ware,  Cox,  and  others,  mistake  the  circumstances  of  this  victory,  or 
confound  them  with  a  similar  one  gained  over  Harrington  by  the 
O'Byrnes,  in  the  glens  of  the  county  of  Wicklow ;  after  which,  the 
viceroy,  to  punish  the  want  of  courage  among  the  English,  had  them 
decimated.  They,  however,  are  all  agreed  that  the  English  were 
defeated  by  the  Irish.  Christopher  Blanche  was  sent  over  at  this  time 
to  Ireland  as  lord  marshal.  Wishing  to  distinguish  himself  by  some 
brilliant  achievement,  he  marched  to  OfFaly,  where  his  army  was  de- 
feated by  the  O'Connors,  with  the  loss  of  five  hundred  horse,  and  he 
himself  escaped  with  difficulty,  having  had  a  leg  broken  in  the  action. 
In  the  mean  time,  the  Earl  of  Essex  confined  himself  to  the  city  of 
Cork.  He  was  deeply  affected  by  the  ill  success  of  his  arms,  which  is 
ingenuously  acknowledged  in  his  letter  to  the  English  council ;  it  was 
intercepted  by  the  Irish,  and  contains  the  following  words :  "  I  am  con- 
fined ill  Cork,  where  there  is  an  abundance  of  warlike  stores  ;  but  still 
I  have  been  unsuccessful ;  my  undertakings  have  been  attended  with 
misfortune.  I  do  not  know  to  what  this  can  be  attributed,  except  to  an 
evil  star  that  has  led  me  here."  Finding  the  forces  diminished,  he  left 
Munster,  without  performing  one  deed  worthy  of  his  reputation.  To- 
wards the  end  of  July,  he  returned  with  the  wrecks  of  his  army  to 
Dublin,  where  he  learned  that  James  Butler,  brother  to  the  baron,  had 
retaken  the  castle  of  Cahir,  and  put  the  English  garrison  to  the  sword. 

Essex  now  turned  his  thoughts  to  Ulster ;  but,  as  his  march  to 
Munster  had  greatly  diminished  his  numbers,  he  wrote  to  the  queen,  in 
conjunction  with  the  council,  to  ask  for  fresh  reenforcements.  At  the 
same  time,  he  sent  for  Clifford,  governor  of  Connaught,  to  march  with 


678  BATTLE    OF    CORSLIEVE. 

the  troops  under  him  towards  the  frontiers  of  Ulster,  in  order  to  create 
a  diversion.  In  compliance,  Clifford  assembled  his  army  at  Athlone, 
on  the  Shannon ;  their  destination  being  Belick,  on  the  River  Erne. 
Clifford  sent  orders  to  Theobald  Burke,  surnamed  the  Naval,  to  have 
cannon,  and  every  thing  necessary  for  the  execution  of  his  plans,  brought 
by  sea  from  Galway  to  Sligo,  while  he  would  lead  the  army  by  land. 
In  the  mean  time,  O'Connor  Sligo,  who  supported  the  queen's  cause 
against  his  country,  scoured  the  county  of  Sligo  with  a  body  of  cavalry, 
to  force  the  inhabitants  to  abandon  O'Donnel,  whose  cause  they  had 
espoused  from  a  spirit  of  patriotism  and  religion,  and  to  favor  the 
designs  of  Clifford  ;  but,  meeting  with  some  of  O'Donnel's  army,  they 
were  compelled  to  take  refuge  in  Killmuiny,  at  a  short  distance 
from  Sligo,  where  they  were  besieged  by  O'Donnel. 

Clifford,  being  aware  of  the  danger  in  which  O'Connor  was  of  falling 
into  the  power  of  the  enemy,  reviewed  all  his  troops.  His  army 
amounted  to  two  thousand  five  hundred  infantry,  both  English  and  their 
Irish  auxiliaries,  and  a  few  squadrons  of  cavalry.  The  principal  chiefs 
of  the  auxiliary  Irish,  were  O'Connor  Don,  Prince  of  Magherry  Con- 
naught,  Melmor  M'Sweeney,  Prince  of  Tueth,  (who,  through  some 
displeasure,  had  abandoned  O'Donnel,  and  gone  over  to  the  English,) 
and  Richard  Burke,  son  of  the  Earl  of  Clanrickard  and  Baron  of 
Dunkillin.  Matters  being  thus  arranged,  Clifford  set  out  from  Athlone, 
by  forced  marches  for  Boyle.  O'Donnel  purposed  to  oppose  the 
enemy.  He  put  a  strong  garrison  of  four  hundred  infantry  under  the 
command  of  M'Sweeney  Fanid  and  M'William  Burke,  into  Sligo,  and 
left  two  hundred  cavalry  to  hold  on  the  blockade  of  Killmuiny  ;  after 
which,  he  marched  with  O'Dogharty,  Prince  of  Inisowen,  and  the 
remainder  of  the  army,  to  Corslieve  Mountain,  where  Clifford  had  to 
pass  into  the  county  of  Sligo.  Tirconnel  possessed  himself  of  the 
defiles  of  this  mountain,  and  had  trees  cut  down  to  obstruct  Clifford's 
passage  ;  he  then  encamped  with  his  army  in  an  adjoining  plain. 

In  the  mean  time,  Theobald  Burke  appeared  with  his  little  fleet 
before  Sligo,  but  dared  not  to  enter.  He  thought  prudent  to  await 
the  arrival  of  Clifford's  army.  This  governor  being  arrived  at  Boyle, 
he  left  his  cavalry  under  the  command  of  Sir  Markham  Griffin,  since,  in 
passing  the  defiles  of  Corslieve,  they  could  not  act.  On  the  eve  of 
Lady-day,  O'Donnel  was  apprized  of  the  movement  of  the  English 
army.  O'Donnel  then  sent  Owen  M'Sweeney,  with  Giolla  and  TuUi 
O'Gallagher,  at  the  head  of  six  hundred  infantry,  to  stop  the  enemy, 
while  he  himself  was  preparing  to  attack  them,  in  order  of  battle.    The 


DEFEAT   OF   THE    INVADERS.  679 

engagement  commenced  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  continued 
for  some  time  with  equal  success,  till  O'Rorke  appeared  at  the  head  of 
a  body  of  infantry,  and  turned  the  scale  of  victory.  The  terror  of  the 
English  was  so  great,  that  they  threw  their  arms  on  the  ground  and 
fled.  The  rout  now  became  general ;  the  Irish  troops  pursued  the 
fugitives  for  three  miles  ;  Markham,  who  continued  at  Boyle  with  the 
cavalry,  came  out  to  the  relief  of  the  English  :  he  attacked  and  killed 
some  of  those  who  were  engaged  in  the  pursuit ;  but  O'Rorke,  coming 
up,  drove  him  back,  and,  though  badly  wounded,  he  got  into  Boyle. 
The  English  lost  in  this  battle  fourteen  hundred  men  in  killed,  with 
Clifford,  the  governor  of  Connaught,  and  Henry  RatcliiFe,  a  young 
English  nobleman,  who  were  found  among  the  slain.  One  hundred 
and  forty  of  the  Irish  army  were  killed  and  wounded.  After  this 
defeat  of  the  English,  a  great  booty  was  found ;  and  the  conquerors 
became  masters  of  a  vast  quantity  of  arms,  colors,  cannon,  dress,  and 
other  warlike  apparatus. 

O'Neill,  who  was  on  his  march  to  the  assistance  of  O'Donnel, 
arrived  too  late,  by  two  days,  to  share  in  the  glory  of  this  victory.  The 
news  of  the  defeat  of  the  English,  and  the  death  of  Clifford,  being 
spread,  Burke  the  Naval  set  sail  immediately  from  Sligo  to  return  to 
Galway.  O'Connor  surrendered  to  O'Donnel,  who  put  him  into  the 
possession  of  his  demesne  at  Sligo,  on  his  promising  to  assist  thereafter 
against  the  English.  English  writers  acknowledge  that  their  country- 
men were  defeated  in  the  Curlew  Mountains,  by  the  Irish,  whom 
they  style  rebels,  commanded  by  O'Rorke.  They  have  candor  enough 
also  to  allow  that  Clifford,  Ratcliffe,  and  others,  were  killed  in  this 
action,  but  they  strive  to  smooth  the  disaster,  by  giving  mutilated 
accounts  of  it.  "  Though  the  rebels,"  says  Camden,  "  were  superior 
in  numbers,  still  they  were  repulsed  by  the  English ;  but  for  the  want 
of  powder,  the  English  were  put  to  the  rout." 

The  Earl  of  Essex  was  greatly  disconcerted  by  the  defeat  of 
Clifford's  army.  He  waited  with  anxiety  for  the  arrival  of  a  reenforce- 
ment  from  England  ;  a  thousand  foot  soldiers  at  length  arrived  in 
Dublin,  in  September,  and  all  the  forces  then  marched  for  the  frontiers 
of  Ulster.  As  soon  as  O'Neill  heard  of  the  movement  of  the  viceroy, 
he  put  his  own  army  in  motion,  and  proceeded  to  the  town  of  Louth, 
where  he  encamped  on  the  banks  of  a  small  river  which  separated  the 
two  armies.  The  English,  says  Peter  Lombard,  seeing  the  Irish 
so  well  prepared  and  eager  to  engage,  were  so  panic-struck,  (according 


680         ESSEX  SEEKS  A  CONFERENCE  WITH  o'nEILL. 

to  the  words  of  some  who  were  present,)  that  they  were  covered  with 
shame,  and  afraid  to  hold  up  their  heads. 

The  viceroy  immediateiy  despatched  a  herald  to  O'Neill,  to  declare 
to  him,  that  he  had  not  come  as  an  enemy  into  his  province  ;  oh  the 
contrary,  that  he  came  to  offer  him  terms  of  peace,  or  at  least  a  truce, 
and  that  he  would  send  commissioners  for  that  purpose,  if  he  would 
accede  to  his  doing  so.  The  Prince  of  Tyrone  having  agreed  to  the 
proposal,  two  knights  and  a  counsellor  of  state  were  despatched  for  that 
purpose  by  the  Earl  of  Essex.  These  commissioners  being  admitted 
to  an  audience  with  O'Neill,  they  explained  to  him  the  purport  of  their 
mission.     The  prince  replied,  that  he  would  not  agree  to  the  terms. 

This  reply  being  communicated  to  the  viceroy,  the  earl  despatched  a 
second  herald  to  the  prince,  and  proposed  to  meet  him  at  a  short  dis- 
tance from  their  respective  armies.  The  prince  accepted  the  proposal 
of  meeting  him,  but  not  apart  from  his  army.  Essex,  who  was  eager 
for  an  interview  on  any  terms,  gave  up  his  stipulation  ;  he  sent  away 
the  greater  part  of  his  army  to  Drogheda,  and  proceeded  towards  the 
camp  of  O'Neill,  accompanied  by  a  few  nobles  and  a  small  number  of 
horsemen.  The  two  chiefs,  having  met,  went  down  the  river,  where 
they  might  confer  together.  The  conference  lasted  for  some  hours  ;  the 
viceroy  looked  for  a  truce  till  the  month  of  May.  O'Neill  answered, 
that  his  honor,  which  was  pledged  not  only  to  foreign  princes,  but  to 
the  grandees  of  his  own  nation,  would  not  allow  him  to  accede  to  it. 
Essex  reminded  O'Neill  of  the  ancient  friendship  that  subsisted  between 
the  earl,  his  father,  and  him,  and,  consequently,  that  he  ought  to  feel 
some  sympathy  towards  the  humbled  position  of  his  son.  The  heart 
of  O'Neill  could  not  resist  any  longer  the  repeated  solicitations  of 
Essex,  and  the  prince  consented  to  a  truce  of  six  weeks,  on  condition 
that  each  should  be  at  liberty  to  break  off  by  giving  a  notice  of  fourteen 
days.  The  truce  being  thus  settled  on,  the  two  noblemen  passed  a  few 
hours  in  social  enjoyment. 

Essex,  pleased  with  his  negotiations  with  O'Neill,  took  leave  of  that 
prince,  and  returned  to  Dublin,  where  he  received  a  letter  from  the 
queen,  dated  the  14th  of  September.  Her  majesty  reproached  him  and 
the  council  with  maladministration,  and  a  contempt  for  her  commands. 
This  reproach  was  mortifying  to  Essex  ;  he  was  recalled  and  disgraced. 
The  history  of  the  tragic  end  of  that  nobleman  is  sufficiently  known ; 
it  will  suffice  to  observe,  that,  though  one  of  Elizabeth's  chief  favorites, 
he  was  beheaded  soon  afterwards. 


o'nEILL    marches    through    IRELAND.  681 

After  Essex  had  left  Ulster,  a  Spanish  captain  arrived  in  that  province 
with  two  ships  laden  with  warlike  stores,  which  his  Catholic  majesty 
had  sent  to  O'Neill.  He  received  the  officer,  and  asked  why  the  king 
had  omitted  so  long  to  send  the  succors  which  he  had  promised,  and 
why  he  did  not  send  all  at  the  same  time.  The  officer  answered,  that 
his  majesty  intended  it,  but  that  the  report  of  peace  having  been  made 
between  O'Neill  and  Queen  Elizabeth,  was  the  cause  ;  and  added,  that 
the  king  of  Spain  sent  him  for  the  express  purpose  (with  these  two 
ships)  of  bringing  him  an  account  of  how  affairs  stood  in  Ireland.  This 
reply  did  not  satisfy  O'Neill ;  however,  lie  concealed  his  disappointment 
with  his  accustomed  prudence. 

Philip  the  Second,  king  of  Spain,  having  died,  Philip  the  Third 
succeeded ;  and,  interested  in  following  the  plans  of  his  brother,  in 
regard  to  the  war  in  Ireland,  he  sent  over  two  legates,  with  a 
crown  of  phoenix  feathers  to  the  Prince  of  Ulster,  with  twenty-two 
thousand  pieces  of  gold,  and  several  kegs  of  silver  for  payment  of  the 
troops. 

Encouraged  even  by  this  moderate  assistance,  and  hoping  for  greater 
from  the  Spaniards,  O'Neill  resumed  hostilities,  after  a  notice  of  fourteen 
days,  in  pursuance  of  the  truce  made  with  Essex.  A.  D.  1600.  Having 
provided  for  the  security  of  the  principality  of  Tyrone,  ho  marched 
through  the  whole  of  Leinster,  at  the  head  of  seven  thousand  men, 
towards  Cork,  where  he  encamped,  and  consulted  with  the  Earl  of 
Desmond,  Florence  M'Carty  Reagh,  and  other  chiefs  of  the  province, 
about  the  means  of  supporting  the  war.  He  sent  deputies  to  those 
whose  sincerity  he  doubted,  to  solicit  them  to  join  in  the  confederacy 
against "  the  enemies  of  God,  their  religion,  and  their  country."  As  a 
stronger  inducement,  he  sent  them  an  authentic  copy  of  the  sentence 
of  excommunication  which  Pius  the  Fifth  had  pronounced  against  the 
queen  of  England  and  her  adherents.  Several  were  brought  over  by 
the  reasoning  of  O'Neill,  particularly  Finian  M'Carty.  Others,  in- 
fluenced by  a  different  policy,  though  strongly  attached  to  the  Catholic 
faith,  replied,  that  a  subject  of  such  moment  ought  to  be  suspended  for 
a  while,  as  the  opinion  of  the  see  of  Rome  was  not  well  known. 

Prince  O'Neill,  who  deemed  their  policy  injurious,  expressed  his  dis- 
pleasure at  the  replies  of  these  noblemen.  Some  of  them  he  treated 
with  severity,  and  devastated  their  lands,  in  order  to  deprive  the  enemy 
of  subsistence ;  others  he  compelled  to  give  hostages  for  their  future 
conduct. 

During  O'Neill's  stay  in  Munster,  the  queen's  troops    kept   within 
86 


682  THE    GALLANT    o'mORRA. 

garrisons  and  strong  places,  not  daring  to  take  the  field,  so  that  the 
time  passed  over  without  hostilities,  except  an  affair  between  Hugh  Ma- 
guire,  prince  of  Fermanagh,  who  commanded  O'Neill's  cavalry,  and 
St.  Leger,  president  of  Munster,  in  which  both  noblemen  fell.  Maguire, 
attended  only  by  Edmond  M'Caffry,  his  standard-bearer,  Niall  O'Dur- 
nin,  and  a  priest,  left  the  camp  one  day,  either  to  take  an  airing  or  to 
reconnoitre  the  country.  Having  advanced  too  far,  he  met  with  St. 
Leger,  at  the  head  of  sixty  cavalry  ;  notwithstanding  this  difference  in 
numbers,  Maguire,  putting  spurs  to  his  horse,  forced  his  way  through 
the  enemy  to  their  commander,  who  shot  him  through  the  body. 
Though  Maguire's  wound  was  mortal,  he  determined  to  be  revenged ; 
struck  St.  Leger  such  a  blow  with  his  lance  that  he  cleft  his  head 
through  the  helmet,  and  then  opened  a  passage  for  himself,  sword  in 
hand.  Both  generals  died  of  their  wounds  a  few  days  after,  greatly 
regretted  by  their  respective  corps. 

The  Prince  O'Neill,  before  he  left  Munster,  took  the  necessary 
measures  for  the  defence  of  the  province  and  the  security  of  the  con- 
federates. He  placed  some  veteran  troops  among  them,  and,  returning 
through  Leinster,  he  left  a  reenforcement  with  O'Morra  of  Leix.  Before 
this,  he  passed  in  view  of  Ormond,  who  commanded  the  English  army, 
but  without  bringing  them  to  a  battle.  He  arrived  safe  in  Ulster,  having 
honorably  fulfilled  the  designs  he  had  in  view. 

Charies  Blunt,  Baron  of  Mountjoy,  was  appointed  viceroy,  and  Sir 
George  Carew  was  named  president  of  Munster,  by  the  queen.  These 
two  noblemen  repaired  to  Dublin,  about  the  end  of  February,  and  soon 
proceeded  to  Kilkenny,  where  they  visited  the  Eari  of  Ormond. 
Ormond  had  promised  to  meet  Owen,  son  of  Rory  O'Morra,  on  the 
borders  of  Idough,  and  the  president  promised  to  accompany  him  with 
his  attendants.  All  arrived,  according  to  appointment,  at  the  place  of 
meeting.  The  troops  of  both  parties  were  at  a  distance,  when  the  con- 
ference began  between  Ormond  and  O'Morra,  which  lasted  for  an  hour 
without  any  thing  being  concluded.  O'Morra  had  a  Jesuit  with  him 
named  Archer,  who  was  zealously  opposed  to  the  reformation,  with 
whom  Ormond  began  a  controversy  on  the  scoie  of  religion,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  called  the  Jesuit  a  traitor ;  saying  that,  under  a  sem- 
blance of  religion,  he  was  seducing  her  majesty's  subjects  from  their 
allegiance  ;  after  which  he  proceeded  to  abuse  the  pope  and  church  of 
Rome.  O'Morra,  no  longer  able  to  bear  with  language  so  indecent, 
and  so  foreign  to  the  subject  before  them,  seized  the  eari,  dragged  him 
from  his  horse,  and   made  him  prisoner.     The  president  and  Thomond, 


NEGOTIATIONS.  683 

with  his  other  friends  who  were  at  hand,  being  alarmed,  ran  to  his 
assistance  and  commenced  fighting.  Some  of  the  English  were  killed, 
several  wounded,  and  more  made  prisoners  ;  while  the  president  and 
Thomond  took  to  flight,  and  owed  their  safety  only  to  the  swiftness  of 
their  hoi-ses.  Thomond  was  wounded  in  the  back  with  a  pike,  as  he 
complained  in  a  letter  to  the  council  of  England,  wherein  the  circum- 
stances of  his  misfortune  in  this  affray  are  described.  As  soon  as  the 
two  noblemen  had  got  out  of  danger,  they  talked  of  revenge  ;  their 
drums  and  trumpets  were  ordered  to  rally  the  troops  and  renew  the 
fight ;  but  the  terror  of  the  English  was  so  great,  that  none  but  Captains 
Harvey,  Browne,  Comerford,  and  some  servants,  had  the  courage  to 
move  forward  ;  and,  consequently,  they  had  no  alternative  but  to  sub- 
mit to  their  misfortune.  They  then  returned  to  Kilkenny,  where  they 
found  the  Countess  of  Ormond  inconsolable  for  her  husband's  capture. 

The  deputy  was  in  Dublin  when  he  heard  of  this  unhappy  occur- 
rence, and  likewise  that  the  sons  of  Montgarret  and  several  other 
noblemen  of  the  Butlers  were  up  in  arms. 

The  O'Connors  Faly,  too,  laid  siege,  at  this  time,  to  the  castle  of 
Crouchan,  which  was  situated  in  the  principality  of  OfFaly.  Thomas 
Moor,  a  knight  of  the  golden  spur,  and  GifFard,  both  Englishmen,  com- 
manded the  garrison.  The  besiegers,  having  no  artillery,  scaled  the 
walls  with  a  hundred  foot  soldiers,  and,  having  entered,  put  the  garrison, 
which  consisted  of  Englishmen,  to  the  sword,  and  became  masters  of 
the  fortress. 

The  Irish  of  Ulster  were  still  in  possession  of  that  province,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  forts,  which  the  English  kept  and  garrisoned.  The 
deputy  was  commanded  to  reduce  this  province  ;  but  a  want  of  energy 
in  his  operations  excited  the  suspicions  of  the  court.  It  was,  therefore, 
deliberated  in  council  whether  he  should  be  recalled,  and  another 
deputy  appointed,  or  whether  supplies  should  be  sent  to  continue  the 
war  against  O'Neill  and  his  allies  more  vigorously,  if  he  should  refuse 
to  make  peace.  The  latter  plan  was  adopted,  and  a  fresh  reenforce- 
ment  of  troops  was  ordered  to  Ireland.  In  consequence  of  this,  the 
deputy  wrote  to  O'Neill,  in  April,  proposing  terms  of  peace,  in  the 
name  of  the  queen  and  council,  which,  so  far  as  related  to  religion,  and 
the  reparation  of  the  injuries  that  the  Irish  Catholics  had  sustained,  ap- 
peared reasonable.  The  Prince  of  Ulster,  however,  knew  too  well  the 
disposition  of  the  English,  to  place  any  confidence  in  their  promises ;  he 
knew  that  nothing  but  the  inability  of  acting  otherwise  would  influence 
them  to  keep  faith  with  him ;  and,  besides,   he   expected   daily    the 


684  RENEWAL    OF    HOSTILITIES. 

assistance  that  had  been  promised  to  him  by  the  King  of  Spain,  so  that 
he  rejected  the  overtures  of  the  deputy. 

Mountjoy  feh  the  necessity  of  removing  the  suspicions  which  were 
e>Btertained  against  him  by  the  court ;  and,  finding  the  Prince  of  Ulster 
deaf  to  the  proposals  he  had  made,  he  saw  that  his  only  resource  to 
redeem  his  honor  lay  in  force.  He,  therefore,  collected  his  troops,  to 
attack  him  by  sea  and  land  ;  and  in  the  month  of  March,  a  fleet  of 
sixty-seven  ships,  under  Sir  Henry  Dockwra,  was  ordered  to  take  pos- 
session of  a  lake  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  called  LoiighfoyJe,  to  cause, 
in  that  quarter,  a  diversion  favorable  to  the  expedition  of  his  forces  by 
land.  Five  thousand  infantry  and  three  hundred  horse  were  on  board 
this  fleet,  well  provided  with  ammunition  and  warlike  stores.  The 
English  commander,  also,  had  constructed,  on  the  borders  of  Lough- 
foyle,  four  forts,  from  whence  he  made  frequent  incursions  on  the  lands 
of  O'Dogharty,  and  other  noblemen. 

O'Neill,  when  informed  of  the  movements  of  the  English,  assembled 
a  council  of  the  chief  men  of  the  province,  to  adopt  measures  against 
the  enemy.  It  was  determined,  that  Prince  O'Donnel  should  oppose 
the  attempts  of  the  garrisons  on  Loughfoyle,  while  O'Neill  himself 
would  march  against  the  deputy.  A  detachment  of  the  Irish  army 
having  met  a  party  of  the  English,  who  were  guarding  their  baggage, 
attacked  and  killed  a  great  number  of  them,  and  became  masters  of 
considerable  booty.  Tiie  deputy,  alarmed  at  this  event,  returned  im- 
mediately to  Dublin,  where  he  remained  for  some  time. 

The  Earl  of  Ormond  was  still  a  prisoner  with  O'Morra.  His 
countess  applied  with  eagerness  for  his  liberation  ;  for  which  purpose, 
she  addressed  letters  to  the  queen,  and  to  the  Prince  of  Ulster:  she 
reminded  the  latter  of  the  friendship  that  subsisted  between  him  and  the 
earl,  and  begged  that,  in  consideration  of  the  services  he  had  rendered 
him,  he  would  procure  him  his  freedom.  O'Neill  paid  regard  to  the 
entreaties  of  the  countess,  and  procured  her  husband's  liberty,  on  con- 
dition that  he  would  no  longer  act  against  his  religion  or  his  country, 
and  that  he  should  give  hostages  for  his  fidelity. 

Mountjoy,  who  remained  in  Dublin  since  his  last  expedition  to 
Ulster,  proceeded  to  Kilkenny,  to  visit  the  Earl  of  Ormond  after  his 
liberation.  He  then  marched  at  the  head  of  some  troops  into  Leix,  and 
brought  laborers  with  him  to  cut  down  the  corn  before  it  was  ripe,  in 
order  to  deprive  the  inhabitants  of  subsistence  for  the  next  winter,  and 
thereby  prolong  the  war.  The  inhabitants  of  Leix  ran  to  arms,  and  at- 
tacked both  the  reapers  and  the  troops  who  were  guarding  them ;  the 


CRAFT  AND  CRUELTY  OF  MOUNTJOY.  685 

lord  deputy  was  dismounted,  and  his  horse  killed  under  him,  so  that  he 
saved  himself  with  difficulty,  on  foot,  through  a  neighboring  bog.  The 
advantages  to  the  Irish  from  this  victory  were  not  equal  to  the 
heavy  loss  that  they  sustained  by  the  death  of  Owen  O'Morra,  killed 
in  the  action,  who  was  the  soul  of  the  confederacy  of  Leinster. 

O'Donnel,  who  was  appointed  to  watch  the  motions  of  the  garrisons 
on  Loughfoyle,  pursued  several  detachments  from  those  places,  and 
killed  a  great  many  of  them.  The  forts  were  also  surrounded  .by 
O'Neill's  army.  In  the  month  of  August,  this  prince  surprised  fifteen 
hundred  of  their  men,  who  were  foraging,  and  put  the  whole  of  them 
to  the  sword  ;  but  the  English  being  masters  by  sea,  and  the  Irish 
having  no  fleet  to  oppose  them,  their  losses  were  quickly  repaired  by 
fresh  arrivals  of  men  and  arms  from  England. 

The  successes  of  the  English  in  Munster  were  more  rapid,  in 
consequence  of  the  divisions  that  prevailed  in  that  province.  A  king- 
dom divided  must  fall.  Some  of  their  chiefs  had  already  embraced 
the  reformed  religion  through  interest  and  an  ambition  to  please 
Elizabeth  ;  the  rest  continued  attached  to  the  Roman  church.  Among 
the  latter,  however,  were  some  political  temporizers,  who  would  run  no 
risk,  and  whose  principle  was  to  accommodate  themselves  to  the  times. 
The  English  government  omitted  nothing  to  excite  disunion  ;  they  strove 
to  reduce  the  Irish  to  the  most  abject  wretchedness,  hy  destroying  their 
jlocks,  and  the  crops  necessary  for  their  support ;  and  also  by  drawing 
out  of  Ireland  all  its  gold  and  silver,  and  sending  from  England,  in  lieu 
of  it,  a  new  copper  coin,  which  would  not  pass  in  any  other  country, 
and  which  soon  lost  its  value  there. 

While  Carew  was  employed  in  holding  a  council  in  Cork,  to  de- 
liberate on  the  affairs  of  the  province,  several  skirmishes  took  place 
between  the  Irish  and  the  court  party.  Meeting  with  difficulties 
in  the  conquest  of  Munster,  he  had  to  resort  to  stratagem  to  supply  the 
want  of  force.  In  order  to  gain  over  to  him  some  of  the  confederates, 
and  thus  diminish  the  number  of  his  enemies,  he  prepared  an  expe- 
dition against  Limerick,  threatening  to  give  up  to  his  soldiers  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Catholics  on  his  march.  This  he  effected  by  great  cunning, 
energy,  and  stratagem,  burning  and  destroying  every  thing  in  his  way 
from  Cork  to  Limerick. 

The  gold  of  the  English  was  now  showered  in  bribes  on  all  those 
who  were  rotten  and  base  enough  to  give  up  their  trusts.  Under  its 
influence  some  important  places  were  basely  surrendered.  One  of  the 
O'Neill's,  and  another  of  the  O'Donnel's,  surrendered  two  important 


686  SIGNAL    DEFEAT    OF    THE    INVADERS. 

posts,  which,  as  naturally  may  be  supposed,  produced  great  dismay 
among  the  Irish.  Still  the  redoubled  energy  of  the  O'Donnd  and 
the  O'Neill  subdued  even  rebels,  and  overawed  the  invaders. 

Mountjoy  marched,  in  July,  at  the  head  of  his  forces,  towards  the 
ffontiers  of  Ulster ;  but  this  expedition  was  equally  unsuccessful  as  the 
former.  He  advanced  towards  Armagh  and  Portmor,  the  garrisons  of 
which  he  relieved,  but  was  deterred  from  proceeding  farther,  as  he 
dreaded  O'Neill,  who  was  strongly  intrenched,  which  caused  him  to 
return  to  Dublin. 

The  deputy  set  out  again  from  Dublin,  in  the  month  of  August. 
He  marched  first  to  Naas,  in  order  to  join  Oliver  Lambert,  who  com- 
manded a  body  of  troops  at  Philipstown,  in  OfFally.  The  two  com- 
manders, having  united  their  forces,  carried  fire  and  sword  every  where 
as  they  passed,  so  that  every  step  in  their  march  was  marked  with 
cruelty,  tyranny,  and  a  devastation  of  the  provisions  of  the  people. 

Wishing  to  create  a  diversion  in  favor  of  his  friends  at  Loughfoyle, 
Mountjoy  marched,  in  October,  for  Ulster,  at  the  head  of  six  thousand 
fighting  men.  He  did  not  proceed  far  into  the  province,  when  he  met 
with  the  O'Neill.  The  two  armies  continued  in  sight  of  each  other  for 
fifteen  days  without  attempting  any  thing,  after  which  two  battles  were 
fought  —  one  near  Dundalk,  and  the  other  in  the  neighborhood  of  Car- 
lingford.  These  proved  fatal  to  the  English ;  they  lost  upwards  of 
four  thousand  men ;  the  deputy  was  dangerously  ivounded,  and  carried 
to  Newry  to  be  cured.  It  was  now  that  the  English  government  set  a 
price  upon  the  head  of  O'Neill.  A  proclamation  was  issued,  offering  a 
reward  of  two  thousand  pounds  sterling  to  any  one  who  would  deliver 
him  up  alive,  or  one  thousand  pounds  for  his  head. 

Carew,  the  president,  who  was  still  in  Limerick,  marched  with  his 
troops,  in  the  month  of  June,  into  the  district  of  Connillo,  where  he 
made  himself  master,  after  several  unimportant  skirmishes,  of  many 
important  fortresses,  burning  and  destroying  the  growing  grain,  or  burn- 
ing that  which  had  been  newly  harvested,  insomuch  that  in  a  few 
weeks  there  was  very  little  food  left,  and  thousands  upon  thousands 
perished  by  famine. 

The  invaders,  by  these  means,  procured  the  ignoble  submission  of 
many  of  the  most  influential  chiefs  of  the  south.  The  Earl  of  Des- 
mond, however,  who  was  the  soul  of  the  southern  Irish,  harassed  the 
invaders  in  many  a  well-fought  skirmish.  His  army  was  now  reduced 
to  six  hundred  infantry  and  a  few  cavalry,  so  that  he  could  not  openly 
attack  the  invaders,  who  were  five  times  his  number.     Endeavoring  to 


REVERSES   OF   THE    IRISH.  687 

enter  the  wood  of  Arlogh,  he  lost  two  hundred  of  these  in  a  well-fought 
action  ;  but  he  finally  entered.  From  this  spot,  he  retreated  towards 
the  north.  Many  places  now  surrendered,  which  had  held  out  for 
years  against  the  invaders,  and  the  south  again  came  fully  under  their 
dominion. 

The  deputy  Mountjoy  marched,  in  the  month  of  December,  into  the 
county  of  Wicklow,  to  chastise  the  O'Byrnes  and  O'Tooles,  who  made 
frequent  attacks  upon  the  lands  near  Dublin.  Having  attempted,  in 
vain,  to  get  Felim,  son  of  Fiach,  into  his  power,  he  carried  away  with 
him,  as  prisoners,  his  wife  and  eldest  son  ;  after  which,  he  laid  the 
whole  country  waste,  burning  the  houses  and  their  haggards  as  he 
passed  along.  He  put  garrisons  into  TuUow  and  Wicklow;  then 
marched  to  Monastereven,  and  afterwards  visited  Trim,  Mullingar, 
Athlone,  and  Drogheda  ;  from  which  place  he  set  out  for  Dublin,  on 
the  26th  of  April,  after  distributing  the  troops  among  the  different 
garrisons. 

Gold  and  titles,  in  the  greatest  profusion,  were  now  bestowed  by  the 
queen  on  the  deserters  from  the  Catholic  to  the  Protestant  faith,  while 
those  who  refused  to  conform  were  deprived  of  their  lands,  liberties, 
titles,  and  life. 

The  forces  of  the  Irish  were  continually  diminished  by  their  frequent 
battles,  and  by  their  having  no  succors  sent  them  from  abroad,  while 
those  of  the  English  were  receiving  constant  reenforcements  from  their 
own  country. 

The  Irish  had,  to  the  close  of  this  campaign,  made  the  most  noble 
exertions  in  defence  of  their  religion  and  country.  They  had  to  con- 
tend, not  only  against  the  English,  but  also  against  domestic  enemies, 
without  any  hope  of  assistance,  so  that  the  country  was  devastated  and 
exhausted  of  men  and  provisions,  particularly  Munster,  which  had  been 
for  a  long  time  the  theatre  of  the  war.  Most  of  the  noblemen  in  that 
province  were  obliged  to  submit  to  their  enemies.  Florence  M'Carty, 
seeing  the  necessity  of  yielding  to  the  times,  followed  the  example  of 
the  rest.  Their  submission,  however,  was  but  a  sort  of  truce,  while 
waiting  for  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards. 

Anno  1601.  Don  Martin  Lerda  was  sent  to  Ireland  by  the  king  of 
Spain,  in  the  beginning  of  this  year.  He  brought  two  vessels  laden  with 
arms,  ammunition,  and  money.  This  small  succor,  which  seemed  to  give 
omen  of  greater,  was  sent  to  O'Neill ;  and  his  Catholic  majesty  sent 
word  to  this  prince,  that  he  would  immediately  furnish  him  with  troops, 
and  every  thing  necessary  to  carry  on  the  war.     The  vessels  being 


688  SPANISH    AU>. 

arrived  in  the  Bay  of  Kilibegs,  near  Donegal,  O'Neill  divided  the 
resources  he  received  with  the  confederates,  particularly  with  those 
of  Munster.  A  gleam  of  hope  seemed  to  revive  the  fallen  spirits  of  the 
Catholics.  They  met,  and  deliberated  together ;  and  the  Earl  ol 
Clanrickard,  who  was  at  that  time  the  only  nobleman  in  Connaught 
attached  to  the  queen's  cause,  began  to  espouse  the  interest  of  the 
confederates. 

The  invaders  heard  of  this  with  great  consternation,  and  sent  to  the 
queen,  demanding  additional  supplies  of  men  and  money.  The  queen 
wrote  to  her  deputy,  authorizing  him  to  grant  to  the  entire  south  of 
Ireland  a  general  amnesty.  Deputy  Mountjoy,  however,  seemed  to 
disregard  these  suggestions,  and,  entering  on  a  northern  tour  of  destruc- 
tion, destroyed  more  and  more  of  the  country,  and  exasperated  the 
people  to  the  highest  pitch. 

The  deputy  left  Dublin,  in  May,  for  Drogheda,  proceeded  to  Dun- 
dalk,  and  on  the  8th  of  June  passed  through  Moyri,  where  he  had  a 
fort  built,  which  he  garrisoned.  Having  left  his  camp  at  Fagher,  on 
the  14th,  he  passed  through  Newry,  and  on  the  15th  entered  Iveagh, 
the  country  of  the  Magennises.  While  Sir  Richard  Morrison  was  taking 
the  city  of  Down,  the  deputy  entered  Dundrum,  which  was  given  up 
to  him  by  Felim  M'Evir,  to  whom  it  belonged.  This  nobleman 
having  made  his  submission,  his  example  was  followed  by  M'Car- 
tane  of  DufFerin,  and  M'Rory  of  Killiwarlin.  The  deputy,  having 
ended  his  tour  through  Iveagh,  where  he  took  some  castles  without 
meeting  any  resistance,  returned  to  Newry,  from  whence  he  sent 
orders  to  Sir  Henry  Danvers,  commander  of  Mount  Norris,  to  seize 
upon  the  abbey  of  Armagh,  and  put  an  English  garrison  into  it ;  but 
Danvers  failed  in  the  attempt.  He  was  repulsed  by  the  garrison,  and 
forced  to  abandon  his  enterprise. 

On  hearing  of  Danvers's  ill  success  in  his  expedition  against  Armagh, 
the  deputy  marched  towards  Mount  Norris,  where  he  was  joined  by 
the  garrison.  Having  abandoned  the  neighborhood  of  Newry,  he  then 
marched  his  army  towards  Armagh.  On  the  13th  of  July,  he 
arrived  on  the  banks  of  the  Blackwater,  which  he  crossed  the  day  fol- 
lowing, unopposed  by  O'Neill,  who  had  his  army  posted  in  a  wood 
near  the  river.  It  was  his  design  to  avoid  an  engagement,  and  remain 
on  the  defensive,  till  the  succors  which  he  expected  from  Spain  should 
arrive.  On  the  I6th  of  the  same  month,  the  deputy  sent  Sir  Chris- 
topher St.  Laurence's  regiment  to  the  castle  of  Benburb,  where  it  was 
attacked   by  the  advanced  guard  of  O'Neill ;  they   fought  briskly  for 


FALL    OF    DESMOND.  6S& 

three  hours,  within  view  of  the  Enghsh  camp,  though  St.  Laurence, 
having  received  fresh  assistance  from  that  quarter,  was  superior  in  force. 
O'Neill  got  the  worst  of  this  hattle,  and  retreated.  At  this  time,  the 
deputy  issued  a  proclamation  from  the  queen,  that  her  majesty  would 
not  grant  any  terms  to  O'Neill,  and  that  whosoever  would  take  him 
alive,  should  receive  two  thousand  pounds  reward,  or  one  thousand  for 
his  head. 

The  great  Desmond,  having  lost  his  entire  army,  was  taken  by  Fitz- 
gibbon,  in  a  cavern,  and  given  up  to  the  English,  who  sent  him  to  the 
Tower  of  London,  where,  after  seven  years'  imprisonment,  he  died. 

The  deputy  crossed  the  Blackwater  in  August,  and  proceeded  to- 
wards Dungannon  ;  but  the  frequent  skirmishes  he  had  to  maintain  against 
the  troops  of  O'Neill,  forced  him  to  direct  his  march  towards  Armagh. 
Danvers  was  ordered,  with  three  hundred  men,  to  burn  a  village  that 
lay  in  their  march,  but  was  driven  back  by  O'Neill's  troops,  and  pur- 
sued to  the  English  camp,  in  spite  of  the  succors  that  were  sent  to  him. 
Some  days  after  this,  the  Irish  advanced  with  a  design  of  attacking  the 
enemy  in  their  camp ;  but  the  deputy,  being  apprized  of  it,  placed  four 
hundred  men  in  ambush,  who,  falling  on  them  in  flank,  killed  several  of 
them,  and  amongst  the  number,  Peter  Lacy,  Lord  of  BrufF,  in  the 
county  of  Limerick. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  about  the  end  of  August,  160L  Mun- 
3ter  had  no  longer  any  leaders  after  the  imprisonment  of  Florence 
M'Carty  and  James  Fitzthomas,  who  were  the  centre  of  their  union. 
The  people  of  Leinster  were  broken  down  ;  Connaught  was  unable  to 
attempt  any  thing,  and  the  only  resources  of  the  country  lay  in  O'Neill 
and  O'Donnel,  whose  forces  were  too  few  to  stand  against  the  English 
and  the  unfaithful  sons  of  Ireland.  In  a  word,  the  country  was  ex- 
hausted of  men  and  means,  from  having  sustained,  for  many  years,  the 
burden  of  a  war,  while  waiting  for  assistance  that  came  too  late. 

Reports  were  spread  at  this  time,  that  a  Spanish  fleet,  with  troops 
for  Ireland,  was  at  sea ;  which  becoming  known  to  the  council  of  Eng- 
land, reenforcements  were  immediately  ordered  for  Ireland.  Philip  the 
Third,  king  of  Spain,  was  eager  to  perform  the  promises  that  were  held 
out  to  the  princes  O'Neill  and  O'Donnel.  For  this  object,  he  assem- 
bled what  troops  were  necessary  for  the  expedition,  and  gave  the 
command  of  them  to  Don  Juan  del  Aquila,  a  man  well  experienced  in 
war.  As  soon  as  the  fleet  had  got  into  the  open  sea,  it  was  dispersed 
and  separated  by  a  violent  storm.  One  part  of  it,  consisting  of  seven 
ships,  laden  principally  with  artillery  and  other  warlike  stores  and  provis- 
87 


690  AID    FROM    SPAIN. 

ions,  was  forced,  with  the  vice-admiral,  Don  Pedro  de  Zubiaur,  to  take 
shelter  in  the  port  of  Corunna,  in  Galicia.  The  other  portion,  with  Don 
Juan  and  two  thousand  five  hundred  infantry,  (a  small  force  for  so  great 
an  enterprise,)  arrived  with  difficulty  in  the  harbor  of  Kinsale,  on  the 
23d  of  September.  As  soon  as  the  Spaniards  had  landed,  Captain 
William  Saxeys,  who  commanded  the  English  troops,  withdrew  to  Cork. 
The  inhabitants  of  Kinsale  immediately  after  opened  their  gates  to  Don 
Juan,  who  entered  and  took  possession  of  the  town. 

Don  Juan  was  not  secure  at  Kinsale,  where  he  was,  in  fact,  in  need 
of  every  thing :  so  he  wrote  to  Spain,  by  the  fleet  that  was  returning, 
and  gave  an  account  to  the  king,  his  master,  of  his  voyage,  and  of  the 
supplies  he  wanted.  The  Spanish  general  found  none  (except  O'Sulli- 
van)  among  the  Catholics  of  Munster  inclined  to  assist  him.  Some  had 
been  imprisoned,  others  gave  hostages  as  a  guaranty  for  their  loyalty, 
and  others  opposed  the  cause  of  their  country,  so  that  there  was  none 
but  O'Sullivan,  Prince  of  Bearre  and  Bantry,  who  could  make  any 
attempt  in  favor  of  the  Spaniards.  The  deputy  waited  in  Cork  for  the 
return  of  the  officers  who  had  been  sent  to  Leinster,  Connaught,  and 
the  garrisons  in  Ulster,  to  collect  the  government  forces,  which  aniounted 
to  about  seven  thousand  six  hundred  men,  comprising  those  of  Munster. 
The  English  general  marched  with  his  army  towards  Kinsale,  having 
changed  his  camp  two  or  three  times.  The  months  of  October  and 
November  were  spent  in  skirmishing,  the  Spaniards  making  frequent 
sallies,  and  the  English  driving  them  back  ;  the  latter,  if  we  can  credit 
their  historians,  being  always  successful.  The  account,  however,  of  a 
contemporary  writer  (Peter  Lombard)  is  different.  According  to  him, 
the  Spaniards  fought  valiantly,  during  the  day,  in  defending  their  walls, 
and  by  night  they  sallied  forth,  killing  the  sentinels  and  advanced  guards 
of  the  English,  and  carrying  off  their  cannon  ;  by  which  means,  con- 
tinues he,  the  loss  of  the  English  always  exceeded  that' of  the  Spaniards. 
Even  could  we  suppose  that  the  English  had  the  advantage,  the  great 
disproportion  in  numbers  between  the  besieged  and  besiegers  would  tend 
to  lessen  their  boasted  advantages  considerably.  The  English  appeared 
hefore  Kinsale  with  seven  thousand  six  hundred  men  ;  their  army  was 
increased,  soon  after,  to  eight  thousand,  a  reenforcement  having  been 
brought  from  England  by  the  loyal  Earl  of  Thomond.  Tl)e  English 
artillery  was  numerous,  and  skilfully  worked  ;  their  camp  abounded 
with  provisions  ;  Captain  Button  guarded  the  mouth  of  the  harbor  till 
the  arrival  of  an  English  squadron  often  vessels,  under  Admiral  Richard 
Levison,  who  were  incessantly  pouring  broadsides  on  the  town,  while 


FURTHER    AID    FROM    SPAIN.  691 

the  army  attacked  it  by  land ;  and  still  the  siege  of  Kinsale  lasted  from 
the  17th  of  October  to  the  9th  of  January  following. 

Vice-Admiral  Don  Pedro  Zubiaur,  who  was  forced  by  a  storm  to 
touch,  with  his  seven  ships,  at  Corunna,  in  Galicia,  arrived  on  the  coast 
of  Ireland,  December  3d.  This  officer  entered  a  harbor  called  Cuan- 
an-caislon,  (in  English,  Castle  Haven,)  in  Carbry,  about  twenty  miles 
from  Kinsale,  where  they  were  kindly  received  by  five  brothers  of  the 
O'Driscols,  to  whom  the  country  belonged,  and  who  gave  him  up  one 
of  their  castles. 

The  news  of  the  Spaniards  having  arrived  at  Castle  Haven  being 
spread,  the  deputy  commanded  Admiral  Levison  to  engage  them.  With- 
out losing  a  moment,  he  sailed  with  six  ships  and  some  troops  on  board. 
Having  reached  Castle  Haven,  he  found  the  Spanish  vessels  unguarded 
by  their  crews,  who  were  sleeping,  and  fatigued  after  a  long  voyage. 
The  Spaniards,  being  roused  by  the  cannon  of  the  English,  which  began 
to  play  upon  their  ships  and  upon  the  castle,  returned,  though  in  a  con- 
fused manner,  the  fire  with  their  artillery,  and  supported  an  engagement 
during  two  days,  in  which  the  English  lost  five  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  men. 

The  English  admiral,  not  succeeding  to  his  wishes  in  his  attack  upon 
their  vessels,  was  about  to  land  his  troops,  and  attack  the  Spaniards 
who  were  on  shore ;  but  from  this  he  was  deterred  by  seeing  them  reen- 
forced,  by  the  Prince  of  Bearre,  with  five  hundred  men,  all  ready  to 
oppose  him.  He  immediately  sailed  from  Castle  Haven  for  Kinsale, 
where  he  vainly  boasted  of  having  been  successful  in  his  expedition. 
Many  of  the  surrounding  nobility  took  up  arms  to  join  the  Spaniards; 
the  principal  among  whom  were  Finin  O'Driscol  and  several  others  of 
the  same  name ;  the  M'Cartys  of  Carbry  ;  Donnal  O'Sullevan  Bearre ; 
the  eldest  son  of  O'Sullevan  More  j  Donnal  M'Carty,  son  of  the  Earl 
of  Glancar,  and  other  branches  of  the  M'Cartys  of  Desmond  ;  the 
O'Donavans  and  O'Mahonys  of  Carbry ;  John  O'Connor  Kierry ;  the 
Knight  of  Kerry,  and  others. 

During  the  expedition  of  Levison  at  Castle  Haven,  a  Scotch  vessel 
entered  the  harbor  of  Kinsale.  This  ship  was  separated  at  sea  from  the 
Spanish  fleet,  and  had  eighty  Spanish  soldiers  on  board.  The  com- 
mander informed  Vice-Admiral  Preston,  and  treachero^isly  surrendered 
to  him  his  cargo. 

The  princes  of  Ulster  did  not  forget  their  promises  to  Don  Juan  del 
Aquila.  They  used  every  exertion  to  march  to  the  relief  of  Kinsale. 
The  distance  was  about  eighty  leagues,  and  the  roads  very  bad  from 


692  AID    FKOM    ULSTER. 

the  continual  rains.     O'Donnel  marched  first  with  his  army,  amounting 
to  two  thousand  six  hundred  infantry  and  four  hundred  cavahy. 

The  news  of  O'Donnel's  march  alarmed  the  English.  The  lord 
deputy  summoned  a  council  to  deliberate  on  measures  for  intercepting 
this  prince's  communication  with  Munster ;  and  the  president,  Carew, 
was  appointed  to  this  trust.  He  set  out,  accordingly,  with  four  thousand 
five  hundred  infantry  and  five  hundred  cavalry,  and  advanced  towards 
Ormond,  where  O'Donnel  was  to  pass.  After  a  march  of  a  few  days, 
he  stopped  at  Ardmail,  to  the  north  of  Cashel.  O'Donnel  had  already 
entered  the  county  of  Tipperary,  through  Ikerin,  the  country  of  the 
O'Meaghers,  and  encamped  at  Holy-Cross,  not  far  from  Ardmail, 
where  the  president  was  stationed.  The  Prince  of  Tirconnel  wished  to 
avoid  fighting,  and,  to  deceive  the  enemy,  he  lighted  a  number  of  fires  in 
the  camp,  and  began  his  march  before  day.  He  took  his  route  through 
Slieve  Phelim,  along  the  side  of  the  Shannon,  and  got  into  the  county 
of  Limerick,  thi-ough  the  defiles  of  the  Abbey  of  Owney,  and  from  thence 
to  the  districts  of  the  O'Moel  Ryans,  and  reached  the  Casde  of  Crome, 
which  was  twelve  miles  farther  on  ;  so  that,  on  a  calculation,  he  marched, 
in  one  day,  thirty-two  miles  —  a  very  arduous  exploit  for  an  army  followed 
by  their  baggage.  The  president,  being  informed  of  O'Donnel's  move- 
ment, marched  with  his  forces  the  same  day,  and  crossed  the  country  as 
far  as  the  Abbey  of  Owney,  for  the  purpose  of  intercepting  him ;  but, 
understanding  that  he  had  passed  the  defiles  of  Connillo,  he  gave  up  the 
pursuit,  and  returned  to  the  camp  at  Kinsale,  taking  a  shorter  route,  in 
order  to  be  before  O'Donnel,  to  prevent  any  communication  between 
him  and  the  Spanish  garrison. 

Prince  O'Neill  set  out  from  Tyrone,  in  the  month  of  November,  at 
the  head  of  about  three  thousand  men,  to  assist  the  Spaniards.  O'Neill, 
on  his  maich  through  the  county  of  Meath,  met  some  opposition  from 
the  Anglo-Irish  ;  Darcy,  the  Lord  of  Plattin,  being  killed  in  the  skirmish. 
He  continued  his  march,  however,  and  on  the  8th  of  December  he 
arrived  in  the  county  of  Cork,  within  a  few  leagues  of  the  English 
camp.  O'Donnel  was  expecting  him  in  the  district  of  Kinel  Meaky, 
and  these  two  princes  encamped  together,  on  the  2 1st,  between  Cork 
and  Kinsale,  within  a  league  of  the  English  army. 

The  united  forces  of  O'Neill  and  O'Donnel  amounted  to  six  thousand 
Irish,  besides  three  hundred  Spaniards,  who  had  come  from  Castle 
Haven,  under  the  command  of  O'Sullevan  of  Bearre  and  Don  Alphonso 
de  la  Campo.  Their  object  was  not  to  attack  the  English,  who  were 
fifteen  or  sixteen  thousand  strong,  a  disproportion  in  numbers  far  too 


FALL    OF    KINSALE.  693 

great.  Some  skirmishing  battles  were  now  fought,  which  it  would  be 
tedious  to  relate. 

The  English,  having  nothing  more  to  fear  from  the  Irish  army, 
returned  to  their  camp  before  Kinsale,  and  made  great  rejoicings  for 
their  victory.  The  noise  of  their  firing  induced  Don  Juan  to  march  a 
part  of  the  garrison  to  assist  (as  he  thought)  the  reenforcement  he  was 
expecting,  and  which  he  imagined  was  engaged  with  the  English. 
Seeing  his  error,  however,  he  marched  back  into  the  town.  It  is 
worthy  of  remark,  that  the  Spanish  commander  of  Kinsale,  whether 
from  his  having  a  knowledge  of  an  action  being  fought  near  the  town, 
or  not,  did  not  lead  out  his  troops,  as  had  been  previously  agreed  upon 
between  him  and  O'Neill.  But  a  concerted  action  between  the  Span- 
iards in  the  garrison  and  the  Irish  having  failed,  whereby  O'Neill  lost 
twelve  hundred  men,  he  judged  it  most  prudent  to  retire  to  Ulster. 

Whilst  the  English  were  vigorously  pushing  forward  the  siege  of 
Kinsale,  Hugh  O'Donnel,  after  giving  the  command  of  his  troops  to  his 
brother  Roderick,  embarked  for  Spain  with  Redmond  Burke,  Hugh 
Mostian,  and  others.  Don  Juan,  not  finding  himself  equal  to  hold  out 
any  longer,  sent,  on  the  last  day  of  December,  a  letter,  by  his  drum- 
major,  offering  to  capitulate,  which  proposal  was  accepted  by  the 
English  general,  who  immediately  despatched  Sir  William  Godolphin 
to  treat  with  the  Spanish  commander  upon  the  articles  of  surrender,  the 
principal  of  which  were,  that  Don  Juan  should  give  up  to  the  deputy 
every  place  which  he  was  in  possession  of  in  the  province  of  Munster, 
viz.,  Kinsale,  Castle  Haven,  Baltimore,  Bearhaven,  and  Dunboy,  and 
that  the  deputy  should  furnish  transport  vessels  to  convey  Don  Juan  to 
Spain,  together  with  his  forces,  arms,  ammunition,  artillery,  money,  Stc, 
and  with  colors  flying.  This  capitulation  was  signed  on  one  part  by 
Don  Juan,  and  on  the  other  by  the  deputy,  the  president  of  Munster, 
the  Earls  of  Thomond  and  Clanriccard,  Richard  Wingfield,  Robert 
Gardiner,  George  Bourchier,  and  Richard  Levison. 

The  surrender  of  Kinsale  had  different  effects  on  the  Irish  and 
the  Enfrlish.  The  latter  were  disgusted  with  the  siege  ;  independently 
of  the  inclemency  of  the  season,  it  being  the  month  of  January,  they 
had  provision  for  only  six  days ;  their  treasury  was  exhausted,  their  war- 
like stores  worn  out,  and  their  artillery  not  fit  for  effecting  a  breach. 
Nearly  half  of  the  English  army,  which,  in  the  beginning  of  the  siege, 
amounted  to  sixteen  thousand  men,  had  fallen,  either  by  the  sword  of 
the  enemy  or  disease.  The  English  fleet  in  the  bay  had  suffered  as 
much  as  the  army  on  land.     The  deputy,  therefore,  having  consulted 


694  NEGOTIATIONS    WITH    SPAIN. 

with  his  council,  considered  the  capitulation  proposed  by  the  Spanish 
genera]  as  the  only  means  of  saving  the  remainder  of  his  army,  and 
avoiding  the  disgrace  of  raising  a  siege,  which  had  been  already  so  fatal 
to  him. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  possession  of  Kinsale  was  of  the  first  im- 
portance to  the  cause  of  Ireland;  the  garrison  under  Don  Juan 
amounted  to  two  thousand  five  hundred  men,  well  provided  with  ammu- 
mtion  and  provisions,  and  supported  by  the  garrisons  of  Bakimore, 
Castle  Haven,  and  Bearhaven,  so  that,  from  the  state  of  the  English,  he 
might  have  held  out  till  the  arrival  of  succors  from  Spain,  which  would 
also  have  given  time  to  O'Neill  and  the  other  Irish  princes  to  assemble 
in  the  spring.  The  surrender,  therefore,  of  Kinsale  and  its  dependencies, 
by  shutting  out  all  foreign  aid,  would  necessarily  injure  the  cause  they 
wished  to  defend.  O'Sullevan  Bearre,  apprehensive  of  these  conse- 
quences, took  possession  of  the  Castle  of  Dunboy,  which  belonged  to 
him,  but  which  he  had  given  up  as  a  garrison  for  the  Spaniards  on  their 
arrival  in  the  country.  Being  determined,  therefore,  that  this  fortress 
should  not  be  surrendered  to  the  enemy,  he  got  Thomas  Fitzmaurice, 
Lord  of  Lixnaw,  Donnal  M'Carty,  Captain  Richard  Tirrell,  and  William 
Burke,  with  some  troops,  into  the  castle  by  night,  and  took  possession 
of  the  gates,  without  committing  any  hostility  towards  the  Spaniards. 
He  immediately  despatched  Dermod  O'Driscol  to  the  king  of  Spain, 
entreating  of  his  majesty  to  be  convinced  that  his  motives  were  hon- 
orable in  the  taking  of  Dunboy,  and  complained  vehemently,  in  his 
letter,  of  the  capitulation  which  Don  Juan  had  entered  into  with  the 
English,  calling  it  wretched,  execrable,  and  inhuman. 

O'Donnel,  who  had  sailed  for  Spain  after  the  battle  of  Kinsale,  was 
received,  on  his  arrival  at  Corunna,  in  Galicia,  with  every  mark  of  dis- 
tinction, by  the  Count  de  Caracena.  O'Donnel,  having  recovered  from 
his  fatigues,  took  leave  of  his  host,  who  presented  him  with  a  thousand 
ducats.  He  then  continued  his  route,  and,  having  arrived  at  court,  was 
received  by  the  king  and  all  his  courtiers.  His  majesty  gave  the  neces- 
sary orders  for  an  expedition  to  Ireland,  and  the  troops  intended  for  it 
began  to  march  towards  Corunna. 

Don  Juan  de  Aquila,  the  Spanish  general,  was  still  in  Ireland  ;  he 
sailed,  however,  with  the  remainder  of  his  forces,  from  Kinsale  for  Spain, 
on  the  16th  of  Mai-ch,  with  a  fair  wind.  On  arriving  at  Corunna,  being 
suspected  of  having  acted  dishonorably  in  Ireland,  he  was  arrested  by 
order  of  the  king,  and  confined  to  his  own  house,  where  he  soon  after- 
wards died  of  grief.     The  suspicions  formed  against  Don  Juan  were 


THE    WAR    IN   ULSTER. 


695 


founded  on  the  facility  with  which  he  surrendered  to  the  English  Kin- 
sale,  and  the  other  towns  in  which  the  Spaniards  were  ;  also  on  the 
friendliness  of  a  correspondence  which  he  kept  up  with  the  deputy  and 
Carew,  and  the  reciprocal  presents  that  were  made  between  them ;  and 
finally  upon  his  having  furnished  passports  to  the  English,  who  went 
from  Ireland  to  Spain,  under  pretence  of  trading,  but  who,  in  reality, 
were  spies,  that  brought  home  an  account  of  all  that  was  passing  in 
Spain,  relative  to  the  affairs  of  Ireland  ;  on  proof  of  which,  an  English 
officer,  called  Walter  Edney,  was  arrested  at  Corunna.  He  had  freight- 
ed a  vessel  at  Cork  for  Spain,  and  was  provided  with  a  letter  of  intro- 
duction and  presents  from  the  deputy  to  Don  Juan  ;  but,  the  latter 
having  already  fallen  into  disgrace,  the  deputy's  plan  was  defeated  ;  the 
Count  de  Caracena  profited  by  the  presents  that  were  sent,  and  his 
letters,  passports,  and  papers,  were  forwarded  to  the  Spanish  court. 

Pope  Clement  the  Eighth  wrote  a  letter  at  this  time  to  Hugh  O'Neill, 
Prince  of  Tyrone,  complimenting  him  on  the  confederacy  which  he  had 
established  among  the  Irish  princes,  for  the  defence  of  the  Catholic 
religion. 

The  English  deputy,  having  ended  his  campaign  in  Munster,  set  out 
for  Dublin,  appointing  Sir  Richard  Percy  counsellor  for  that  province. 

The  English  troops  in  Ireland,  A.  D.  1602,  amounted,  notwithstand- 
ing their  losses  in  the  late  campaign,  to  seventeen  thousand  infantry,  and 
a  thousand  five  hundred  cavalry.  The  deputy,  after  having  reviewed 
them,  put  them  into  convenient  garrisons  till  the  next  campaign. 

In  the  beginning  of  June,  the  deputy  assembled  his  forces,  and 
marched  into  Ulster,  where  he  got  a  bridge  built  over  the  Blackwater, 
with  a  fort,  which  he  called  Charlemont,  after  his  own  name,  and  in 
which  he  placed  Captain  Caulfield,  [the  ancestor  of  the  present  Earl  of 
Charlemont,]  with  a  garrison  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  men.  He  sent  the 
regiment  of  Sir  Richard  Morrison  to  make  themselves  masters  of  Dun- 
gannon  ;  but  the  inhabitants  of  the  place,  on  the  approach  of  the  English, 
set  fire  to  it,  and  reduced  it  to  ashes,  together  with  the  beautiful  Castle 
of  Tyrone.  The  deputy  repaired  thither  with  the  remainder  of  his  army, 
where  he  was  joined  by  Dockwra. 

The  Prince  of  Ulster  withdrew  to  Castle  Roe,  on  the  River  Bann. 
The  Eno-lish  laid  the  whole  country  waste,  as  far  as  Inniskillen  ;  they 
made  themselves  nsasters  of  Magherlowny  Isle,  where  O'Neill  had  a 
magazine  ;  and  took  another  island,  in  which  they  found  three  pieces 
of  English  cannon,  Dockwra,  who  commanded  a  garrison  at  Ony, 
received  orders  to  harass  O'Neill  in  Dungeven,  in  Araghty  Cahan  ; 


696 


THE    WAR    IN    MUNSTER. 


while  Chichester,  who  led  the  troops  from  the  garrison  of  Carrickfergus, 
brought  the  regiment  of  Morrison  to  occupy  Toome,  and  the  deputy 
himself  guarded  the  road  to  Killetro ;  but  in  spite  of  these  plans,  and 
the  great  superiority  of  the  enemy,  O'Neill,  with  six  hundred  foot  and 
sixty  horse,  marched  from  Castle  Roe,  and  reached  Lough  Earne  unmo- 
lested. Being  incapable  of  resisting  the  enemy  openly,  he  remained  on 
the  defensive ;  for  which  purpose  he  chose  an  inaccessible  spot,  called 
Gleannchonkein,  near  Lough  Earne,  where  he  intrenched  himself  in  a 
manner  that  left  him  nothing  to  fear.  The  deputy,  hearing  of  this,  con- 
tented himself  with  ravaging  the  surrounding  country,  and  with  breaking, 
at  Talloghoge,  the  stone  which  was  used  as  the  inauguration  seat  of 
the  O'Neills. 

The  lord  deputy,  satisfied  with  his  exploits  in  the  north,  repaired  to 
Newry  on  the  11th  September,  whence  he  set  out  for  Dublin,  leaving 
Ulster  to  the  care  of  Dockwra,  Danvers,  and  Chichester.  Chichester 
executed  his  commission  with  such  cruelty,  through  Ulster,  that  a  famine 
was  the  consequence.  Cox  says,  "  Children  were  seen  to  feed  upon  the 
flesh  of  their  mothers,  who  died  of  hunger,"  and  adds  that  "  the  famine 
in  Jerusalem  was  not  more  severe  than  what  the  rebels  suffered  on  this 
occasion." 

Notwithstanding  that  Don  Juan  del  Aquila  surrendered  to  the  Eng- 
lish the  towns  which  he  held  in  Munster,  the  inhabitants  did  not  give 
up  their  arms,  holding  still  the  hope  of  receiving  new  succors  from 
Spain.  Those  English  authors  who  never  let  pass  any  opportunity  of 
inspiring  their  readers  with  contempt  for  a  people  that  wish  to  escape 
from  their  tyranny,  have  filled  their  writings  with  such  injurious  and 
insulting  statements  as  should  destroy,  in  the  mind  of  the  discerning  and 
impartial  reader,  all  respect  for  them.  Their  language  on  this  occasion . 
is  as  follows :  "  The  rebels  spread  themselves  every  where,  particularly 
through  the  districts  of  Carbry,  Bearre,  Desmond,  and  Kerry.  No 
place  escapes  them  ;  they  have  become  desperate  from  their  crimes ; 
they  look  upon  themselves  as  children  of  perdition,  and  unworthy  of  her 
majesty's  pardon."  These  are  phrases  in  accordance  with  the  imperious 
character  of  the  English,  who  imagine  that  the  world  should  obey  them. 
The  Irish,  whom  they  thus  describe  as  rebels  and  children  of  perdition, 
did  not  seek  the  clemency  of  Elizabeth  ;  they,  on  the  contrary,  took  up 
arms  to  defend  their  country  against  her  tyranny  and  usurpation. 

Daniel  O'Sullevan,  Prince  of  Bearre,  became  chief  of  the  Irish  league 
in  Munster,  after  the  surrender  of  Kinsale,  and  the  retreat  of  the  princes 
of  Ulster.     This  prince,  illustrious  for  his  virtue  and   his  valor,  was  in 


SIEGE    OF    DUNBOY.  69t 

possession  of  Dunboy,  and  omitted  nothing  to  put  that  fortress  into  a 
state  of  defence.  The  nobles  who  espoused  with  him  the  common 
cause,  were  Daniel  M'Carty,  son  of  the  Earl  of  Clancar  ;  Daniel,  son 
of  O'Sullevan  More ;  Cornelius  and  Dermod  O'Driscol ;  Dermod 
O'Sullevan  ;  Dermod,  Donagh,  and  Florence  M'Carty,  of  the  family 
of  M'Carty  Riagh ;  M'Sweeny ;  Donagh  O'Driscol,  and  his  brothers. 
The  Prince  of  Bearre  was  also  joined  by  O'Connor  Kerry,  M'Maurice, 
Baron  of  Lixnaw,  the  Knight  of  Kerry,  the  Knight  of  Glynn,  John  Fitz- 
gerald, (brother  of  the  earl,)  James  Butler,  (brother  to  the  Baron  of 
Cahir,)  William  Burke,  Captains  Richard  M'Geoghegan  and  Richard 
Tirrell.  The  former  was  appointed  to  command  the  fortress  of  Dunboy, 
the  latter  to  lead  the  army  of  observation. 

This  confederacy  caused  great  alarm  to  the  English.  The  president, 
Carew,  ordered  her  majesty's  troops  to  assemble  at  Cork  ;  and  the  old 
and  modern  Irish,  who  were  loyal  to  the  court  party,  were  also  com- 
manded to  meet.  These  auxiliaries  and  the  Englisli  troops  amounted 
to  more  than  four  thousand  men.  In  March,  a  detachment  of  two 
thousand  five  hundred  infantry  and  fifty  cavalry  was  sent  under  the 
command  of  the  Earl  of  Thomond,  who  was  commanded  by  the  deputy 
to  scour  the  countries  of  Carbry,  Bearre,  and  Bantry  ;  to  burn  all  the 
corn,  to  take  away  the  cattle,  and  commit  every  species  of  hostility  upon 
the  rebellious  inhabitants,  but  to  spare  those  who  surrendered.  Tho- 
mond, being  unable  to  act  against  Dunboy,  in  consequence  of  Captain 
Tirrell's  light  troops  having  possession  of  the  mountains  of  Bearre,  took 
post  temporarily  with  Captain  Flower,  in  an  island  called  Fuidi  or  Whid- 
dy,  in  the  Bay  of  Bantry. 

The  lord  president  determined  to  besiege  Dunboy,  and  set  out,  the 
23d  of  April,  from  Cork,  with  more  than  five  thousand  men,  besides  the 
body  of  troops  that  was  under  Wilmot,  in  the  county  of  Kerry.  The 
English  assert  that  the  garrison  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  forty 
chosen  men.  By  their  valiant  defence  of  Dunboy,  they  have  well 
merited  the  name  and  character  of  heroes. 

The  president  proceeded  with  caution,  and,  before  he  began  the  siege 
of  Dunboy,  resolved  to  secure  the  places  in  his  rear.  The  Irish  had 
left  some  soldiers  in  the  Castle  of  Dunraanus,  whom  it  was  deemed 
prudent  for  this  purpose  to  dislodge. 

Richard  M'Geoghegan,  commander  of  the  Castle  of  Dunboy,  is  repre- 
sented by  an  English  writer  as  having  had  an  interview,  on  the  great 
island  where  the  English  troops  were  then  posted,  with  the  Earl  of 
Thomond.     After  speaking  on  the  subject  in  a  mysterious  manner,  he 


698  AID    FROM    SPAIN. 

has  this  passage :  "  But  of  this  1  am  sure,  that  the  earl's  meeting  with 
him  was  not  without  the  president's  knowledge  and  allowance ;  all  the 
eloquence  and  artifice  which  the  earl  could  use,  however,  availed  noth- 
ing, for  M'Geoghegan  was  resolved  to  persevere  in  his  conduct." 

The  president  was  in  the  habit  of  resorting  to  dishonorable  means  for 
seducing  those  whom  he  had  to  fear  most  amonsfst  his  enemies.  He 
met,  among  the  Irish  themselves,  agents  obsequious  to  his  wishes.  He 
had  already  sent,  through  Owen  O'Sullevan,  a  pressing  letter  to  the 
cannoniers  of  Dunboy.  These  were  three  in  number,  two  Spaniards 
and  an  Italian,  whom  O'Sullevan  Bearre,  when  he  became  master  of 
the  castle,  took  into  his  pay.  The  deputy  proposed  to  reward  them 
liberally  if  they  would  spike  the  cannon  and  break  the  carriages  when 
the  siege  should  have  commenced ;  but  they  proved  themselves  honora- 
ble to  their  trust,  and  incapable  of  being  influenced  by  his  bribes. 

The  president,  having  failed  in  the  overtures  made  to  the  governor  of 
Dunboy,  sent  his  troops  from  the  great  to  the  lesser  island,  which  was 
within  about  a  hundred  paces  of  Bearre,  a  position  that  afforded  him  the 
opportunity  of  viewing  more  closely  the  movements  of  the  enemy. 

A  vessel  was  sent,  in  the  mean  time,  by  the  court  of  Spain,  to  Kilmo- 
killock,  near  Ardea,  to  discover  if  the  Castle  of  Dunboy  still  held  out. 
There  were  some  passengers  on  board  ;  among  whom  was  a  friar  named 
James  Nelanus,  and  Owen  M'Eggan,  who  was  appointed  by  the  pope 
bishop  of  Ross  and  apostolical  vicar  of  Ireland.  This  friar  brought 
from  the  king  of  Spain  twelve  thousand  pounds,  to  the  chiefs  of 
the  confederacy,  and  some  warlike  stores,  assuring  them  of  further 
succor,  which  was  coming.  He  was  sent  by  the  Spanish  court 
to  assure  the  Irish  that  the  reenforcements  intended  for  Ireland  would 
be  speedily  forwarded,  and  that  two  thousand  troops  had  already 
assembled  at  Corunna  for  that  purpose.  The  confederates,  trusting  to 
the  promises  given  them,  formed  the  resolution  of  supporting  the  siege 
of  Dunboy  against  the  English,  and  forwarded  despatches  to  the  king 
of  Spain,  to  assure  his  majesty  of  their  determination.  Brien  O'Kelly, 
and  Donogh,  son  of  Mahon  O'Brien,  sailed  on  the  15th  of  June,  1603, 
for  Spain,  with  these  despatches  of  the  confederates.  After  this,  O'Sul- 
levan Bearre  sent  part  of  the  ammunition  that  had  come  from  Spain  to 
strengthen  the  garrison  of  Dunboy. 

The  deputy  knew  how  important  it  would  be  to  reduce  the  Castle  of 
Dunboy.  It  was  the  only  place  of  moment  which  the  Irish  of 
Munster  still  retained  ;  it  served  them  as  an  arsenal  and  a  depot,  and 
secured  the  means  of  holding  a  communication  with  Spain.     He  marched, 


GREAT  BATTLE  AT  DUNBOY. HORRIBLE  CRUELTY.      699 

tbereforGj  to  within  a  mile  of  Dunboy,  where  his  army  encamped.  Ac- 
companied by  Wilmot,  and  a  corps  of  infantry,  he  proceeded  to  recon- 
noitre the  castle,  and  to  seek  a  platform  on  which  to  erect  a  battery ; 
but  the  musketry  of  the  castle  forced  him  and  his  attendants  to  return  to 
their  camp. 

The  English  general,  anxious  to  shelter  his  troops,  and  to  make  the 
artillery  advance  against  the  castle,  caused  a  trench  to  be  opened.  The 
work  was  frequently  interrupted  by  the  besieged,  who  continually  sallied 
out,  and  kept  up  a  constant  fire  from  the  castle.  The  English  at  length 
established  their  trench  within  a  hundred  and  forty  paces  of  the  place. 
A  battery  of  five  pieces  of  cannon  was  then  raised,  which  played  upon 
the  castle,  whilst  two  falconets,  placed  on  a  point  of  land,  destroyed  the 
outworks.  The  president,  in  the  mean  time,  sent  a  hundred  and  sixty 
men  to  attack  Dorsie's  Island.  There  was  a  small  fort  in  it  belonging  to 
the  Irish,  and  garrisoned  by  forty  men.  After  a  vigorous  defence 
from  the  besieged,  the  English  made  themselves  masters  of  this  fort,  and 
found  in  it  a  few  barrels  of  powder,  three  pieces  of  cannon,  and  some 
warlike  stores.  Four  of  the  besieged  were  killed  in  the  action,  two 
were  wounded,  and  the  rest  made  prisoners.  These  latter  were  exe- 
cuted immediately  afterwards,  though  they  had  surrendered.  The  cru- 
elty of  the  English  was  not  confined  to  the  defenders  of  the  castle ; 
they  massacred,  without  distinction,  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  island.  A 
mother  and  the  infant  on  her  breast  were  murdered ;  the  children  were 
barbarously  stabbed,  and  raised,  half  dead,  on  pikes,  for  a  spectacle; 
others  were  tied  hand  and  foot,  and  thrown  from  the  top  of  lofty  rocks 
into  the  sea.  This  is  but  a  faint  description  of  the  cruelties  exercised 
by  the  English  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Ireland  —  a  specimen  of  the  way 
in  which  they  reformed  the  morals  of  the  people. 

The  English  battery  played  incessantly  upon  the  Castle  of  Dunboy. 
Part  of  it  had  already  fallen  ;  and,  the  besiegers  supposing  that  the 
breach  was  effected,  an  attack  was  ordered.  They  were  repulsed,  how- 
ever, with  vigor ;  several  were  killed  on  both  sides,  and  the  English 
were  forced  to  retire.  The  fire  from  the  battery  was  still  kept  up,  by 
which  a  part  of  the  vault  fell  in,  and  drew  those  that  surrounded  it  into 
the  ruins.  The  besiegers  entered  in  crowds  upon  the  breach,  and  re- 
newed the  battle,  but,  as  before,  without  success ;  they  were  driven  off 
with  heavy  loss,  and  hurled  from  the  top  of  the  breach.  A  third  attack 
was  equally  unsuccessful  as  the  two  first ;  for,  after  gaining  the  hall  of 
the  castle,  the  English  ivere  forced  to  abandon  it.  It  will  be  admitted 
that  the  garrison  of  Dunboy,  which  consisted  of  hut  one  hundred  and 


700  GREAT  BATTLE  AT  DUNBOT. 

forty-three  fighting  men,  must  have  been  considerably  weakened  from 
the  continued  assaults  of  the  enemy.  It  might,  indeed,  be  supposed 
that  they  would  easily  have  been  crushed  by  the  overwhelming  force  of 
five  thousand  men,  with  a  powerful  artillery ;  and,  though  the  efforts  of 
the  brave  Captain  Tirrell,  with  his  flying  camp,  frequently  alarmed  the 
English,  they  were  not  sufficient  to  save  the  garrison  from  the  unhappy 
fate  that  awaited  them. 

The  president,  Carew,  seeing  the  obstinate  and  determined  defence 
the  Castle  of  Dunboy  maintained,  ordered  a  fourth  attack,  better  planned 
than  the  preceding  ones.  For  this  purpose,  a  body  of  fresh  troops  was 
chosen,  taken  by  lot  from  the  regiment  of  the  lord  president.  This  body 
was  to  be  supported  by  the  remainder  of  the  same  regiment,  and  that 
of  the  Earl  of  Thomond ;  while  those  of  Percy  and  Wilmot  had  orders 
to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  march,  both  to  protect  the  camp,  and 
to  act  with  the  others  if  necessary.  The  English  artillery  continued  to 
play  upon  the  castle  from  five  in  the  morning  until  nine,  when  a  turret 
of  the  castle,  in  which  there  was  a  falconet  which  greatly  annoyed  the 
English  battery,  was  seen  to  fall.  However,  the  firing  was  kept  up  still 
against  one  of  the  fronts  of  the  castle  till  one  in  the  afternoon,  when,  the 
breach  being  effected,  and  the  plan  of  assault  fixed  upon,  the  detach- 
ment which  was  to  begin  the  attack  advanced.  The  Irish  disputed 
the  entrance  by  the  breach  for  a  long  time,  but  were  at  length  forced  to 
yield  to  the  overwhelming  numbers  of  the  English,  who  planted  their 
standards  on  one  of  the  turrets.  Roused  by  despair,  the  besieged  re- 
newed the  battle,  and  fought  with  desperation  until  night,  sometimes  in 
the  vaults  of  the  castle,  sometimes  in  the  great  hall,  the  cellars,  and  on 
the  stairs,  so  that  blood  foived  in  every  quarter :  several  of  the  besieged 
fell  during  the  attack,  amongst  ichom  was  ]\TGcoghegan,  their  com- 
mander, whose  valor  equalled  the  greatness  of  his  mind  and  station. 
The  castle  was  not  yet  in  the  possession  of  the  English  ;  they  returned 
to  the  assault  the  day  following,  and,  pretending  a  desire  to  spare  the 
further  effusion  of  blood,  terms  were  proposed  to  the  besieged.  The 
few  belonging  to  the  garrison,  who  escaped  the  preceding  day,  having 
lost  their  chief,  and  being  unequal  to  defend  the  castle,  accepted  the 
proposed  conditions  of  having  their  lives  spared.  Richard  M'Geoghe- 
gan,  the  commander,  however,  although  mortally  wounded,  would  not 
listen  to  any  terms ;  and,  seeing  the  English  enter  in  crowds,  he  rose 
up,  though  already  struggling  with  death,  and,  snatching  a  lighted 
match,  made  an  effort  to  fire  a  barrel  of  powder  which  was  placed  near 
him  ;  his  intention  being  to  blow  up  both  himself  and  the  enemy,  rather 


FALL    OF    DUNBOY.  701 

than  surrender.  He  was  prevented,  however,  by  a  Captain  Power,  in 
whose  arms  he  was  basely  and  inhumanly  stabbed  by  the  English  sol- 
diers. M'Geoghegan  knew  that  no  confidence  could  be  placed  in  any 
treaty  with  the  English,  and  preferred  to  die  fighting,  rather  than  sur- 
render to  men  in  whose  honor  he  could  repose  no  trust.  "  The  tvhole 
nuhiber  of  the  ivard  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  forty-three  chosen 
fighting  men,  being  the  best  of  all  their  forces,  of  the  ivhich  no  man 
escaped,  but  were  either  slain,  executed,  or  buried  in  the  ruins.''''  This 
garrison  was  not  composed  of  mere  mercenary  soldiers,  taken  by  lot,  but 
of  men  of  honor  and  principle,  who  willingly  laid  down  their  lives,  in 
defence  of  their  religion  and  country :  the  English  themselves  admit 
that  so  obstinate  and  resolved  a  defence  hath  not  been  seen  loithin  this 
Tiingdom.  They  were  worthy  to  have  been  citizens  of  ancient  Sparta, 
from  the  mode  in  which  they  sacrificed  themselves  for  the  good  of  their 
country  ;  and,  if  their  example  has  not  been  followed  by  others,  it  will 
be  at  least  a  subject  of  reproach  and  self-confusion  to  those  of  their 
countrymen  who  took  up  arms  against  them.  The  siege  of  Dunboy 
lasted  for  fifteen  days. 

The  Spanish  army  which  was  intended  for  the  expedition  to  Ireland 
p. mounted  to  fourteen  thousand  men.  They  had  assembled  at  Corunna, 
and  were  ready  to  sail,  when  intelligence  was  received  of  the  fall  of 
Dunboy ;  on  which  the  Spanish  court  sent  orders  to  the  Count  de  Cara- 
cena,  sovernor  of  Corunna,  to  countermand,  for  the  present,  the  sailing 
of  the  troops.  The  queen  of  England  had  her  emissaries  in  Spain,  who 
informed  her  of  all  that  had  occurred.  She  therefore  ordered  her  fleets 
tliat  were  cruising  on  the  coasts  of  Spain  to  be  revictualled,  and  to  con- 
tinue to  watch  the  motions  of  the  Spaniards  till  the  end  of  September-; 
she  also  sent  two  thousand  more  troops  to  Ireland,  to  reenforce  the  presi- 
dent's army  in  Munster. 

The  fall  of  Dunboy  did  not  prevent  the  Prince  of  Bearre  from  still 
acting  a  brave  and  noble  part.  Dermod  O'Driscol  having  returned  from 
Spain,  Cornelius,  son  of  O'Driscol  More,  was  sent  in  his  stead  to  solicit 
speedy  assistance.  In  the  mean  time,  the  prince  and  Captain  Tirrell 
marched  with  a  thousand  men  into  Muskerry,  and  made  themselves 
masters  of  Carraig-na-Chori,  Duin  Dearaire,  and  Macrumpe,  where 
they   placed  a  garrison. 

O'Donnel  continued  still  in  Spain,  where  he  was  actively  employed 
at  court,  in  behalf  of  his  country.  He  wrote  at  this  time  the  following 
letter,  dated  Corunna,  to  O'Connor  Kerry:  "The  doctor  and  Dermod 
O'Driscol  will  give  you  an  account  of  every  thing  that  is  passing  here. 


702  RETREAT    OF    O'SUIXEVAN  BEARRE. 

The  king  sends  you  money  and  stores.  Believe  me,  that  his  majesty 
will  omit  no  opportunity  to  gain  Ireland,  were  it  to  cost  him  even  the 
greatest  part  of  his  kingdom.  Endeavor  to  secure  this  monarch's  good 
opinion  hy  your  services.  I  beg  that  you  will  inform  me  of  the  news 
in  Ireland,  and  against  whom  the  queen's  forces  are  now  employed." 

Soon  after  this,  news  arrived  of  the  death  of  the  great  O'Donnel, 
in  Spain. 

If  the  submission  of  M'Carty  of  Muskerry  was  fatal  to  the  Irish 
cause  in  Munster,  the  news  of  the  death  of  this  great  man  was  still  more 
disastrous.  The  confederates  of  Munster,  upon  receiving  the  sad  news, 
saw  themselves  deprived  of  all  hope  on  the  side  of  Spain  ;  their  cour- 
age was  broken  down  ;  Daniel  M'Carty,  the  Knight  of  KeiTy,  Daniel, 
son  of  O'Sullevan  More,  and  others,  sought  to  be  reconciled  to  the 
English  government.  Captain  Tirrell  led  his  troops  into  Connaught, 
which  raised  the  courage  of  the  English,  five  thousand  of  whom  were 
collected,  and  the  command  given  to  Wilmot,  with  the  title  of  governor 
of  Bearre.  He  accordingly  led  the  army  to  that  part  of  the  province, 
where  he  published  a  proclamation  in  the  queen's  name,  promising 
pardon  to  all  who  would  abandon  O'Sullevan  Bearre's  standard.  This 
prince  was  now  forsaken  by  his  allies  ;  and  his  Connaught  troops  having 
left  him,  with  their  commander,  Thomas  Burke,  to  return  to  their 
province,  he  deemed  it  more  piTident  to  follow  them  with  the  few  that 
remained,  than  yield  to  an  inhuman  enemy. 

On  the  last  day  of  December,  O'Sullevan  Bearre,  with  O'Connor 
Kerry,  and  a  few  other  noblemen,  having  joined  his  troops  with  those 
of  Connaught,  the  whole  amounting  to  scarcely  four  hundred  men,  set 
out  upon  their  march,  intending  to  take  refuge  with  Hugh  O'Neill,  Prince 
of  Tyrone.  Though  his  shortest  route  would  have  been  through 
Leinster,  still,  that  province  being  in  the  power  of  the  English,  who 
had  their  garrisons  in  every  quarter,  he  determined  to  gain  the  Shannon, 
in  order  to  reach  O'Rourke,  Prince  of  Brefny,  through  Connaught. 
The  badness  of  the  roads  and  scarcity  of  provisions  were  not  the  only 
difficulties  the  Prince  of  Bearre  had  to  encounter.  He  was  continually 
obliged  to  fight  his  way  with  the  enemy.  We  read  nothing  in  history 
which  more  resembles  the  expedition  of  Zenophan,  and  the  ten 
thousand  Greeks,  than  this  retreat  of  O'Sullevan  Bearre. 

The  prince,  having  overcome  the  difficulties  of  a  long  and  painful 
march,  arrived,  on  the  7th  of  January,  in  the  forest  of  Brosnach,  above 
Limerick,  near  the  Shannon,  where  he  encamped  with  his  little  army. 
He  here  convened  a  council  of  war,  to  deliberate  on   the  means  of 


RETREAT    OF    o'sULLEVAN    BEARRE.  7C3 

crossing  the  river ;  in  which  it  was  decided  that  a  number  of  boats, 
made  of  osier  and  the  branches  of  trees,  should  be  constructed  for  the 
troops ;  while,  in  order  to  prevent  them  from  sinking,  they  were  covered 
with  skins  of  horses,  provided  for  the  purpose.  These  boats  were  used 
by  the  ancient  Irish,  and  were  called  curraghs.  The  boats  being 
completed,  they  were  brought  during  the  night  to  Portlaughan,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Shannon,  opposite  to  Portumna,  and  commenced  crossing 
the  river.  O'Maily,  who  went  by  the  first,  was  upset  with  ten  soldiers, 
but  the  rest  reached  the  opposite  shore  in  safety.  On  reviewing  his 
men,  O'Sullevan  found  them  reduced  to  two  hundred.  He  marched, 
however,  through  Galway  to  Mainech,  the  country  of  the  O'Kellys, 
where  he  had  to  contend  with  fresh  enemies.  Having  met  Captain 
Malby,  an  Englishman,  Sir  Thomas  Burke,  brother  to  the  Earl  of 
Clanriccard,  and  other  chiefs,  near  Aughrim,  at  the  head  of  a  body  of 
troops  superior  in  number  to  his  own,  a  battle  began  between  them 
with  equal  animosity ;  but  Malby,  the  English  general,  having  been 
killed,  victory  declared  in  favor  of  the  Irish.  O'Sullevan  continued 
his  march  to  Brefny,  where  he  was  honorably  received  by  O'Rourke. 

The  inhuman  butcheries  of  the  English  throughout  Munster  raised  a 
new  confederacy  against  them,  led  on  by  M'Carty,  which,  after  a  few 
ineffectual  efforts,  melted  away. 

This  struggle  of  the  inhabitants  of  Carbry  was  the  last  during  this 
reign  that  was  made,  in  the  province  of  Munster,  in  favor  of  religion 
aiid  liberty.  It  was  too  weak  to  have  succeeded.  The  M'Cartys, 
having  failed,  solicited  pardon  from  the  president,  through  Captain 
Taaffe,  and  obtained  it.  Fitzmaurice,  with  a  body  of  light  troops, 
defended  himself  for  a  long  time,  in  Slieve-Luachra,  against  the  English  ; 
and  was  afterwards  so  fortunate  as  to  redeem  his  property  and  title  of 
Baron  of  Lixnaw,  by  his  surrender.     Thus  ended  the  war  in  Munster. 

Returning  to  O'Sullevan :  He  was  not  the  only  unfortunate  prince 
who  sought  safety  with  O'Rourke.  On  his  arrival  there,  he  met  the 
son  of  William  Burke,  chief  of  the  noble  family  of  the  M'Williams  of 
Connaught,  and  Maguire,  Prince  of  Fermanagh.  The  same  fate  having 
brouo^ht  O'Sullevan  Bearre  and  Maguire  together,  they  determined  to 
have  recourse  to  O'Neill,  and  induce  him  to  renew  the  war  against  the 
English.  Having,  therefore,  taken  leave  of  the  Prince  of  Brefny,  they 
set  out,  attended  by  Captain  Tirrell  and  a  few  cohorts  of  armed  men, 
and,  notwithstanding  the  severity  of  the  season  and  the  badness  of  the 
roads,  they  proceeded  as  far  as  the  banks  of  Lake  Erne.  They  were 
then  obliged  to  force  the  several  posts  belonging  to  the  English,  in 


704 


APPROACHING    DEATH    OF    QUEEN    ELIZABETH. 


which  they  were  successful.     Maguire  afterwards  got  possession  of  his 
principality  of  Fermanagh. 

Whilst  the  Princes  of  Bearre  and  Fermanagh  continued  victorious 
on  the  banks  of  Lake  Erne,  Lord  Mountjoy,  the  deputy,  received 
intelligence,  from  England,  of  the  queen's  approaching  dissolution.  The 
deputy  was  alarmed  ;  he  knew  the  instability  of  human  affairs,  par- 
ticularly among  a  haughty  and  seditious  people  like  the  English  ;  and, 
apprehending  a  change  of  government,  he  wished  particularly  to  put  an 
end  to  the  war  in  Ireland.  O'Neill,  Prince  of  LTlster,  was  the  great 
obstacle  to  a  general  peace;  he  still  kept  up  his  troops,  and  continued 
on  the  defensive  for  some  time,  expecting  foreign  aid ;  the  deputy, 
therefore,  considered  it  of  importance  to  gain  him  over,  and  made, 
through  his  friends,  proposals  to  him.  The  terms  were  flattering  ;  a 
general  amnesty  was  offered  to  him,  and  to  his  allies,  with  the  free 
exercise  of  their  religion,  and  the  peaceful  enjoyment  of  their  estates, 
on  condition  that  they  would  lay  down  their  arms.  O'Neill  and 
his  friends,  having  accepted  the  terms  that  were  offered,  entered  again 
into  the  possession  of  their  inheritances,  and  enjoyed  them  for  some 
years  in  peace. 

A  celebrated  patent  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  addressed  to  Rory  O'Don- 
nel.  Prince  of  Tirconnel,  is  stated  to  have  been  granted  about  this 
time  ;  from  the  tenor  of  it,  it  appears  to  have  been  given  by  the  advice 
of  the  lord  deputy  Mountjoy,  and  the  council  of  Ireland.  It  was 
written  in  the  Latin  tongue,  and  in  Gothic  characters.  In  this  patent, 
the  queen  offers  to  O'Donnel,  and  a  great  many  noblemen,  proprietors 
of  estates  which  were  held  under  that  prince,  a  general  amnesty  and 
forgiveness  of  their  crimes.  After  the  different  branches  of  the  O'Don- 
nels,  the  chief  noblemen,  who  are  named  in  the  act,  are,  the  O'Boyles, 
the  O'Cahans,  the  O'Kellys,  the  O'Galtowes,  the  O'Crinanes,  the 
O'Carwels,  the  M'Nenys,  the  O'Kennidies,  the  O'Mulrenins,  the 
O'Rowartys,  the  O'Tiernans,  the  O'Creanes,  the  O'Dwyers,  the 
O'Kierans,  the  O'Moyleganes,  the  O'Ruddies,  the  M'Awardes,  the 
O'Dunneganes,  the  O'Meallanes,  the  O'Murrys,  the  O'Doghartys, 
the  O'Miaghans,  the  O'Clerys,  the  M'Glaghlins,  the  O'Sheridans,  the 
O'Cassidys,  the  O'Cashedians,  and  many  others.  This  patent,  (says 
the  Abbe  M'Geoghegan,)  which  is  in  my  possession,  is  dated  Dublin, 
26th  February,  about  a  month  before  the  death  of  the  queen  ;  it  is 
sealed  with  the  great  seal  of  England,  and  signed  Philip. 

Thus  then,  the  great  O'Neill,  with  a  handful  of  well-disciplined 
soldiers,    withstood    the  power    of    England  in  the    field    for 


TRroMPH    OF    o'nEILL,    AND    PEACE.  705 

FIFTEEN  YEARS,  and  Compelled  them  at  last  to  grant  him  peace,  the 
sovereignty  of  his  principality,  and  perfect  freedom  for  his  religion. 

Queen  Elizabeth  died  on  the  24th  of  March,  anno  sixteen  hundred 
and  three.  She  lived  sixty-nine  years  six  months,  and  reigned 
forty-four  years  four  months.  Symptoms  of  rage,  insanity,  and  heavy 
affliction,  preceded  her  death. 

Robert  Naughton,  an  English  writer,  gives,  in  his  Regalia  Frag- 
menta,  a  true  picture  of  Elizabeth,  and  ascribes  her  last  afflictions  to 
the  ill  success  of  her  arms  in  Ireland.  This  Englishman  was  created 
Sir  Robert  Naughton,  secretary  of  state,  and  master  of  the  court  of 
wardens,  under  James  the  First.  He  lived  about  the  period  of  her 
reign,  and  was  deeply  conversant  in  political  secrets. 

"The  war  in  Ireland,  which,"  he  says,  "may  be  styled  the  distemper 
of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  having  continued  to  the  end  of  her  life,  proved 
such  an  expenditure  as  affected  and  disorganized  the  health  and  con- 
stitution of  the  princess,  for,  in  her  last  days,  she  became  sorrowful, 
melancholy,  and  depressed.  Her  arms,  which  had  been  accustomed  to 
conquer,  meeting  with  opposition  from  the  Irish,  and  the  success  of  the 
war  for  so  long  a  time  becoming  not  only  doubtful  but  unfortunate, 
afflicted  her  to  distraction. 

"  It  may  be  imagined  that  England  was  at  the  time  equal  to  undertake 
and  maintain  by  her  resources  the  war  against  the  Irish.  If  we  take  a 
close  view  of  the  state  of  things  at  the  period,  and  the  number  of  troops 
in  Ireland,  as  also  the  defeat  at  Black  Water,  (Benburb,)  and  the  ex- 
penditure attending  the  attempts  of  the  Earl  of  Essex,  the  reduction  of 
Kinsale,  under  General  Mountjoy,  and  of  a  short  time  subsequently,  we 
shall  discover,  that,  in  horse  and  foot,  the  troops  amounted  to  twenty 
thousand  men,  independently  of  the  naval  armaments  connected  with 
them.  The  queen  was  obliged  to  keep  up  a  constant  and  powerful 
fleet,  to  watch  the  coasts  of  Spain,  and  blockade  its  harbors,  in  order  to 
prevent  the  succors,  which  were  intended  for  Ireland,  from  being  for- 
warded. The  expenses,  therefore,  attending  the  wars  of  Elizabeth 
against  the  Irish,  amounted,  at  least,  to  three  hundred  thousand  pounds 
sterling  a  year,  for  fifteen  years,  which  was  not  half  her  expenditure  in 
other  quarters  —  an  expense  which  could  not  be  longer  supported  with- 
out the  aid  of  the  public.  The  frequent  letters  of  the  queen,  and  the 
constant  requests  to  General  Mountjoy  to  disband  the  forces  as 
speedily  as  possible,  furnish  an  irrefragable  proof  to  what  an  extremity 
this  princess  saw  hereelf  reduced." 

Irishmen  of  the  present  day!  read  the  admission  of  this  English 
89 


706  QUEEN  Elizabeth's  poor  law. 

secretary  of  state,  and  learn  from  it  that  England  put  forth  her  whole 
power  against  Ireland  during  this  fifteen  tears'  war,  and  failed  in 
subduing  the  valiant  men  of  that  generation.  Ireland  has  broken  the 
heart  of  many  a  British  king,  and  queen,  and  minister,  and  deputy. 
The  last  deputy,  De  Grey,  has  just  returned  (July,  1844)  from  his 
futile  though  outrageous  administration  of  government  in  Ireland  ;  and 
Sir  Robert  Peel  feels  and  admits  Ireland  to  be  his  sole  difficulty.  Queen 
Victoria  has  no  other  trouble  on  earth  but  Ireland ;  and  thus  we  are,  at 
the  end  of  two  hundred  and  forty  years  from  Elizabeth's  attempts,  as 
unconquered  as  she  found  us  after  four  hundred  years  of  previous  war 
with  her  ancestors. 

Amongst  some  of  the  last  enactments  passed  by  Queen  Elizabeth 
was  her  celebrated  poor  law  act,  entitled  "  The  Forty-third  of  Eliza- 
beth." This  act  gave  to  the  poor  a  right  of  maintenance  in  the  land ; 
it  was  rendered  necessary  by  the  countless  swarms  of  poor  and  idle 
people,  which  appeared  in  England  after  the  breaking  up  of  the  monas- 
teries. Elizabeth  tried  all  that  coercion  and  cruelty  could  effect  to 
punish  and  banish  poverty,  but  its  source  lay  in  the  uprooting  of  the 
whole  social  system,  which  took  place  since  King  Henry's  first  seizure 
of  the  church  property.  The  poor  laws  of  Elizabeth,  for  many  years, 
afforded  the  people  some  protection  against  starvation ;  but  within  the 
last  twenty  years,  they  have  been  so  altered  in  their  essential  powers, 
that  it  is  degrading  in  the  extreme  to  accept  of  relief  under  the  con- 
ditions imposed,  which  reduces  the  poor  to  the  degraded  condition  of 
convicted  criminals  ere  they  can  taste  one  morsel  of  food  provided  by 
public  charity.  These  degrading  laws  have  been  introduced  into 
Ireland  in  latter  years,  but  they  have  failed  to  afford  any  substantia] 
benefit  to  the  poor,  whilst  to  the  middle  classes  they  prove  a  heavy  and 
galling  burden. 


MUSIC  AND  POETRY. 


707 


HURRAH  FOR  THE  STRIPES!  HURRAH  FOR 
THE  STARS! 

BY    T.     MOONEY. 


I — Tr — I — I ^ — 9 — :j ' 9      ^    r  9' 


1.     Hur  -  rah     for    O'  -  Con  -  nell !   Hur 


rah 


for  M'Hafe ! 


Hur  -  rah     for   0'  -  Higgins  !     a     true     man   of      bravery ! 


-n" 


Hurrah    for    O'  -  Bri  -  en  1    Hur  -  rah     for     O'  -  Neill  1    For 


they   are   the  fel  -  lows    to       lead        us     from      slavery ; 


And,  should  they  de  -  sire,      We're  rea  -  dy     to     fire  1      Our 


"i";    9    ^ 


long  -  tom      ri  -  fles     with     punc 


tu 


al 


i  -  ty! 


f*a: 


With  pow  -  der  and     steel     We'll     bat  -  ter   down  Peel,      And 


give  back  to      E  -  rin     her 


708 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


*5^-F- 


Then  high    for   the   stripes  !        Hur  -  rah     for   the  stars  !  Hur  - 


rah     for     this   land     of      true     hos     -     pi  -  tal    -    i  -  ty ! 


a=^3=?j 


Ed-^ 


Hurrah  for   the      Bal  -  ti  -  more     chp  -  pers  and  tars  !    They'll 


|g=i=a 


help     us     to      win  back  our       na    -    tion  -  al    -   i  -  ty ! 


Should  Victoria  go  over 

From  Bristol  or  Dover, 
They'll  meet  her  with  friendship,  without  formality; 

And,  ere  she  goes  back, 

They'll  teach  her  the  knack 
Of  treating  her  friends  with  more  hospitality. 

It's  true  she  looks  shy 

On  her  neighbors  that's  nigh, 
And  wanders  abroad  for  fun  and  frivolity; 

But  she'll  shortly  find  out, 

From  within  and  without, 
That  Erin  must  have  her  old  nationality. 
Then  high  for  the  stripes,  &,c. 


'Tis  said  that  John  Bull 

Has  an  obdurate  skull. 
And  is  sadly  deficient  of  learning  or  modesty; 

But,  with  heaven's  own  hlessin, 

We'll  teach  him  a  lesson 
In  morals,  and  laws,  and  political  honesty. 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY.  709 

Let  no  hero  quail, 

And  no  lady  fail, 
To  pay  up  her  dues  to  the  Boston  society ; 

Let  us  all  come  together. 

In  good  or  bad  weather, 
In  virtue,  in  valor,  and  pure  sobriety. 
Then  high  for  the  stripes,  he. 

4. 

And  who  is  afraid 

Of  what  has  been  said 
By  the  queen  or  her  ministers  in  hostility?* 

They  often  talk  big, 

When  they  mount  the  big  wig, 
And  put  on  the  airs  of  royal  gentility; 

But  Pat,  like  a  block, 

Or  immovable  rock, 
Stands  firm  erect  for  civil  equality  ; 

He  don't  care  a  curse 

For  their  army  or  purse. 
For  he's  now  wide  awake  to  their  wicked  rascality. 
Then  high  for  the  stripes,  &c. 

5. 

And  we'll  meet  on  some  day. 

Just  in  our  own  way. 
North,  east,  south,  and  west,  in  cordiality  ; 

From  the  isle  of  our  birth. 

To  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
Her  children  shall  strike  for  her  nationality  ; 

Then  shall  be  unfurl'd, 

Throughout  the  whole  world, 
The  standard  of  Erin,  in  brilliant  vitality ; 

The  sunburst  of  gold. 

On  green,  as  of  old, 
With  the  harp,  the  marks  of  our  nationality ! 
Then  high  for  the  stripes,  &c. 

*  The  queen's  speech  denouncing  repeal. 


710 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


Then  hurrah  for  the  ladies, 

That's  willing  to  aid  us 
With  music  and  money,  in  true  generosity ! 

May  angels  for  e'er 

Preserve  in  their  care 
The  hearts  that  throb  for  our  nationality ; 

And  O,  may  they  never 

From  Erin  dissever 
Their  patriot  love  for  her  civil  equality ; 

May  they  urge  on  our  cause, 

With  their  smiles  and  applause, 
And  help  us  to  win  back  our  nationality. 
Then  high  for  the  stripes  1    &z;c. 


WILL    YOU    COME    TO   THE    BOWER? 


^    m    mm  m mm    mrx:^ 

ri      \      r\    r [J —  -r'r^r'h 


#"Fr'f "  m       m 


fp^f-9—wr 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


711 


THE    GATHERING    OF    LEINSTER. 


[  By  the  writers  of  the  "  NationJ" 


-->    S      ^      d 

i^ip 

JS 

-J— 

p 


1.    o 

_^ 


serf!    with   thy 


fet  -  ters     o'er  -  la  -  den,    Why 


i 


T5Z 


5: 


crouch  you     in      das  -  tard  -  ly    wo  ?     Why    weep   o'er     thy 


^^;^^^^ 

:y-  EP=t=^  r 

W 

— 'tS, > ^ ^ : *— 

chains,  Uke     a   maid  -  en,     Nor     strike   for     thy    manhood     a 


-J-- 


d~J 


'^^ 


zpzqs: 


*ZZ=iC 


moan     us ;     When     tyr    -    an  -  ny    raised    the      lash,     then 


I 


^ 


=P^ 


ns: 


n«^ 


-^=3- 


They   prac  -  tised     the     "  Lex   Ta  -  li    -    o 


nis 


Of 


gam. 


2. 


For  this  did  they  humble  the  Roman? 

And  was  it,  pale  Helots,  in  vain 
That  Malachy  trampled  the  foeman. 

And  Brien  uprooted  the  Dane  ? 


712  MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 

Ye  kings  of  our  isle's  olden  story, 
Bright  spirits  of  demi-god  men ! 

We  swear,  by  the  graves  of  your  glory, 
To  strike  like  your  children  again. 

3. 

Though  beside  us  no  more  in  the  trial 

The  swords  of  our  forefathers  wave, 
The  multiplied  soul  of  O'Nial 

Has  flashed  through  our  patriots  brave. 
By  each  rock  where  our  proud  heroes  slumber, 

Each  grove  where  the  gray  Druid  sung, 
No  foreigner's  chain  shall  encumber 

The  race  from  such  ancestors  sprung. 

4. 

Ye  swords  of  the  kingly  Temora, 

Exalt  the  bright  green  of  your  sod ; 
The  hue  of  the  mantle  of  Flora; 

The  Emerald  banner  of  God ! 
Leave,  reaper,  the  fruits  of  thy  labor ; 

Spare,  hunter,  the  prostrated  game. 
Till  the  ploughshare  is  wrought  to  a  sabre 

To  carve  out  this  plague-spot  of  shame. 

5. 

Rush  down  from  the  mountain    fortalice ; 

From  banquet,  and  bridal,  and  bier; 
From  ruin  of  cloister,  and  palace ; 

Arise,  with  the  torch  and  the  spear ! 
By  the  ties  and  the  hopes  that  we  cherish, 

The  loves  and  the  shrines  we  adore, 
High  Heaven  may  doom  us  to  perish  — 

But,  never  to  slavery  more! 


MUSIC. 


713 


SOLDIER'S    JOY. 


mi: 


d^:^d^d^^- 


~\ — i — i: 


<^- 


i^nznz^nnn 


^^~W 


'n"i#-^Z"rrrrr#i — rr#i*  -9-9-9-' 
^    r^      ^~  rr  ri — ^s^r"r — 1 — r — 


a^ 


n9~9rZ9fr9- 


-f-f~m^'^- 


-9—9—99r9r\ 


"r7T 


rr"  -rrri    rrrrj-rrff — rrrr-rrrri — rrr^ 
r-p-f'— 1     ■— — f-rrri    .^a~"rrrri — rrrr 


snzirrz 


-:fLzrz9j:x\ 


V 


ELLA    ROSENBERG. 


?5d: 


"|Eg^^ 


:»tf: 


w^m^^m- 


-^ 


Wggl^ZIL 


r^ 


^P= 


tPi — rr. 


iZi^rniz  ~rri — rrf~  :; 
"4^1 — s^ — 


■^=^ 


rri     I        r 
"rri — I        ^ 


±zff^f^c=9jr9ff: 

rn    rrr^     1  m    rrr 


"TTi — rrr 


FFH^ 


90 


~BaBO^ — 


i^t* 


rri— 


1 — \ 


^i 


53 


LECTURE    XVII. 


FROM   A.   D.    1603    TO    1691 


James  the  First.  —  New  Confiscations.  —  Gunpowder  Plot.  —  Guy  Fawkes.  — 
London  Monument.  —  Persecution  of  the  Irish  Catholics. — The  Puritans. — 
Plot  against  the    O'Neills  and   O'Donnels.  —  Seizure  of  Ulster.  —  Mode    adopted. 

—  Parliament  of  James  the  First.  —  Charles  the  First.  —  The  "  Fifty-one  Graces." 

—  Perfidy  of  the  King.  —  Beginning  of  the  Scotcli  War.  —  The  Presbyterian 
Worship.— "  Irish  Rebellion  of  1641."  —  First  Outrages  on  the  Catholics. — 
Strafford.  —  Plot  to  exterminate  the  Catholics.  —  Catholic  Confederation.  —  Eng- 
lish Evidences.  —  Order  to  kill  all  the  Papists.  —  Indiscriminate  Massacre.  — 
Resistance  of  the  Catholics.  —  The  King  sends  Commissions  to  the  Catholics.  — 
Temporary  Peace.  —  The  King's  Dispute  with  the  Parliament.  —  John  Hampden. 

—  Oliver  Cromwell.  —  King  Charles  taken  Prisoner.  —  His  Trial  and  Death. — 
Government  of  Thirty-nine.  —  New  Reformation.  —  New  Sects.  —  Fanaticism.  — 
War  renewed  against  the  Irish.  —  Second  Battle  of  Benburb. —  No  quarter  for 
the  Irish.  —  Cromwell  invades  Ireland.  —  Massacre  at  Drogheda.  —  Blasphemous 
Letter  of  Cromwell. — Massacre  at  Wexford. —  Cromwell  repulsed  at  Dungan- 
non. — Repulsed  at  Clonmel. —  Heroism  of  a  Catholic  Bishop.  —  Cromwell 
baffled.  —  Returns  to  England.  —  Ireton  commands.  —  O'Connell's  Sketch  of 
Cromwell.  —  Shocking  Cruelties.  —  Immense  Confiscations.  —  Cromwell  assumes 
the  Throne.  —  Calls  Parliaments.  —  His  Death.  —  Recall  of  Charles  the  Second. 

—  Change  in  the  Religion  of  the  State.  —  "Act  of  Settlement."  —  Lenity  of  the 
Catholics.  —  Ingratitude  of  the  King.  —  Calumnious  Pamphlets.  —  Vacillation  of 
the  King  in  Religion.  —  His  Death.  —  James  the  Second.  —  Discharges  from 
Prison  Catholics  and  Quakers.  —  Proclaims  Liberty  of  Conscience.  —  The  High 
Chifrch  Party  oppose  him.  —  Trial  of  the  Seven  Bishops.  —  The  Irish  Par- 
liament.—  Intrigue  against  King  James. —  Invasion  of  William.  —  Flight  of 
James. — Affairs  in  Ireland. —  A  grand  Irish  Army  raised. —  Return  of  James 
to  Ireland.  —  Siege  of  Derry.  —  James's  Defeat  in  Derry.  —  His  Imbe- 
cility.—  The    Battle    of  the    Boyne. — Flight   of  James.  —  Defeat   of  the  Irish. 

—  Siege  of  Athlone.  —  Defeat  of  the  English.  —  Siege  of  Limerick. — Heroic 
Defence.  —  Exploit  of  Sarsfield.  —  Assault  on  Limerick. — i  Heroic  Conduct 
of  the  Women. — Defeat    of   the    Invaders.  —  King   James's   bad   Management. 

—  Ginckle  marches  into  Kerry.  —  Bravery  of  the  Irish.  —  The  Summer  of 
1691. —  Movements  of  both  Armies.  —  Second  Siege  of  Athlone.  —  Brave  De- 
fence. —  Heroic  Action  of  twenty  Irishmen.  —  St.  Ruth's  Joj'.  —  Fourth  Attack 
on  Athlone.  —  St.  Ruth  refuses  Aid  to  the  Town.  —  Sarsfield  indignant.  —  The 
Town  lost. —  Retreat  on  Aughrim. — Preparations  for  Battle. —  Action  begun. — 
The  Tide  of  Battle.  —  The  Irish  so  far  victorious.  —  Joy  of  St.  Ruth.  —  Disas- 
trous Mistake.  —  St.  Ruth  killed.  —  Change  in  the  Fortune  of  the  Day. — 
Irish  retreat  on  Limerick.  —  Remarks  on  the  Battle.  —  Sarsfield    now  Chief  in 


JAMES    THE    FIRST. GUNPOWDER   PLOT.  715 

Command.  —  Second  Siege  of  Limerick. — Proposal  of  Peace  from  Ginckle. — 
Accepted.  —  The  Treaty  of  Limerick.  —  Irish  Commanders  in  this  War : 
O'Neill,  O'Reilly,  O'Callaghan,  Magennis,  M'Mahon,  O'Gara,  Grace,  O'Connell, 
O'Higgins.  —  List  of  Officers  killed  and  wounded  —  Burke,  O'Brien,  Dillon, 
O'Regan,  and  several  other  Officers. —  Future  Dispositions.  —  Irishmen  in  for- 
eign Service.  —  Sarsfield. 

On  the  death  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  the  crown  of  England  de- 
scended on  the  head  of  James  the  Sixth  of  Scotland,  anno  1603. 
He  was  the  son  of  the  unfortunate  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots ;  and  the 
crowns  of  both  nations  uniting  in  him,  he  was,  by  law,  king  of  Eng- 
land and  Scotland. 

James  was  a  pedant  —  a  learned  but  not  an  instructed  prince.  In 
religion,  he  was  a  rigid  Presbyterian.  The  Duke  of  Sully  said  he  was 
the  wisest  fool  in  Europe.  Wade  says,  "  He  was  weak,  mean,  and 
pusillanimous  ;  the  strong  feature  of  his  character  was  insincerity^' 

On  his  accession  to  the  throne,  he  promised  toleration  to  all  religions ; 
but  he  soon  gave  indications  that  he  would  not  adhere  to  that  promise. 
He  brought  with  him  from  Scotland  many  political  adventurers,  who, 
under  pretence  of  making  a  further  and  a  purer  reformation  in  religion, 
began  a  new  persecution,  and  a  further  series  of  confiscations. 

In  the  latter  end  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  she  relaxed  somewhat  in  ex- 
tracting fines  from  the  Catholic  gentry,  who  refused  to  conform  to  her 
worship.  These  fines  fell  into  arrear ;  but  the  agents  of  James  hunted 
them  up  and  levied  on  such  estates  as  had  fallen  into  debt  to  the 
crown.  A  new  reformation  then  commenced ;  the  estates  of  the 
non-believers  were  all  forfeited,  and  divided  amongst  the  hungry  fol- 
lowers of  the  king ;  and  then  came  the  conspiracy,  called  the  gun- 
powder plot ;  this  was  concerted  by  William  Catesby,  a  gentleman 
of  family,  and  by  Guy  Fawkes,  a  soldier  of  fortune,  by  Percy,  a  rela- 
tive of  the  Northumberland  family,  and  by  ten  others. 

The  parliament  of  James  was  to  meet  on  the  5th  of  November,  1605  ; 
previous  to  which,  two  hogsheads  and  thirty-two  barrels  of  gunpowder 
were  secreted  in  the  cellar  of  the  parliament-house.  It  is  said  that  this 
was  a  Popish  plot ;  it  is  true  some  of  the  conspirators  were  Catholics, 
but  it  should  be  remembered  there  were  still  some  Catholic  peers  in 
this  very  parliament.  It  was  a  plot  originating  in  deep  resentment,  and 
deadly  resolve,  as  the  event  proved,  to  destroy  by  one  effort  a  set  of 
men  who  had  trampled  on  the  law,  and  seized  upon  a  large  mass  of 
property,  under  cover  of  its  outraged  authority.  Some  one  of  the 
conspirators,  however,  in  obedience  to  a  compunctious  visiting,  intimated 
to  Lord  Monteagle  a  hint  to  stay  away  from  the  parliament  on  the 


716  GUT    FAWKES. LONDON    MONUMENT. 

appointed  day.  He  communicated  his  suspicions  to  others ;  the  alarm 
spread ;  the  cellar  was  searched,  and  the  powder  there  discovered.  A 
watch  was  then  set ;  and  long  before  daybreak,  Guy  Fawkes  was  ap- 
prehended entering  the  cellar,  carrying  a  dark  lantern,  dressed  and 
booted  as  for  a  journey,  and  three  matches  were  found  in  his  pocket. 

Fawkes  boldly  avowed  his  object  before  the  privy  council,  and  added 
that  he  was  prepared  to  be  blown  up  in  company  with  the  tyrants, 
rather  than  not  rid  his  country  of  their  oppression.  Fawkes  and  the 
others  concerned  were  executed ;  amongst  the  sufferers  was  Elizabeth's 
great  favorite,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

It  was  on  this  occasion,  that  the  celebrated  anthem  of  England, 
"  God  save  the  King,"  was  composed  and  sung  in  the  churches  of 
London. 

The  courtiers  of  James  turned  this  plot  into  capital ;  they  swore  it 
was  a  Popish  plot,  instigated  by  the  court  of  Rome ;  and  shortly  after 
this,  the  great  fire  of  London  taking  place,  they  built  the  celebrated 
monument,  to  commemorate  the  preservation  of  a  portion  of  the  city, 
the  partial  destruction  of  which  they  ascribed  to  the  Papists. 

Alexander  Pope  has  branded  the  monument  with  the  immortal  char- 
acter of  liar,  which  will  go  down  to  posterity  a  long  way  farther  than 
the  monument  itself — 

" London's  column,  pointing  to  the  skies, 

Like  a  tall  bully,  lifts  its  head,  and  lies." 

On  the  accession  of  James  to  the  throne,  he  had  it  circulated  in 
Ireland,  that  he  was  tolerant  and  favorable  to  the  Catholic  religion. 
It  is  said  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Pope  Clement  the  Eighth,  assuring  his 
holiness  that  it  was  his  majesty's  intention  to  become  a  Roman 
Catholic.  In  one  of  the  works  which  he  has  left  behind  him,  he  says, 
"  For  myself,  if  that  were  yet  the  question,  I  would  with  all  my  heart 
give  my  consent  that  the  bishop  of  Rome  should  have  the  first  seat." 

The  hopes  thus  held  out  to  the  Irish  nation  induced  them  to  think 
that  they  could  again  exercise  their  religion  unmolested  ;  but  in  this 
they  were  deceived.  James's  deputy.  Lord  Mountjoy,  marched  a  force 
into  the  south  of  Ireland,  and  wherever  he  could  discover  a  cross,  or 
any  building  which  indicated  that  the  Catholic  worship  was  there  cele- 
brated, he  had  that  building  seized  and  put  into  the  possession  of  some 
of  his  followers. 

In  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  a  code  of  penal  laws  had  been  smug- 
gled into  the  Irish  parliament.     They   lay  dead,  however,    for   some 


PLOT    AGAINST    THE    o'nEILLS    AND    o'dONNELS.  717 

years  ;.  they  were  now  revived,  and  all  men  were  called  on  to  conform 
to  the  state  religion,  and  appear  on  Sundays  in  the  state  churches. 
The  members  of  the  corporatiorl  of  Dublin  were  Catholic,  and  all  of 
them,  but  one,  refused  to  attend ;  that  one  was  Alderman  Archer : 
the  remainder  were  fined  in  various  heavy  sums  of  three  hundred  to 
five  hundred  pounds  each. 

The  old  families  took  alarm,  petitioned  and  remonstrated  against  this 
act,  and  the  gentleman  who  carried  the  petition  before  the  privy 
council,  namely.  Sir  Patrick  Barnwell,  was  imprisoned. 

The  most  rigid  persecution  was  instituted  against  Catholics ;  yet,  not- 
withstanding all  the  persecutions  that  took  place,  and,  moreover,  during 
the  persecutions  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  Edward,  and  Elizabeth,  not 
more  than  sixtij  of  the  Irish  people  embraced  the  new  worship,  though 
the  population  was  two  millions  before  the  reign  of  Elizabeth. 

James  himself  was  neither  a  Protestant  nor  a  Catholic.  He  disliked 
the  Puritans  ;  and,  like  all  the  Stuarts,  was  ever  ready  to  sacrifice  his 
friend  to  the  fear  of  his  enemy.  At  this  time,  the  Puritan  party  had 
acquired  an  ascendency  in  the  political  affairs  of  Ireland,  and  very 
many  of  the  reformed  clergy  were  inclined  to  their  doctrines ;  the  most 
eminent  of  those  was  the  celebrated  historian,  Usher,  archbishop  of 
Armagh,  who,  by  his  management,  contrived  to  have  the  whole  doctrine 
of  Cahin  received  as  the  public  belief  of  the  church  of  Ireland,  and 
ratified  by  Chichester,  the  king's  lieutenant. 

After  this  came  the  great  plot  for  entirely  subduing  such  parts  of 
Ireland  as  had  yet  held  out  against  the  authority  of  England.  Finding 
it  compactly  told  by  M'Geoghegan,  I  adopt  his  account. 

"  Cecil,  the  prime  minister  of  James,  a  man  of  considerable  talents,  but  of  de. 
formed  person,  together  with  some  others  connected  with  the  government,  acting 
on  the  weak  king's  fears,  incensed  him  against  the  Catholics  of  Ireland.  The  in- 
strument which  Cecil  chose  to  effect  his  wicked  purpose  was  Christopher  St. 
Laurence,  baron  of  Howth,  generally  called  the  one-eyed,  who  received  instruc- 
tions to  invite  to  a  secret  conference  the  leaders  of  the  Catholics,  in  order  to 
entrap  them.  The  Earls  of  Tyrone,  Tirconnel,  baron  of  Delvin,  and  some  other 
Catholics  of  distinction,  appeared  at  this  mysterious  meeting ;  St.  Laurence  made 
them  swear  not  to  divulge  what  he  would  communicate  to  them  for  their  own 
safety.  He  then  said,  that  he  had  information,  through  a  channel  which  admitted 
of  no  doubt,  that  the  court  of  England  was  determined  to  eradicate  the  Catholic 
religion  out  of  Ireland,  and  force  them  to  become  Protestants  ;  that  he  himself, 
from  a  concern  for  their  safety,  advised  them  to  defend  themselves  against  the 
threat,  until  positive  assurances  would  be  obtained,  that  no  change  would  be  at- 
tempted against  their  religion.  The  noblemen  present,  however,  struck  with 
alarm,  unanimously  replied,  that  nothing  would  shake  their  loyalty  to  the  prince, 


718  PLOT    AGAINST    THE    o'nEILLS    AND    o'dONNELS. 

in  whose  royal  word  they  reposed  every  trust,  he  being  their  legitimate 
sovereign. 

"  These  protestations  of  loyalty  were  not  sufficient  to  protect  them  against  St. 
Laurence ;  he  accused  them  to  the  king,  as  capable  of  forming  secret  designs 
against  his  majesty  and  the  state,  though  destitute  of  means  to  attempt  any  thing, 
having  neither  troops  on  foot  nor  a  hope  of  receiving  succors  from  Spain.  TjTone 
and  others  were  summoned  before  the  council.  The  Catholics  declared  that  the 
accusation  was  a  calumny ;  but,  seeing  themselves  confronted  by  St.  Laurence, 
they  acknowledged  that  they  attended  the  meeting  much  less  for  the  purpose  of 
entering  into  any  plot  against  the  king,  than  to  hear  what  tliis  treaclierous  man, 
who  had  brought  them  together,  intended  to  propose ;  whose  infamy  they  had 
unanimously  condemned  on  sufficient  causes,  of  which  the  present  is  an  illustra- 
tion. Having  been  severally  examined,  and  only  one  witness  produced  against 
them,  the  council  did  not  think  prudent  to  put  them  under  an  arrest,  but  ordered 
them  to  appear  on  the  day  following.  During  this  short  interval,  some  false 
friends,  who  were  of  the  council,  advised  them  underhand  to  consult  their  own 
safety,  stating  that  one  more  witness  only,  who  might  be  easily  suborned,  was 
necessary  to  convict  them.  The  perfidious  advice  was  but  too  readily  followed  by 
the  Earls  of  Tyrone  and  Tirconnel,  who  quitted  Dublin.  Upon  this,  they  were 
proclaimed  rebels,  and  not  only  their  individual  estates,  but  six  whole  counties  in 
the  province  of  Ulster,  were  confiscated  for  the  benefit  of  the  crown,  without 
examination  or  trial.  These  counties  were  divided  between  several  English  and 
Scotch  Protestants,  under  such  regulations  as  were  obviously  intended  to  produce 
ruin  both  to  the  Irish  people  and  their  religion.  Besides  the  pecuniary  fines  tliat 
were  inflicted,  and  the  other  penalties  that  were  enacted  against  Catholics,  it  was 
specifically  inserted  in  the  patents,  that  no  portion  of  these  lands  should  be  sold, 
transferred,  or  farmed,  except  to  and  by  Protestants  exclusively.  St  Laurence 
himself,  who  had  hitherto  affected  a  tendency  in  favor  of  tlie  Catholic  religion, 
declared  himself  a  Protestant,  and  by  doing  so  became  a  partaker  of  the  spoils. 

"  This  iniquitous  proceeding  being  ended,  Hugh  O'Neill,  earl  of  Tyrone,  Rory 
O'Donngl,  earl  of  Tirconnel,  Maguire  of  Fermanagh,  and  some  other  noblemen, 
crossed  over  into  France.  The  English  ambassador  of  that  court  demanded  of 
Henry  the  Fourth,  that  these  fugitives  should  be  sent  back  to  the  king  his  master. 
The  French  king,  however,  generously  replied,  that  it  was  beneath  the  dignity  of 
a  monarch  to  arrest  a  stranger  who  seeks  to  save  himself  by  flight :  upon  this,  the 
earls  took  their  departure  for  Flanders,  where  they  were  received  with  dis- 
tinction by  the  archduke  and  archduchess,  viz.,  Albert  and  Elizabeth,  who 
governed  the  Low  Countries.  Thence  they  proceeded  to  Rome,  where  his 
Catholic  majesty  provided  abundantly  for  their  support,  by  pensions  proportioned 
to  their  rank." 

The  young  and  gallant  O'Dougherty,  chief  of  the  Inishowen  dis- 
trict, seeing  his  countrymen  doomed  thus  to  extermination,  took  up  arms 
in  their  defence  ;  he  raised  what  forces  he  could,  and  took  some  of 
the  English  garrisons  in  his  neighborhood,  exhibiting  great  bravery  in 
the  various  assaults ;  he  kept  up  a  desultory  warfare  for  a  few  months, 
in  expectation  of  aid  from  some  of  the  friendly  powers  of  the  continent, 


SEIZURE    OF    ULSTER.  MODE    ADOPTED.  719 

with  whom  the  great  Hugh  O'Neill  was  then  in  negotiation.  O'Dough- 
erty,  having  all  the  courage,  but  wanting  the  skill  and  caution  of  the 
great  O'Neill,  was,  after  five  months'  fighting  with  twice  his  numbers, 
killed  while  leading  a  charge  in  battle. 

The  hopes  of  Ireland  from  the  north  were  now  totally  subdued  ;  the 
heroic  leaders  were  all  exiled  or  killed ;  the  successes  of  the  English 
in  Leinster  had  left  that  province  destitute  of  a  single  military  leader. 

The  whole  province  of  Ulster  was  soon  cleared  of  its  old  inhabitants 
by  the  sword.  King  James  parcelled  out  the  province  to  several 
companies  of  Londoners,  who  sent  over  from  Scotland  and  from  Eng- 
land, but  principally  from  Scotland,  a  new  race  to  plant  it. 

He  contrived  to  confiscate  a  great  portion  of  the  lands  of  Leinster 
and  Munster  ;  but  ere  he  forced  his  way  to  Connaught,  death  carried 
him  off.  The  extermination  of  nearly  a  million  of  the  Irish,  in  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth,  by  sword  and  by  famine,  left  the  country  an  easy 
prey  to  James.  The  form  of  inquiry  into  titles  of  estates  was  gone 
into ;  but  juries  which  refused  to  find  a  title  in  the  crown  were  impris- 
oned and  fined. 

To  show  the  shameless  means  resorted  to  by  James's  followers,  I 
quote  from  Leland  :  — 

"  It  was  an  age  of  project  and  adventure  ;  men's  minds  were  particularly  pos- 
sessed with  a  passion  for  new  discoveries,  and  planting  of  countries.  They  who 
were  too  poor,  or  too  spiritless,  to  engage  in  distant  adventures,  courted  fortune 
in  Ireland.  Under  pretence  of  improving  the  king's  revenue,  they  obtained  com- 
missions of  inquiry  into  defective  titles ;  discoverers  were  every  where  busily 
employed  in  finding  out  flaws  in  men's  titles  to  their  estates ;  tlie  old  pipe  rolls, 
and  the  patent  rolls  in  London,  were  searched  to  ascertain  the  original  grants ; 
and,  as  all  the  Irish  descents  came  by  gavelkind,  no  registry  or  patent  was  ever 
eo  much  as  thought  of  by  the  Irish  landowners.  He  who  could  not  establish  his 
right  by  a  patent  from  the  crown  was  dispossessed.  The  most  iniquitous  prac- 
tices of  hardened  craelty,  of  vile  perjury,  and  scandalous  subornation,  were  em- 
ployed to  despoil  the  fair  and  unoffending  proprietor  of  his  inheritance." 

In  O'Connell's  Memoir  of  Saxon  atrocity,  which  substantially  begins 
at  the  reign  of*  James  the  First.  I  find  many  things  which  I  would 
transcribe  had  I  room.  As  the  Liberator's  book  is  in  the  hands 
of  almost  every  body,  I  refer  the  reader  to  its  incontrovertible  pages, 
for  a  narrative  of  well-attested  English  cruelty  and  treachery,  such  as 
disfigure  no  other  page  of  human  history. 

Sir  John  Davies,  the  English  lawyer,  sent  over  by  James  the  First, 
to  act  as  attorney-general  in  Ireland,  has  borne  evidence  to  the  iniquity 
of  the   English   invaders  of  Ireland,   from   the  times  of  Henry  the 


720  PARLIAMENT    OF    J.VMES    THE    FIRST. 

Second,  1172,  to  his  own  time,  1610.  It  appears  that  Henry  the 
Second  marked  out  the  whole  of  Ireland  as  confiscated  from  the  original 
inhabitants  to  himself;  that  they  were  deprived  of  all  property  in  the 
land  of  their  fathers,  an  exception  being  made  in  favor  of  five  families 
only,  who  were  called,  in  pleading,  persons  of  the  five  bloods,  —  "  de 
quinque  sanguinibus" — namely,  the  O'Nials  of  Ulster,  O'Melachlins  of 
Meath,  the  O'Connors  of  Connaught,  the  O'Briens  of  Thomond,  and 
the  M'Murroughs  of  Leinster.  Henry  granted,  it  seems,  some  special 
charter  to  the  citizens  of  Waterford,  many  of  whom  were  Danes,  on 
condition  of  remaining  loyal  to  him. 

It  had  been  considered  lawful,  up  to  this  time,  for  any  Englishman  to 
rob,  despoil,  or  kill  an  Irishman,  or  ravish  an  Irishwoman ;  and,  if 
brought  to  trial,  it  was  enough  to  plead,  as  a  defence,  that  the  person 
robbed,  despoiled,  ravished,  or  murdered,  was  an  Irishman  or  Irish- 
woman, not  of  the  five  bloods  specially  excepted,  as  above.  This  was 
the  law,  the  justice,  and  the  policy  of  the  invaders  for  more  than  four 
hundred  years.  See  O^ConneWs  Memoir,  Casserly's  edition,  pp.  42, 
43,  Sic.  And,  although  in  James's  time,  at  the  recommendation  of 
Sir  John  Davies,  a  seeming  effort  was  made  to  extend  one  law  to  all 
throughout  Ireland,  we  shall  see  the  good  interit  effectually  frustrated 
by  the  evergrowing  antipathy,  jealousy,  or  covetousness,  of  the  Eng- 
lish adventurers. 

In  this  reign,  the  first  general  parliament,  since  the  English  invasion 
and  the  fall  of  Tara,  was  held  in  Ireland.  To  fill  this  parliament 
with  Englishmen,  King  James  created,  in  one  day,  forty  boroughs,  on 
each  of  which  he  conferred  the  right  of  electing  two  members,  which 
right  lay  in  the  votes  of  thirteen  only  of  the  burgesses,  whose  chief 
qualification  was  the  public  profession  of  the  Protestant  faith.  Sir  John 
Davies  was  the  speaker  of  this  house.  From  such  an  assembly,  it  may 
readily  be  supposed,  the  Irish,  who  still  adhered  more  fixedly  than  ever 
to  the  Catholic  faith,  experienced  the  excruciating  torture  of  a  burning 
stream  of  injustice,  rendered  the  more  galling  by  its  emission  under  the 
forms  of  law. 

Charles  the  First,  son  of  James  the  First,  succeeded  to  the  throne  of 
England,  anno  1625.  He,  like  his  father,  began  his  reign  with 
promises  of  toleration.  In  religion,  he  was  an  Episcopalian,  and  en- 
deavored to  force  Episcopacy  on  the  Scots,  which  attempt  they  resisted 
successfully  in  the  field,  and  compelled  him  to  relinquish.  To  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland  he  was  insincere. 

In     1628,    Lord    Faulkland,   his   deputy    in    Ireland,    advised   the 


CHARLES    THE    FIRST. THE    FIFTY-ONE    "  GRACES."  721 

Catholics  to  send  agents  to  England,  to  make  a  tender  of  their  services 
and  pecuniary  support  to  the  king,  with  a  view  to  be  relieved  from  the 
fines  imposed  on  those  who  refused  to  conform  to  the  new  worship. 
The  Catholics,  therefore,  sent  over  their  agents  with  an  offer  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  thousand  pounds,  then  deemed  a  considerable  sum  : 
the  king  accepted  the  money,  granting  letters  of  grace  towards  them, 
which  insured  them  freedom  of  their  religion,  the  trial  of  all  dis- 
putes and  claims  by  respectable  juries,  the  enjoyment  of  their  prop- 
erties undisturbed,  and  a  limitation  of  the  title  of  the  crown  to  their 
lands,  promising  likewise  to  have  these  rights  confirmed  by  parlia- 
ment :    to  these  conditions  were  given  the  name  "  king's  graces." 

The  king  took  the  first  two  instalments,  amounting  to  one  hundred 
thousand  pounds,  but  never  called  the  parliament  to  sanction  the  royal 
promise ;  and  thus  he  cheated  them,  in  a  most  shameful  manner,  out  of 
their  money. 

These  "  graces "  consisted  of  fifty-one  articles ;  and,  if  honestly 
adhered  to  by  the  English  parliament,  the  Catholics  would,  under  all 
the  circumstances,  have  been  safe  in  the  exercise  of  their  religious  wor- 
ship, and  secure  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  properties. 

The  Liberator,  in  his  able  memoir,  has  the  following  passage  on  the 
"  graces ;  "'  — 

*'  Thus  the  Irish,  and  especially  the  Catholic  Irish,  in  order  to  obtain  the  con- 
firmation oi'  their  titles  to  their  own  estates  against  an  objection  in  its  veiy 
nature  frivolous  and  unjust,  had,  in  1628,  agreed  to  pay,  and  actually  did  pay,  one 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  pounds  to  the  king  ;  and,  in  1634,  the  parliament  I 
have  spoken  of,  composed  of  Catholics  and  Protestants,  granted  supplies  doubling 
in  amount  the  expectation  of  the  lord  deputy,  who  gave  thereon  the  most  em- 
phatic promise  that  the  graces  should  be  immediately  conceded. 

« Is  it  credible  that,  all  this  time,  this  very  lord  deputy  had  determined  these 
concessions  should  not  be  granted  ?  that  the  people's  money  should  be  obtained 
under  a  false  pretence,  and  no  value  given  ?  that  tlie  plighted  honor  —  the  honor 
of  Protestant  England  —  should  be  pledged  to  Catholic  Ireland,  and  should  be 
pledged  only  to  exhibit  another  instance  of  shameless  knavery,  another  most 
disgraceful  breach  of  public  faith  ?  Why,  in  its  own  nature,  it  is  incredible ; 
TET  IT  IS  LITERALLY  TRUE,  as  may  be  seen  from  Strafford's,  the  deputy's,  letters, 
and  the  king's  reply  ^  first,  the  passage  from  the  deputy's  letter,  addressed  to 
Secretary  Coke :  — 

" '  Both  houses  have,  during  this  sitting,  likewise  extremely  pressed  for  the 
graces,  especially  the  law  existing  in  England,  for  threescore  years'  possession 
to  conclude  the  rights  of  the  crown  ;  and,  in  the  lower  house,  none  so  earnest  as 
Fingal  and  Ranalagh,  urging  his  majesty's  promise  at  every  turn.  The  commons 
have  named  a  committee  to  attend  the  chancellor.  *  *  *  *  So  as  consider- 
91 


722  PERFIDY    OF    THE    KING    AND    HIS    DEPUTY. 

in^  that  many  of  these  graces  are  hy  no  means  to  pass  into  laws,  and  not  fore- 
seeing what  inconvenience  miglit  fall  upon  his  majesty,  if  these  pressures  were 
suffered  to  go  on  too  far,  I  consulted  these  two  judges,  and  Sir  George  Radcliffe, 
how  we  might  incline  the  board  to  give  them  the  negative  answer,  and  take  it  off 
the  king,  which,  on  Thursday  last,  I  effected,  being,  in  good  faith,  very  excellently 
assisted  at  the  table  by  tJie.m  all  three,  so  as  now  we  are  resolved  not  only  privately 
to  transmit  our  humble  advices  upon  every  article  of  the  graces,  but  on  Tuesday 
next,  to  call  this  committee  of  the  commons  before  us,  and  plainly  tell  them,  that 
we  may  not,  with  faith  to  our  master,  give  way  to  transmitting  of  tliis  law  of  three- 
score years,  or  any  other  of  the  graces  prejudical  to  the  crown ;  nay,  most  humbly 
beseech  his  majesty  they  may  not  be  introduced  to  the  prejudices  of  his  royal 
rights,  and  clearly  represent  unto  the  king,  that  he  is  not  bound,  either  in  justice, 
honor,  or  conscience,  to  grant  them ;  and  so,  putting  in  ourselves  mean  betwixt 
them  and  his  majesty's  pretended  engagements,  take  the  hard  part  wholly  from  his 
majesty,  and  bear  it  ourselves  as  well  as  we  may.'  —  Strafford^  279,  280. 

"  It  may  be  supposed,  that  Charles  was  no  party  to  this  villanous  duplicity. 
Alas,  alas  for  poor  human  nature !  and  alas  for  royal  nature,  too !  Pause  and 
read  his  reply :  tlie  king  thus  writes  to  Strafford  :  — 

" '  Wentworth,  before  I  answer  any  of  your  particular  letters  to  me,  I  must  tell 
you,  that  your  last  public  despatch  has  given  me  a  great  deal  of  contentaient,  and 
especially  for  keeping  off  the  envy  (odium)  of  a  necessary  negative  from  me  of 
those  unreasonable  graces  that  people  expected  from  me.'  —  Stafford's  State  Let- 
ters, Vol.  I.  p.  321. 

"  Both  these  men  lost  their  heads  upon  the  scaffold.  Strafibrd  was  a  consum- 
mate political  villain ;  Charles  was  spoiled  by  his  education  and  his  advisers ;  but 
Ireland  suffered,  without  any  compensation,  from  the  deliberate  villany  of  the  one 
and  the  regal  treachery  of  the  other." — CConnelPs  Memoir,  p.  179,  Casserly's 
edition. 

As  for  Strafford's  grand  scheme  for  confiscating  the  entire  province 
of  Connaught,  by  the  estabhshment  of  juries  to  inquire  into  the  king's 
title  to  all  the  lands  in  the  country,  beginning  with  the  county  Ros- 
common, and  his  barefaced  mode  of  bribing  judges  and  jurors,  or  fining, 
imprisoning,  branding  with  hot  irons,  such  jurors  as  refused  to  find  for 
the  king,  I  refer  the  reader  to  his  letters,  quoted  at  copious  length  in 
O'Connell's  Memoir,  p.  187. 

To  the  people  of  England,  King  Charles  the  First  proved  a  vacil- 
lating, absolute  king,  attempting  to  tax  them  by  the  force  of  bis  will 
alone,  almost  scorning  the  sanction  of  parliament.  The  house  of 
commons  containing  many  Puritan  members,  these  opposed  the  king 
in  any  endeavor  of  his  to  establish  Episcopacy.  They  held  con- 
stant communication  with  the  Presbyterians  of  Scotland.  A  book 
of  common  prayer,  composed  by  the  king  and  council,  for  Scotland, 
was  ordered  to  be  read  in  the  churches  of  Edinburgh,  by  his  majesty's 
command.     The  Dean  of  Edinburgh,  in  his  surplice,  undertook  this 


PRESBYTERIAN   WORSHIP. ASSAULT    ON   THE    CATHOLICS.       T23 

duty,  but  was  assaulted  by  some  person  who  flung  a  stool  at  him ;  a 
mob  was  gathered,  and  the  life  of  the  dean  was  threatened.  Imme- 
diately the  Scots  entered  into  the  memorable  compact,  called  the 
Covenant,  which  they  compelled  all  people  to  subscribe.  Archbishop 
Spottiswood,  and  several  other  archbishops,  fled  to  England.  The 
Scots  formed  themselves  into  four  tables,  as  they  termed  it,  to  regulate 
their  affairs  ;  all  their  political  concerns  were  managed  at  their  devotions, 
which  imparted  an  extraordinary  share  of  frenzy  to  their  proceedings. 
The  Marquis  of  Hamilton  came  from  England,  by  the  king's  commands, 
to  dissolve  their  convention  ;  but  they  continued  to  sit,  in  defiance,  and 
appointed  a  Mrs.  Mitchelson  to  preside  over  their  deliberations,  who 
affirmed  that  God  spoke  through  her  mouth.  This  mixture  of  fanaticism 
and  national  spirit  gathered  into  an  immense,  infuriate  storm ;  and 
although  Charles  sent  twenty  thousand  men  against  the  Scots,  he  was, 
after  some  hard-fought  battles,  and  many  defections  from  his  standard, 
compelled  to  grant  them  the  most  unlimited  terms.  The  Presbyterian 
worship  was  then  established  as  the  national  worship  of  Scotland,  and 
has  remained  so,  with  some  modification,  to  the  present  time. 

Passing  over  many  of  the  events  of  this  reign  in  Ireland,  I  come 
rapidly  to  what  is  called  the  "rebellion  and  massacre  of  1641."  The 
Catholics  tried,  by  grants  to  the  king,  and  by  declarations  of  loyalty,  to 
obtain  liberty  to  enjoy  their  religious  worship  in  peace.  Hitherto, 
since  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  they  paid  a  fine  of  twelve  pence  per  week 
each,  for  refusing  to  attend  the  English  church  service.  Twelve  pence 
of  those  days  were  equal  to  three  or  four  times  the  amount  in  the  money 
of  the  present ;  from  which,  we  may  form  an  opinion  of  the  extent  of 
their  sacrifices  ;  and  yet  Lord  Wentworth  (Earl  of  Strafford)  says  of  this 
fine,  "  As  a  matter  of  revenue,  it  should  be  continued  ;  but,"  adds  he,  "  if 
it  be  held  to,  for  that  which  it  was  intended,  which  was,  to  bring  the 
Irish  to  a  conformity  in  religion,  it  would  come  to  nothing,  and  would 
prove  a  covering  narrower  than  a  man  could  wrap  himself  in." 

Such  is  the  opinion,  put  on  record,  as  to  the  inflexible  adherence  of 
the  Irish  to  their  religious  opinions,  by  the  very  best  authority  ;  namely, 
the  chief  persecutor  in  the  trying  ordeal. 

Charles,  who  at  first  appeared  disposed  to  favor  the  free  worship  of 
the  Roman  Catholics,  receded  all  at  once  from  this  position,  through  the 
intimidation  of  the  Puritans,  and  from  the  meanness  of  his  own  nature. 
When  he  had  got  upwards  of  one  hundred  thousand  pounds  from  the 
Catholics,  he  dropped  his  lenient  tenderness  for  their  consciences.  Soon 
the  system  of  terrorism  recommenced.     The  Archbishop  of  Dublin  and 


724  LEGAL    ROBBERIES. 

the  chief  magistrate  of  the  city,  at  the  head  of  a  file  of  musketeers^ 
entered  the  CathoHc  chapel  of  Cook  Street,  on  St.  Stephen's  day,  whilst 
the  congregation  were  at  their  devotion.  They  seized  the  priest  in  his 
vestments  at  the  altar,  hewed  down  the  crucifix,  and  carried  off  all  the 
sacred  vessels  and  ornaments.  After  the  first  shock,  occasioned  by  this 
unexpected  act  of  violence,  was  abated,  several  of  the  congregation  pur- 
sued the  assailants  with  stones,  and  rescued  their  clergyman. 

The  representation  of  this  incident  to  the  English  council  produced 
an  order  for  seizing  fifteen  religious  houses  for  the  king's  use.  The  most 
rigorous  execution  of  the  penal  laws  was  now  every  where  put  into 
operation ;  and  the  king  gave  an  order  that  the  array  should  be  paid 
out  of  fines  levied  upon  the  Catholics  who  refused  to  attend  the  new 
worship.  He  commended  the  wisdom  and  energy  of  his  Irish  council, 
and  directed  them  to  "go  on,  till  the  work  was  fully  done,  as  well  in  the 
city  as  in  other  places  of  the  kingdom,  leaving  to  their  discretion  when, 
and  where,  to  cany  a  soft  or  harder  hand  !  "  —  See  Carte's  Ormond. 

Lord  Strafford,  who  had  been  a  member  of  the  opposition,  in  the 
English  house  of  commons,  suddenly  became  a  courtier,  and  won  the 
confidence  of  the  king  so  far  as  to  be  appointed  the  lord  deputy  of  Ire- 
land, where,  on  his  arrival,  he  exceeded  even  the  king's  cruelty  and 
dissimulation.  He  revived  the  court  of  inquiry  into  titles,  which  bad 
been  some  time  laid  aside,  and  confiscated  the  entire  province  of  Con- 
naught.  He  did  this  by  empanelling  juries  in  each  county,  the 
members  of  which  were  heavily  taxed,  if  they  refused  to  find  a  tide  to 
the  lands  in  the  crown.  The  jurors  who  did  not  so  find,  were  fined  four 
thousand  pounds  each,  and  kept  in  prison  till  they  paid  it ;  four  shil- 
lings in  the  pound  were  allowed  to  the  chief  justice  and  chancellor,  upon 
all  the  annual  value  of  the  estates  seized.  Such  a  system  of  tyranny 
was  likely  to  be  effective  ;  and  county  after  county  of  the  province  of 
Connaught  was  thus  vested  in  the  king. 

For  nine  years  this  wicked  nobleman  thus  fleeced  and  persecuted  the 
people  of  Ireland,  endeavoring  by  every  art  to  exterminate  them. 
At  length  he  was  suspected  and  envied  by  his  former  party  in  the  Eng- 
lish house  of  commons,  who  had  him  impeached,  tried,  and  beheaded. 
He  defended  himself  with  great  eloquence  ;  but  he  had  proceeded  too 
far  in  enforcing  Episcopacy  on  the  Irish  Puritans,  which  was  his  real  sin 
in  the  eyes  of  the  parliament  of  England.  He  expected,  all  through, 
that  the  king  would  pardon  him  ;  yet  the  king  signed  his  death-warrant 
by  commission.     The  night  before  his  execution,  he  offered   twenty- 


PLOT    TO    EXTERMINATE    THE    CATHOLICS.  725 

two  thousand  pounds  to  the  keeper  of  the  Tower  to  suffer  him  to 
escape ;  but  all  could  not  save  him. 

Returning  to  the  system  of  plunder  and  persecution  fomented  by  this 
wicked  man,  —  it  produced  the  utmost  ferocity,  thirst  for  plunder,  and 
intolerance,  on  the  side  of  the  Protestant  Puritans,  and  a  deadly  ani- 
mosity and  a  desire  of  vengeance  in  the  minds  of  the  Catholics. 

Several  Catholic  priests  were  at  this  time  put  to  dealh  for  merely 
exercising  the  functions  prescribed  by  their  church.  Thomas  Ballaker, 
Thomas  Holland,  Paul  Heath,  Francis   Bell,    Henry   Morse,   Morgan 

Philip   Powel,  Martin  Woodcock,  Reading,  and Whitaker, 

were  executed  in  England,  under  this  charge,  between  the  years  1641 
and  1646:  many  priests  were  also  hanged  in  Ireland,  and  some  of  these 
upon  the  lord  deputy's  warrant,  as  related  by  Strafford,  in  his  defence, 
that  it  was  the  common  practice  for  the  lord  deputies  of  Ireland  to  have 
men  hanged  upon  their  simple  warrant,  taking  on  themselves  the  respon- 
sibility. —  See  Rushworih's  Collections,  viii.  p.  649. 

"  Some  time  before  the  rebellion  broke  out,"  says  Carte,  "  it  was  con- 
fidently reported  that  Sir  John  Clotworthy,  who  well  knew  the  designs 
of  the  faction  that  governed  the  house  of  commons  in  England,  had 
declared  there,  in  a  speech,  that  the  conversion  of  the  Papists  in  Ireland 
was  only  to  be  effected  by  the  Bible  in  one  hand,  and  the  sword  in  the 
other.  And  Mr.  Pym  gave  out  that  they  would  not  leave  a  priest  in 
Ireland.  To  the  like  effect  Sir  William  Parsons,  out  of  a  strange  weak- 
ness, or  detestable  policy,  positively  asserted,  before  so  many  witnesses, 
at  a  public  entertainment,  that,  ivithin  a  twelvemonth,  no  Catholic 
should  be  seen  in  Ireland.  He  had  sense  enough  to  know  the  conse- 
quences that  would  naturally  arise  from  such  a  declaration,  which  he 
would  hardly  have  ventured  to  make  so  openly,  if  it  had  not  been  agree- 
able to  the  politics  and  measures  of  the  English  faction,  whose  party  tie 
espoused,  and  whose  directions  were  the  general  rule  of  his  conduct."  — 
Carte's  Onnond,  vol  i.  p.  235,  (English  authority.)  —  And  so  it  turned 
out  to  be;  for  it  was  afterwards  a  common  thing  for  the  English  soldiers 
to  kill  the  pregnant  women,  and  take  out  the  young  children  from  their 
wombs,  and  sport  them  on  the  tops  of  their  spears ! 

To  see  their  lands  and  ancestral  halls  taken  from  themselves,  and 
handed  over  to  strangers  ;  to  see  their  priests  hanged,  or  hunted,  and  the 
exercise  of  their  worship  broken  in  upon  by  hardened,  unfeeling  ruffians; 
to  see  their  women  and  children  thus  butchered  ;  to  find  the  king  de- 
ceiving them  whilst  he  took  large  sums  of  their  money,  —  was  quite 
enouo;h  to  drive  men  to  madness. 


726 


CATHOLIC    CONFEDERATION. IRISH    REBELLION. 


It  becoming  quite  manifest  to  the  Irish  Catholics  that  a  deep  plot  was 
hatching  for  their  destruction,  several  of  the  heads  of  that  body  confed- 
erated for  their  mutual  protection.  Their  alarm  was  increased  by  the 
discovery  of  a  certain  petition  to  parliament,  which  was  secretly  got  up 
by  the  Puritans  of  Ireland,  and  had  received  many  thousand  signatures. 
This  petition  prayed  that  the  Irish  Papists  should  be  obliged  either  to 
turn  Protestants  or  quit  the  kingdom,  and  that  those  who  would  not  sub- 
mit to  that  law  should  be  hanged  at  their  own  doors.  The  following 
Irish  chiefs  then  resolved  on  seizing  on  the  Castle  of  Dublin,  and  estab- 
lishing, by  a  vigorous  9nd  well-concerted  stroke,  the  independence  of 
their  country  —  Sir  Phelim  O'Neill  of  Tyrone,  Rory  O'Morra  of  Ballina, 
in  the  county  Kildare,  Maguire,lord  ofEnniskillen,  M'Mahon  of  Mona- 
ghan,  Philip  O'Reilly,  the  chief  of  Cavan,  and  several  other  noblemen 
of  Ulster  and  Connaught.  The  attack  on  the  castle  was  fixed  for  the 
23d  of  October,  1641.  Lords  Maguire  and  M'Mahon  were  appointed 
to  liead  the  attack ;  but  one  Connolly,  Maguire's  servant,  gave  infor- 
mation of  it  to  the  justices  the  day  previous,  when  the  leaders  were 
seized.  Maguire  and  M'Mahon  were  hanged  at  Tyburn.  Connolly, 
who  embraced  the  Protestant  religion,  was  rewarded  with  large  posses- 
sions, in  the  north-west  of  Ireland,  as  the  wages  of  his  perfidy. 

Justices  Borlaise  and  Parsons,  who  inwardly  delighted  at  the  idea  of 
a  general  revolt,  having  in  view  the  prospect  of  considerable  confisca- 
tion, now  despatched  troops  into  every  district  of  Ireland,  to  put  down 
the  threatened  or  partial  revolt.  Sir  Phelim  O'Neill  had  captured 
some  English  castles  in  the  north,  and  O'Reilly  of  Cavan  had  seized 
upon  Drogheda  and  some  garrisons  in  its  neighborhood.  The  English 
soldiery  received  orders  to  spare  neither  man,  woman,  nor  child.  Mas- 
sacres were  committed  by  them  in  Santry,  Clontarf,  and  Bullock,  near 
Dublin.  The  garrison  of  Carrickfergus  massacred  three  thousand  men, 
women,  and  children,  near  that  place.  Similar  cruelties  were  practised 
by  Lord  Broghill  in  the  counties  of  Cork  and  Waterford —  by  Coote  in 
the  county  of  Wicklow,  where,  to  use  the  expression  of  Coote  him- 
self, "  not  a  child,  were  it  but  a  hand  high,  was  left  ahve."  Yet  the 
Catholics,  who,  driven  to  madness  by  this  inhuman  cruelty,  retaliated 
on  their  pursuers,  are  charged  with  massacring  the  Protestants  in  cold 
blood. 

We  have  long  been  accustomed  to  hear  the  massacre  of  1641  given  as 
a  Popish  butchery. 

But  what  does  impartial  history  say  ? 


ENGLISH    EVIDENCES. 


121 


Dr.  Anderson,  in  his  Royal  Genealogies,  has  the  following  passage :  — 

"  The  native  Irish  being  well  informed,  as  tliey  thought,  that  they  now  [1641] 
must  either  turn  Protestant,  or  depart  the  kingdom,  or  be  hanged  at  their  own  doors, 
they  betook  to  arms  in  their  own  defence ;  especially  in  the  province  of  Ulster, 
where  the  six  counties  had  been  forfeited." 

The  English  Lord  Clarendon  says, — 

"  About  tlic  beginning  of  November,  1641,  the  English  and  Scotch  forces,  m 
Carrickfergus,  murdered,  in  one  night,  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  Island  of  Gee,  to 
the  number  of  three  thousand  men,  women,  and  cliildren,  all  innocent  persons ;  in 
a  time  when  none  of  tlie  Catholics  of  tliat  country  were  in  arms  or  rebellion." 

He  adds  the  note,  — 

"This  was  the  Jirst  massacre  committed  in  Ireland  on  either  side." 

The  same  noble  author,  further  on,  speaking  of  Munster,  has  the 
following:  — 

"  In  Decey's  county,  the  neighboring  English  garrisons  of  the  county  of  Cork, 
after  burning  and  pillaging  all  that  county,  they  murdered  above  three  hundred 
persons,  men,  women,  and  children,  before  a7iy  rebellion  began  in  Munster.  And 
the  same  party  led  one  hundred  laborers  prisoners  to  Caperquin,  who,  being  tied 
in  couples,  were  cast  into  the  river,  and  made  sport  to  see  them  drowned." 

He  continues  thus  :  — 

"  Observe  that  this  county  is  not  charged  with  any  murder  committed  on  Protes- 
tants.'''' 

Sir  William  Petty,  an  English  Protestant,  and  secretary  to  Cromwell, 
assures  us  that,  after  the  most  minute  inquiry,  he  finds  the  computed 
numbers  killed  on  both  sides,  in  battle  and  by  massacre,  did  not  exceed 
thirty -six  thousand ;  and  it  appears  there  were  more  Irish  Catholics 
killed  than  of  the  opposite  religion. 

Other  evidences  might  be  given  of  provocations  for  what  followed  ; 
but  these  two  are  samples  of  all.  That  the  motives  and  objects  of  these 
exterminators  were  plunder,  is  now  admitted  :  to  drive  the  unfortunate 
people  to  revolt,  in  order  that  their  lands  might  be  seized,  was  their 
aim.  After  Strafford's  death,  the  chief  government  of  Ireland  was 
lodged  in  the  hands  of  the  joint  deputies.  Parsons  and  Borlaise.  Dr. 
Leland,  an  historian  on  the  English  side,  speaking  of  these  men's  acts, 
says,  — 

"  Whatever  were  the  professions  of  the  chief  governors,  the  only  danger  tliey 
really  apprehended  was  that  of  a  too  speedy  suppression  of  the  rebellion.  Exten- 
sive forfeitures  were  their  favorite  object,  and  that  of  their  friends." 

Carte,  the  English  historian,  says,  — 

"  They  privately  wrote  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester  not  to  accept  of  any  overtures 


728  ORDER   TO    KILL    ALL    THE    PAPISTS. 

from  the  northern  rebels,  because  the  cost  of  supplies  from  England  would  be  amply 
compensated  by  the  estates  of  the  actors  in  the  rebellion.  And  after  Parsons'a 
disgrace,  [says  Carte,]  he  owned  to  Clanrickard,  tliat  the  English  parliament's 
pamphlets  were  received  in  preference  to  the  king's  orders,  as  oracles,  its  com- 
mands obeyed  as  laws,  and  extirpation  preached  as  gospel.^'' 

Such  were  the  predispositions  of  the  governors  of  Ireland,  and  their 
followers,  previous  to  the  explosion  and  massacre  of  1641.  That 
was  an  upheaving  of  the  whole  elements  of  society,  a  bursting  up  of 
the  most  wicked  and  exasperated  passions  of  man.  Leland  says  that 
the  favorite  object,  both  of  the  Irish  government  and  English  parliament, 
was  the  utter  extermination  o/ai^l.  the  Catholic  inhabitants  of  Ireland, 
even  to  the  last  human  being !  He  is  a  Protestant  historian.  Their 
estates  were  already  marked  out  and  allotted  to  the  conquerors,  so  that 
they  and  their  families  were  consigned  to  irretrievable  ruin. 

On  the  23d  February,  1641,  an  order  was  issued  from  the  council 
chamber  of  Dublin  Castle,  to  kill  every  human  being  supposed  to  be  a 
rebel,  or  who  gave  heritance  to  a  supposed  rebel.  This  dreadful  order 
was  literally  carried  into  effect ;  and  the  justices  declare,  says  Leland, 
(book  5,)  "  that  the  soldiers  slew  all  persons  promiscuously,  not  sparing 
the  women  or  children,"  The  Ormond  Letters  supply  the  following 
passage :  — 

"  Sir  William  Parsons  hath,  by  late  letters,  advised  the  governor  to  the  burning 
of  corn,  and  to  put  man,  icoman,  and  child  to  the  sivord,  and  Sir  Adam  Lofhis 
hath  written  in  the  same- strain." —  Ormondes  Letters,  ii.  350. 

The  Liberator  gives  the  following  terrific  page  :  — 

"  Here  is  a  specimen  of  a  massacre  of  prisoners  in  the  streets  of  Dublin,  who 
were  taken  at  the  battle  of  Rathmines.  It  is  Lord  Ormond  who  speaks.  The 
army,  [Catholic,]  I  am  sure,  was  not  eight  thousand  effective  men,  and  of  them  it 
is  certain  there  were  not  above  six  hundred  killed ;  and  the  most  of  them  that 
were  killed  were  butchered  after  they  had  laid  down  their  arms,  and  had  been 
almost  an  hour  prisoners,  and  divers  of  tliem  murdered  before  they  were  brought 
within  the  works  of  Dublin."  —  Oi-mond,  ii.  396. 

"  Their  friars  and  priests  were  knocked  on  tlie  head,  promiscuously,  with  the 
others  who  were  in  arms." —  Whitelocke,  412. 

Again :  — 

"  Sir  Theophilus  Jones  had  taken  a  castle,  put  some  men  to  the  sword,  and 
thirteen  priests."  —  JVhitelocke,  527.  "  Monroe  put  sixty  men,  eighteen  women,  and 
two  priests,  to  death  in  Newry."  —  Leland,  iii.  203. 

Castlehaven  and  Clarendon  give  details  of  thousands  of  women,  and 
children,  and  old  men,  who  hid  themselves  in  furze,  which  was  set 
fire  to,  and  the  people  m  it  burnt ;  whoever  tried  to  escape  was  shot. 


RESISTANCE    OF    THE    CATHOLICS.  729 

The  flame  of  revolt  now  broke  forth  from  the  north,  west,  and  south ; 
the  Catholics  revenged  themselves  every  where  on  the  Protestants, 
whom  they  now  regarded  as  their  new  enemies.  The  old  English, 
inside  the  Pale,  as  well  as  the  old  Irish  outside,  were  driven,  by  terrible 
^  persecution,  to  join  this  hatred  of  the  new  comers  ;  and,  it  is  grievous 
to  state,  some  eight  hundred  and  fifty  families,  and  five  thousand  men, 
of  the  new  settlers,  were  massacred  by  the  Catholics.  Some  of  the 
historians  magnify  this ;  but  Dr.  Warner,  who  took  every  possible  pains 
to  ascertain  the  truth,  states  this  number  as  the  result  of  his  inquiry. 

The  king,  becoming  shocked  at  the  rivers  of  blood,  now  let  flowing 
from  both  sides,  sent  commissioners  to  Ireland  to  treat  for  a  cessation  of 
hostilities.  But  the  lords  justices  in  Dublin,  and  particularly  Ormond, 
frustrated  every  such  attempt.  Plunder,  plunder,  plunder,  was  their 
object,  though  they  swam  to  it  through  rivers  of  human  blood. 

The  confederated  Catholic  lords,  both  of  the  English  Pale  and  of  old 
Irish  blood,  now  assembled  in  Kilkenny,  under  a  regular  organization, 
and,  having  formed  a  supreme  council,  assumed  the  government  of  Ire- 
land, for  the  protection  of  their  religion,  lives,  and  fortunes.  The  pres- 
ence of  clergymen  at  this  assembly  imparted  to  it  a  greater  solemnity. 
The  four  provinces  were  represented  by-Thomas  Preston,  of  the  house  of 
Gormanstown,  for  Leinster  ;  Barry,  of  Barrymore,  for  Munster ;  Burke, 
of  the  house  of  Clanrickard,  for  Connaught ;  and  by  Owen  Roe  O'Neill 
for  Ulster.  At  this  Catholic  national  council,  laws,  admitted  by  their 
enemies  to  be  most  equitable,  were  enacted.  The  grand  council  con- 
sisted of  six  delegates  from  each  province,  and  they  adopted  and  used  a 
common  seal ;  ambassadors  were  sent  from  this  council  to  foreign  poten- 
tates, to  negotiate  for  aid,  and,  although  unprovided  whh  arms,  in  less 
than  two  years  they  conquered  back  a  great  proportion  of  the  lands 
which  they  lost  in  the  last  reign. 

At  length,  by  the  king's  repeated  commands,  a  cessation  of  hostilities 
between  the  Catholics  and  new  settlers  was  agreed  to.  The  king's 
commissioners  appeared  at  the  Catholic  council,  in  Kilkenny,  with  full 
powers  to  settle  all  things  to  their  satisfaction.  The  king  suddenly  be- 
came most  anxious  to  conciliate  the  Catholics,  and  attach  them  to  his 
interest,  and  commanded  Ormond,  his  lord  lieutenant,  to  conclude  a 
peace  with  them,  whatever  it  cost.  Here  are  the  king's  words:  "/ 
command  you  to  conclude  a  peace  with  the  Irish,  cost  what  it,may."  In 
another —  "  I  absolutely  command  you,  without  reply,  to  execute  the  di- 
rections I  sent  you  on  the  27th  February  last,  which  were,  to  malce  peace 
even  without  the  council."  The  treaty  for  peace  was  signed  at  Kil- 
92 


730    THE    king's    dispute    with    the    parliament. HAMPDEN. 

kenny,  by  the  Catholic  confederates  on  the  one  hand,  and  by  the  king's 
commissioners  on  the  other.  But  scarcely  was  it  signed,  when  it  was 
formally  rejected  by  the  northern  army,  who,  though  in  the  king's  ser- 
vice, were  under  the  influence  of  the  Puritan  party  in  the  English 
parliament.  An  apprehension  that  I  might  weary  my  readers  forbids 
me  to  quote  here  the  monstrous,  the  incredible  cruelties  practised  by  the 
English  government  in  Ireland,  under  the  administration  of  Ormond,  by 
their  officer.  Sir  Charles  Coote.  The  terrible  doings  of  this  monster 
may  be  seen  in  O'Connell's  Memoir,  pp.  200  to  206,  Sec,  Casserly's 
edition. 

It  is  worth  our  attention  to  inquire  into  the  origin  of  that  dispute, 
between  Charles  the  First  and  the  Puritan  parliament,  which  ended  in 
his  execution.  The  king,  having  entered  into  war  with  Spain  and 
France,  fitted  out  a  considerable  fleet,  and,  to  defray  the  expense,  laid  a 
tax  on  his  subjects  by  the  instrumentality  of  a  simple  proclamation. 
Mr.  Chambers,  a  citizen  of  London,  disputed  the  legality  of  this  tax. 
The  opinions  of  the  twelve  judges  were  demanded  by  the  king ;  the 
judges  sanctioned  the  demand ;  but  Mr.  Hampden,  a  gentleman  of 
Buckinghamshire,  also  disputed  and  refused  to  pay  the  tax.  The  case 
was  carried  before  the  judges,  where  it  was  ably  argued,  when  Hamp- 
den was  cast,  and  ordered  to  pay  twenty  shillings,  the  sum  originally 
levied.     This,  however,  was  still  refused. 

Shortly  after  this,  the  king  went  to  Scotland,  and  while  there,  dis- 
covered that  a  secret  correspondence  was  going  on  between  the  Scots, 
Puritans,  and  some  members  of  the  house  of  commons.  Five  of  these 
he  ordered  to  be  apprehended,  and  their  papers  to  be  seized.  The  par- 
liament then  passed  a  vote,  declaring  the  inviolability  of  the  persons  of  its 
members,  and  that  whoever  would  seize  on  their  persons  or  papers 
should  stand  on  his  defence.  Next  day,  the  king,  with  five  hundred 
armed  men,  went  into  the  parliament-house  to  arrest  the  five  members, 
and,  not  seeing  them,  exclaimed,  "  The  birds  are  flown." 

The  excitement  outside  now  rose  to  a  high  pitch ;  the  sheriffs  of 
London,  with  an  armed  multitude,  carried  the  five  obnoxious  members 
to  their  seats.  Hampden,  on  landing  from  his  barge,  was  conducted  to 
his  seat  by  four  thousand  horsemen. 

The  king  then  retired  to  his  country  residence,  Hampton  Court,  and 
from  that  to  Windsor,  from  whence  he  sent  pardons  for  the  five  members ; 
but  these  were  rejected  by  the  parliament.  Both  houses  petition  the 
king  to  surrender  the  forts,  the  Tower,  and  other  places  of  strength,  into 
their  hands.     This  was  refused,  and  the  parliament  levy  militia,  appoint 


OLIVER    CROMWELL. KING    CHARLES    BEHEADED.  731 

commanders,  organize  a  revolution,  placing  the  chief  command  in  the 
hands  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  meet  the  king's  party  in  several  engage- 
ments, and  finally  defeat  him. 

It  is  not  a  little  extraordinary  that  Cromwell  and  some  others,  who 
were  about  leaving  England,  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war,  were 
seized  at  Plymouth,  and  detained  by  the  king.  At  the  celebrated 
battle  of  Naseby,  that  very  CromweWs  right  wing  defeated  the  king's 
army,  took  possession  of  all  his  ammunition,  his  majesty  himself  es- 
caping by  the  merest  chance. 

The  Scots  now  invite  Charles  to  come  over  the  border,  —  assuring 
him  that  they  will  preserve  him  from  his  enemies.  The  king  intrusts 
himself  to  their  confidence,  and  is  basely  betrayed  by  them  into  the 
hands  of  the  parliamentary  leaders,  and  given  up  for  two  hundred 
thousand   pounds  paid  them  by  parliament. 

Although  the  army  and  parliament,  or  rather  the  Presbyterians  and 
Independents,  fell  out,  they  subsequently  agreed  to  impeach  the  king  ; 
seventy  commissioners  were  appointed  to  try  him  ;  at  the  head,  as 
president,  was  the  celebrated  Bradshaw. 

They  assembled  in  Westminster  Hall.  Bradshaw  sat  in  a  seat  of 
crimson  velvet ;  the  others  ranged  themselves  on  either  side,  on 
benches  covered  with  scarlet ;  at  the  feet  of  the  president  sat  the 
clerks ;  on  a  table  were  the  sword  and  mace,  and  directly  opposite 
stood  a  chair  for  the  king  ;  when  brought  into  court,  and  after  hearing 
the  charge  read,  he  declined  to  answer,  and  refused  to  acknowledge  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  tribunal ;  whereupon  the  president  recorded  the 
"  contempt  and  default  of  the  prisoner."  In  four  days  after,  the  court 
met  and  adjudged  Charles  guilty  of  the  charges,  and  sentenced  him  to 
death.  On  the  30th  of  January,  1649,  he  walked  under  guard  from 
St.  James's  to  White-Hall,  where  he  was  led  through  the  banqueting 
room  to  the  scaffold  ;  here  his  head  was  severed  from  his  body,  and  then 
given  to  his  servants. 

The  death  of  the  king  was  soon  followed  by  the  abolition  of  the 
house  of  lords,  when  the  powers  of  the  three  estates  of  the  realm 
merged  in  the  house  of  commons.  A  new  council,  consisting  of 
thirty-nine  persons,  took  on  them  the  whole  functions  of  the  executive. 
The  crown  lands,  bishops'  lands,  the  estates  and  revenues  of  the 
deans  and  chapters,  were  again  seized  by  the  new  powers  ;  in  fact, 
a  new  reformation  was  effected  by  the  parliamentarians ;  the  mass  book 
was  abolished  by  Elizabeth  ;  now,  the  church  book,  established  by  her 
authority,  was  abolished,  and  a  directory  substituted  by  the  parliament. 

The   persons   who  obtained   priory,  abbey,  and  church  lands  and 


732  NEW    SECTS. FANATICISM. AN    OLIGARCHY. 

tithes,  in  the  preceding  reign,  for  the  support  of  the  reformed  church, 
were  all  ejected  now.  "  And  it  was  remarkable,"  says  William  Cobbett, 
"  how  loudly  those  persons  exclaimed,  '  Sacrilege,  sacrilege  ! '  against 
the  new  comers,  whose  own  title  to  that  property  was  founded  upon  no 
better  authority." 

As  the  Catholic  bishops  were  shut  out  of  parliament  in  the  last 
reign,  so  the  Protestant  bishops  were  now  excluded.  Prelacy  was  de- 
nounced ;  to  renounce  prelacy  and  the  liturgy  were  the  only  terms  upon 
which  the  parochial  clergy  were  allowed  to  retain  their  benefices. 

Upon  the  ruins  of  the  Episcopal  church,  two  sects  rose  into  impor- 
ance  —  the  "  Presbyterians  "  and  "  Independents."  The  Presby- 
terians were  for  throwing  off  the  authority  of  bishops,  the  religious 
ceremonies  still  observed,  and  the  liturgies  and  form  of  prayer  lately 
established.  The  Independents  carried  the  change  still  farther; 
they  were  for  the  entire  abolition  of  ecclesiastical  government ;  they 
disdained  creeds,  abolished  ceremonies  of  every  kind,  and  contended 
for  the  sufficiency  of  individual  judgment  in  matters  of  religion.  Oliver 
Cromwell,  Sir  Harry  Vane,  and  other  leaders,  belonged  to  this  class. 

The  superior  activity  and  energy  of  the  Independents,  their  influ- 
ence in  the  army,  and  the  exclusion  of  their  rivals  —  the  Presbyterians 
—  from  parliament,  gave  them  great  power.  The  commonwealth  be- 
came an  oligarchy  in  the  hands  of  about  one  hundred  persons,  supported 
by  a  standing  army  of  forty-five  thousand  men.  This  oligarchy  was 
supported  by  the  sword.  Cromwell  soon  obtained  the  mastery  in  the 
army  by  flattering  the  religious  fanaticism  of  the  soldiers,  and  encour- 
aging in  it  principles  of  a  levelling  character.  Many  of  the  common 
soldiers  claimed  the  right  to  interpret  the  Scriptures  and  preach  the 
gospel.  One  of  these  fanatics  went  into  the  church  of  Walton-upon- 
Thames,  while  the  congregation  were  at  divine  service,  carrying 
in  his  hand  a  lantern  and  five  candles,  also  a  Bible :  he  said  he  had  a 
message  to  them  from  God,  and,  if  they  did  not  listen,  they  would  be 
all  damned  :  he  put  out  one  light,  as  a  mark  of  the  abolition  of  the 
Sabbath;  the  second,  as  the- abolition  of  tithes  and  church  dues;  the 
third,  as  a  mark  of  the  abohtion  of  all  ministers  ;  the  fourth,  of  all 
magistrates ;  and  the  fifth  he  applied  to  setting  fire  to  a  Bible,  declaring 
that  that  also  was  abolished. 

Such  were  the  new  chief  governors  of  England.  And  now  we  cast 
our  eyes  again  on  Ireland.  The  Kilkenny  confederates  had  made 
nearly  a  general  reconquest  of  Ireland  from  the  English ;  only 
two  chief  garrisons  remained  in  possession  of  the  British,  namely, 
Dublin    and    Londonderry.      The   parliamentarians    had    taken    ten 


V/AR    RENEWED    AGAINST    THE    IRISH.  733 

thousand  Scotchmen  into  their  pay  :  these  were  sent  into  Ireland,  under 
Major-General  Monroe,  rather  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  Irish  than 
to  reduce  thera  entirely.  This  force  was  augmented,  by  the  Scotch  and 
English  settlers  in  the  country,  to  nineteen  thousand  men. 

I  take  from  M'Geoghegan  the  following  graphic  narrative  of  the 
second  battle  of  Benburb  :  — 

"  Monroe  landed  in  Ireland  in  May.  He  marched  to  Carrickfergus,  and  seized 
on  the  castles  of  Newry  and  Carlingford,  where  he  placed  garrisons.  The  Eng- 
lish commanders  represented  to  him  that  the  opportunity  was  favorable  for  con- 
tinuing the  conquest,  and  reducing  the  whole  province  ;  but  he  refused  to  cross  the 
River  Bann,  in  which  refusal  he  followed  the  directions  of  his  masters.  Having 
condemned  sixty  men,  eighteen  women,  and  two  priests,  to  death,  in  Newry,  he 
returned  to  Carrickfergus,  and  on  his  march  laid  waste  the  lands  of  Lord  Iveagh 
and  Maccartan.  He  carried  away  four  thousand  head  of  cattle,  and  other  prop- 
erty ;  the  English  forces  expected  a  share  in  the  booty,  but  the  Scotch  seized  on 
all  during  the  night ;  and  the  English,  seeing  themselves  deceived,  mutinied,  and 
v/ould  no  longer  join  the  Scotch  in  their  robberies. 

"  Owen  Roe  O'Neill  was  commander  of  the  Irish  in  Ulster.  He  agreed  with 
the  pope's  nuncio,  regarding  the  peace  of  lfi46,  and  the  motives  which  influenced 
tliat  minister  to  oppose  it.  In  the  spring  of  this  year,  he  travelled  to  Kilkenny,  to 
consult  with  tliat  prelate  on  the  state  of  religion  and  the  country  ;  and,  having  re- 
ceived the  succors  he  expected,  he  returned  to  Ulster. 

"  This  general  collected  his  forces  in  the  month  of  May,  amounting  to  about 
five  thousand  infantry  and  five  hundred  cavalry,  with  which  body  he  marched 
towards  Armagh.  Monroe  led  his  army,  consisting  of  six  thousand  infantry  and 
eight  hundred  horse,  Scotch  and  English,  and  encamped  within  ten  miles  of  the 
same  place.  Being  informed  that  O'Neill  was  on  his  march,  with  a  design  of 
taking  the  city  by  surprise,  the  Scotch  general  decamped  on  the  4th  of  June,  and, 
advancing  towards  the  city,  arrived  at  midnight,  with  a  view  of  attacking  O'Neill. 
Being  informed  that  O'Neill  was  encamped  at  Benburb,  Monroe  marched  the 
next  day  to  attack  him ;  but,  though  superior  in  numbers  to  O'Neill,  he  sent 
orders  to  his  brother,  George  Monroe,  who  commanded  a  force  at  Coleraine,  to 
come  and  join  him  at  Glaslough,  near  Benburb.  O'Neill,  having  information  of 
the  time  he  was  to  pass,  immediately  despatched  Colonels  Bernard,  M'Mahon,  and 
Patrick  M'Nenay,  with  their  regiments,  to  meet  him  and  prevent  a  junction  with 
General  Monroe.  These  two  officers  performed  their  trust  to  the  satisfaction  of 
their  commander.  They  cut  the  enemy,  commanded  by  young  Monroe,  to  pieces, 
and' returned  next  day  to  Benburb,  where  they  shared  with  O'Neill  the  honor  of 
the  victory  they  had  gained  over  the  Scotch  and  English.  O'Neill  was  favorably 
posted  between  two  hills,  his  rear  being  enclosed  by  a  wood,  and  his  right  extend- 
ing itself  along  the  Blackwater.  Being  apprized  that  Monroe  was  at  Glaslough, 
O'Neill  moved  his  cavalry  to  a  height,  from  whence  he  viewed  the  Scotch  army 
on  the  opposite  banks  of  the  river.  In  the  mean  while,  the  Scotch  crossed  the 
river,  where  it  was  fordable,  near  Kinard,  and  were  marching  to  Benburb.  O'Neill 
sent  Colonel  Richard  O'Ferral  to  occupy  a  defile  through  which  the  enemy  had  to 
pass  ;  but  their  cannon  prevented  him  from  keeping  it,  and  he  was  forced  to  retire, 
wliich  he  did  in  good  order. 


734  SECOND    BATTLE    OF    BENBURB. 

« The  two  amues  began  to  prepare  for  battle.  O'Neill  kept  the  enemy  em- 
ployed for  a  while  with  light  skirmishing  and  musketry,  while  waiting  for  the  sun, 
wliich  annoyed  his  troops  during  the  day,  to  go  down.  He  was  expecting  also 
the  arrival  of  a  detachment,  which  he  sent  the  preceding  evening  against  some 
of  the  enemy  at  Coleraine.  When  Monroe  saw  this  force  arrive,  he  thought  that 
they  were  coming  to  join  himself  from  the  same  place,  but  found  his  mistake  on 
seeing  them  enter  O'Neill's  camp.  O'Neill  now  commanded  his  men  to  advance 
within  reach  of  the  pike,  and  to  begin  with  close  fighting.  His  orders  in  this 
were  most  valiantly  executed.  The  English  regiment,  commanded  by  Lord 
Blaney,  after  a  vigorous  defence,  was  cut  to  pieces  ;  and  the  Scotch  cavalry  being 
broken  by  those  of  O'Neill,  the  rout  became  general.  There  was  but  the  one 
regiment  of  Sir  James  Montgomery  that  retired  in  a  body,  the  remainder  of  the 
army  that  escaped  being  thrown  into  the  greatest  disorder.  Colonel  Conway,  who 
had  two  horses  killed  under  him,  accompanied  by  Captain  Burke  and  about  forty 
horsemen,  reached  Newry.  Lord  Montgomery  was  taken  prisoner,  besides 
twenty-one  officers,  and  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  soldiers  ;  three  thousand  two 
hundred  and  forty-three  of  the  enemy  fell  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  several  were  killed 
the  day  following  in  the  pursuit.  The  loss  on  the  side  of  O'Neill  amounted  to 
about  seventy  men  killed  and  two  hundred  wounded.  The  whole  of  the  Scotch  artil- 
lery, arms,  tents,  baggage,  and  thirty-two  stand  of  colors,  were  taken.  The  booty 
was  immense ;  it  consisted  of  fifteen  hundred  draught  horses,  and  provisions  of 
every  kind  for  two  months.  General  Monroe  saved  himself  with  difficulty  on 
horseback,  and  fled  without  either  hat  or  wig.  After  this  defeat,  he  burned 
Dundrum,  and  abandoned  Portdown,  Clare,  Galway,  Downpatrick,  and  other  strong 
places.  The  consternation  of  his  army  was  so  great  that  numbers  fled  to  Scot- 
land for  safety. 

"  The  victory  gained  by  General  O'Neill  seemed  to  portend  the  complete  con- 
quest of  Ulster.  His  respect,  however,  for  the  orders  of  the  nuncio  lost  to  him 
the  fruits  of  his  success.  His  excellency  wTote  to  him  in  June,  complimenting 
him  on  the  victory  he  had  gained,  and  beseeching  him  to  march  into  Leinster,  to 
the  support  of  those  who  opposed  the  peace.  The  messenger  found  O'Neill  at 
Tenrage,  ready  to  fall  upon  the  Scotch.  However,  in  obedience  to  the  nuncio's 
request,  he  assembled  a  council  of  war,  when  it  was  decided  to  march  directly  to 
Kilkenny,  in  conformity  to  which  decision  he  issued  his  commands." 

The  monarchy  and  house  of  lords  being  some  time  overthrown  in 
England,  the  government  of  Ireland  became  an  object  of  dispute  to  all 
parties  in  England.  The  Presbyterians  were  for  conferring  it  on 
Waller;  the  Independents  were  inclined  towards  Lambert;  but,  after 
some  debating,  they  all  finally  agreed  tbat  Oliver  Cromwell  was'  fittest 
for  that  important  trust.  For  some  lime  previous,  a  war  of  extermina- 
tion had  been  declared  against  the  Irish  Catholics. 

On  the  24th  October,  1644,  the  English  House  of  Commons  passed 
the  following  among  other  resolutions  :  — 

"The  lords  and  commons,  assembled  in  the  parliament  of  England,  do  declare, 
that  no  quarter  shall  be  given  to  any  Irishman,  or  to  any  Papist  born  in  Ireland, 


NO    QUARTER   FOR   THE    IRISH. LANDING    OF    CROMWELL.       735 

which  shall  be  taken  in  hostility  against  tlie  parliament,  either  upon  sea  or 
within  the  kingdom  or  dominion  of  Wales ;  and,  therefore,  do  order  that  the  lord- 
general,  tlie  lord-admiral,  and  all  other  officers  and  commanders,  botli  by  sea  and 
land,  shall  except  all  Irishmen,  and  all  Papists  born  in  Ireland,  out  of  all  capitu- 
lations hereafter  to  be  made  with  the  enemy,  and  shall,  upon  the  taking  of  every 
such  Irishman,  and  Papist  born  in  Ireland,  as  aforesaid,  forthioith  pvi  every 
such  person  to  deaih." 

Cromwell,  like  some  of  the  reformers  who  went  before  him,  knew 
the  inflexibility  of  the  Irish  character  in  matters  of  religion.  For  the  pur- 
pose of  reducing  them  to  obedience  to  the  new  powers  in  England, 
and  under  pretence  of  effecting  ?i  further  reform  of  religion,  he  landed 
in  Dublin,  with  about  twelve  thousand  of  his  choicest  troops  well 
armed,  bringing  an  extensive  park  of  artillery,  and  twenty  thousand 
pounds  in  money.  His  army  was  composed  almost  entirely  of  religious 
fanatics ;  they  were  denominated  levellers  in  England  ;  and  they  saw 
before  them  in  Ireland  a  rich  prospect  of  plunder. 

In  the  latter  part  of  Charles's  career,  he  caressed  the  Catholics  of 
Ireland,  and  induced  them  to  believe  that  he  was  persecuted  for  coun- 
tenancing the  free  exercise  of  their  religion.  This  caused  them  to 
espouse  his  quarrel,  and  to  furnish  soldiers  and  money  to  the  royal 
army.  The  Catholics  were,  therefore,  now  marked  by  Cromwell  and 
his  levellers  as  their  victims  ;  their  private  resolve  was,  no  quarter 
to  the  Papists,  and  this  they  put  into  execution  to  the  letter. 

Cromwell  acted,  on  his  arrival,  as  lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland,  in 
the  name  of  the  parliament  of  England.  No  parliament  was  called  or 
suffered  to  be  held  in  Ireland  for  thirty  years  after  this  ;  the  city  of 
Dublin  submitted,  but  the  provinces  prepared  for  resistance,  in  the 
name  of  "  Charles  the  Second,"  son  of  the  decapitated  king. 

To  Drogheda  Cromwell  first  marched.  The  town  was  defended  only 
by  four  or  five  thousand  men,  who  bravely  prepared  to  resist  the 
usurper.  He  appeared  before  it  with  ten  thousand  men,  sum- 
moned it  to  surrender,  and,  on  refusal,  thundered  with  his  cannon  at 
the  strong  walls  for  two  days,  until  he  made  a  breach :  the  word  for 
assault  was  then  given ;  his  men  were  twice  repulsed  with  great 
slaughter ;  the  garrison  behaved  with  the  utmost  bravery.  Cromwell, 
seeing  that  all  depended  upon  his  success  at  this  point,  with  the  bravery 
of  a  Napoleon,  drew  his  sword,  and,  rallying  his  desponding  soldiers, 
entered  the  breach  with  great  fury,  and,  breaking  through  the  first 
resistance,  promised  quarter  to  all  those  who  should  submit:  this 
quarter  was  continued  as  long  as  resistance  appeared  in  any  part  of  the 
town.     A  submission   was  thus  temporarily  procured  ;  and  no  sooner 


736         MASSACRE    AT    DROGHEDA. BLASPHEMY    OF    CROMWELL. 

were  the  arms  of  the  brave  defenders  given  up,  than,  says  Leland, 
"  Cromwell,  with  an  infernal  calmness  and  deliberation,  resolved,  by 
one  effectual  execution,  to  terrify  the  whole  Irish  party  ;  he  issued  his 
fatal  orders  that  the  garrison  should  be  put  to  the  sword.  Some  of  his 
soldiers  with  reluctance  butchered  their  prisoners  ;  the  governor  and  all 
his  gallant  comrades,  numbering  three  thousand  men,  were  butchered 
in  cold  blood.  A  number  of  ecclesiastics  wero  found  within  the  walls, 
and  these  seemed  to  be  the  more  immediate  objects  of  his  vengeance ; 
he  ordered  his  soldiers  to  plunge  their  weapons  into  the  helpless  men's 
bodies.  For  five  days,  this  butchery  continued;  thirty  persons  only, 
out  of  the  whole  garrison  and  citizens,  remained  unslaughtered,  and 
these  were  transported  as  slaves  to  Barbadoes." 

Cromwell  sent  to  the  parliament,  on  this  occasion,  a  blasphemous 
despatch  ;  it  is  worthy  of  perpetuation  :  — 

"  Sir,  —  It  lias  pleased  God  to  bless  our  endeavors  at  Drogheda ;  after  battering", 
we  stonnod  it.  The  enemy  were  about  three  thousand  strong  in  the  town.  I 
believe  we  put  to  the  sword  the  whole  number  of  the  defendants.  I  do  not  think 
thirty  of  the  whole  number  escaped  with  their  lives,  and  those  that  did  are  in 
safe  custody  for  the  Barbadoes.  This  hath  been  a  marvellous  great  mercy.  I 
wish  that  all  honest  heads  may  give  the  glory  of  this  to  God  alone,  to  whom,  indeed, 
the  honor  belongs.  For  instruments,  they  were  very  inconsiderable  to  the  work 
throughout. 

"O.  Cromwell." 

Upon  which  the  parliament  of  England  resolved,  2d  October, 
1649:  — 

"  For  this  important  success  of  the  parliament's  forces  in  Ireland,  the  house 
appnintod  a  thanksgiving  day,  to  be  held  on  the  1st  November  ensusing  through- 
out the  nation  ;  and  further,  a  letter  of  thanks  was  voted  to  be  sent  to  Cromwell, 
lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland,  in  which  notice  was  to  be  taken  that  the  house  did 
approve  of  the  execution  done  at  Drogheda,  as  an  act  both  o\'  justice  to  them,  and 
mercy  to  others,  who  may  be  warned  by  it."  —  Parliamentary  History,  vol.  iii. 
p.  1334. 

ITow  can  any  Englishman  feel  surprised  at  the  natural  hatred  which 
Irishmen  entertain  towards  his  country?  Let  every  honest  Englishman, 
who  blushes  for  this  horrible  resolution  of  the  English  commons,  join 
those  patriotic  men  in  England,  Ireland,  and  America,  who  are  try- 
ing peaceably  to  get  justice  done  to  Ireland.  By  such  a  course  alone 
can  that  well-grounded  hatred  ever  be  removed. 

Cromwell  spread  terror  and  consternation  far  and  wide  :  he  despatched 
part  of  his  army  to  the  north,  and  repaired  himself  to  the  south.  Wex- 
ford he  took  easily,  by  the  treachery  of  one  Stafford,  and,  as  in  Droghe- 
da, butchered  the  inhabitants,  numbering  five  thousand. 


WEXFORD    MASSACRE. HEROIC    BISHOP.  737 

Dr.  Llngard,  describing  this  massacre,  says,  "  No  distinction  was 
made  between  the  defenceless  inhabitant  and  the  armed  soldier ;  nor 
could  the  shrieks  of  three  hundred  females,  who  had  gathered  round  the 
great  cross,  preserve  them  from  the  swords  of  those  ruthless  barbarians." 

He  next  proceeded  to  Duncannon  ;  but  he  was  met  here  by  a  brave 
and  unexpected  resistance  from  Wogon,  the  governor,  who  made  a 
sally  which  destroyed  many  of  the  besiegers,  and  obliged  them  to  retire. 

At  Clonmel,  he  met  with  still  greater  resistance  from  Hugh  ONeill, 
who  commanded  only  twelve  to  fourteen  hundred  of  the  provincials, 
and  who  yet  made  such  a  resistance,  that,  in  the  first  assault,  two 
thousand  of  the  besiegers  were  killed.  He  was,  therefore,  content  to 
surround  and  starve  the  city  rather  than  storm  it.  Lord  Onnond  sent 
some  assistance  to  the  fort,  but  they  were  intercepted  by  the  be- 
siegers, and  scattered  or  taken  prisoners. 

Amongst  the  prisoners  taken  at  Ross,  by  Cromwell's  forces,  was  a 
Catholic  bishop,  who  had  been  active  in  preaching  up  resistance  to  the 
anvader.  He  could  expect  no  forgiveness,  yet  forgiveness  was  promised 
him,  if  he  would  use  his  great  influence  in  inducing  his  friends  in  Clon- 
mel to  surrender ;  he  was  taken  before  the  town,  but  the  gallant  captive, 
unshaken  by  the  fear  of  death,  when  he  came  within  sight  of  his  coun- 
trymen, implored  them  to  maintain  their  post  resolutely  against  the 
enemies  of  their  country  and  their  religion,  and  be  ready,  as  he  was,  to 
die  in  their  defence ;  and  then  instantly  resigned  himself  to  execution. 

Such  a  deed  is  worthy  of  a  Spartan  or  a  Roman  fame,  and  ought  to 
bring  crimson  to  the  cheeks  of  those  Irishmen  who  refuse  to  stir  hand  or 
foot  for  the  liberties  of  their  country. 

After  a  brave  resistance  of  two  months,  diiring  which  Cromwell 
lay  around  the  town  with  twenty  thousand  men,  many  thousands  of 
whom  were  destroyed  by  repeated  sallies,  the  garrison,  having  ex- 
hausted their  ammunition,  secretly  withdrew  to  Waterford,  evacuating 
the  town ;  and  those  who  remained  obtained  most  advantageous  terms 
from  the  usurper,  under  an  impression  that  he  had  got  hold  of  the  gar- 
rison, which,  on  finding  how  he  was  baffled,  sorely  vexed  him,  for  he 
had  lain  before  the  town  all  that  time,  unable  to  proceed  farther  in  his 
conquest  southward. 

He  had  already  taken  several  thousands  of  the  poor,  defenceless 
peasantry,  and  shipped  them  as  slaves  to  the  West  India  colonies, 
when  he  was  called  back  to  England,  to  oppose  Prince  Charles, 
(son  of  Charles  the  First,)  who  had  left  the  Hague,  by  invita- 
tion of  some  leading  royalists  of  Scotland,  and  proceeded  from  the 
93 


738  o'connell's  sketch  of  cromwell. 

continent,  in  a  small  convoy,  under  the  command  of  the  Baron  Von 
Tromp.  Arriving  safe  in  Scotland,  the  young  prince,  though  a  Prot- 
estant, was  compelled  to  swear  to  the  covenant  of  the  Scottish  Presby- 
terians, and  had  already  made  considerable  headway. 

On  Cromwell's  hasty  return  to  England,  he  left  the  army  in 
IrelanrI,  under  Ireton,  who  was  his  duplicate,  in  cruelty  at  least. 

I  cannot  even  touch  one  tenth  of  the  terrible  events  of  this  crue! 
usurper's  career. 

One  chief  cause  of  the  submission  of  Ireland  to  Cromwell  was 
the  death  of  O'Neill,  and  the  treachery  of  Lord  Inchiquin,  who 
commanded,  for  the  Irish  confederation,  nearly  all  the  strong  posts  of 
Munster,  and  whose  surrender  of  these  posts,  and  accession  to  the 
enemy,   was    a  severe  blow   to   the  cause  of  Ireland. 

Limerick  was  obtained  by  the  treachery  of  one  or  two  within,  and 
the  garrison  and  citizens  put  to  the  sword.  Galway  and  several  other 
towns  ultimately  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  parliament.  Lastly,  Crom- 
well, having  obtained  several  victories  over  the  troops  of  Prince  Charles, 
in  Scotland,  and  compelled  him  to  fly,  was  enabled  to  send  fresh  forces 
to  Ireland,  which  were  poured  in  in  such  masses,  that  they  became 
inconvenient  to  each  other. 

I  will  introduce  here  a  powerful  summing  up  of  Cromwell's  atrocities, 
from  O'Connell's  Memoir  :  — 

"  Cromwell  gorged  himself  with  human  blood  ;  he  committed  the  most  hideous 
slaughters,  deliberate,  cold-blooded,  persevering;  he  stained  the  annals  of  the 
English  people  with  guilt  of  a  blacker  dye  than  has  stained  any  other  nation  on 
earth ;  and,  after  all,  for  what  ?  What  did  he  gain  by  it  ?  Some  four  or  five 
years  of  precarious  power !  and,  if  his  loathsome  corpse  was  interred  in  a  royal 
grave,  it  was  so  only  to  have  his  bones  thence  transferred  to  a  gibbet !  Was  it 
for  this  that  he  deliberately  slaughtered  thousands  of  men,  women,  and  children? 
female  loveliness,  and  the  innocent  and  beautiful  boy  —  aged  but  seven  years  — 
of  Colonel  Washington  ?  The  natural  result  of  the  promiscuous  slaughter  of  the 
unarmed  peasantry,  wherever  the  English  soldiers  could  lay  hold  on  them,  was,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  an  appalling  famine ;  the  ploughman  was  killed  in  the  half- 
ploughed  field  ;  the  laborer  met  his  death  at  the  spade ;  the  haymaker  was  him- 
self mowed  down ;  a  universal  famine  covered  the  land.  An  eye-witness,  em- 
ployed in  hunting  to  death  the  Irish,  has  left  the  description  which  follows: 
'  About  the  years  1G52  and  1653,  the  plague  and  famine  had  so  swept  away  whole 
countries,  that  a  man  might  travel  twenty  or  thirty  miles,  and  not  see  a  living 
creature,  either  man,  beast,  or  bird,  they  being  either  all  dead  or  had  quit  those 
desolate  places.  Our  soldiers  would  tell  stories  of  the  place  where  they  saw  a 
smoke,  it  was  so  rare  to  see  either  smoke  by  day,  or  fire  or  candle  by  night ;  and, 
when  we  did  meet  with  two  or  three  poor  cabins,  none  but  very  aged  men,  witli 
women  and  children,  were  to  be  seen,  and  tliose,  like  the  prophet,  might  have 


SHOCKING    CRUELTIES.  739 

complained,  We  are  become  as  a  bottle  in  the  smoke ;  our  skin  is  black,  like  an 
oven,   because   of  the  terrible  famine,  &c.   &c.'  —  Colonel  Laurence's  Ireland, 

pp.  86,  87." 

Cromwell  now  instituted  trials  of  all  those  who  assisted  the  "  rebel- 
lious "  of  the  last  ten  years.  But  so  many  had  been  killed,  so  many 
of  the  original  movers  were  butchered,  or  had  fled  to  Spain  and  France, 
that  only  two  hundred  suffered  death  :  thousands  upon  thousands  had 
forfeited  their  estates,  and  escaped  to  the  continent. 

We  see,  from  Broudin  and  Lingard,  that  Cromwell  sent  away  one 
hundred  thousand  Irish  to  foreign  countries ;  they  were  principally  the 
flower  of  the  Irish  armies.  Several  thousand  young  girls  and  women 
were  seized,  and  sent  to  the  West  India  and  American  colonies,  under 
pretence  of  making  them  English  and  Christian!  These  unhappy  exiles 
perished  in  hundreds  and  thousands  ;  many  thousands  were  crowded 
beyond  the  Shannon  into  Connaught,  to  live  as  best  they  could,  or 
to  die  of  hunger  from  excessive  numbers.  The  rest  of  Ireland  was  then 
coolly  divided  amongst  the  soldiers  of  Oliver,  he  reserving  to  himself 
the  whole  county  Tipperary  for  a  demesne.  An  edict  was  at  the  same 
time  issued  from  Dublin  Castle,  signed  by  Fleetwood,  Ludlow,  and 
Jones,  commanding  that  every  Romish  priest  found  in  Ireland  was 
deemed  guilty  of  rebellion,  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged  till  half  dead  — 
then  to  have  his  head  taken  off,  and  his  body  cut  in  quarters,  his 
bowels  taken  out  and  burnt,  and  his  head  fixed  upon  a  pole  in  some 
public  place ;  five  pounds  were  offered  for  the  head  of  a  priest,  which 
was  the  sum  given  for  the  head  of  a  wolf. 

The  Liberator  quotes  an  extract,  from  a  rare  tract  published  the 
year  after  Cromwell's  death,  which,  after  describing  the  horrid  deaths 
of  about  twenty-four  of  the  most  illustrious  Irish  commanders,  concludes 
thus :  — 

"  What  shall  I  yet  say  ?  Time  would  fail  me  to  narrate  the  martyrdoms  of  chiefs, 
nobles,  prelates,  priests,  friars,  citizens,  and  others,  of  the  Irish  Catholics,  whose 
purple  gore  has  stained  the  scaffolds  almost  without  end,  who,  by  faith,  conquered 
kingdoms,  and  wrought  justice,  of  whom  some  had  trials  in  mockeries  and  stripes, 
moreover,  also,  in  chains  and  prisons ;  others  were  stoned,  cut  asunder,  racked,  or 
put  to  death  with  the  sword ;  others  have  wandered  over  the  world  in  hunger, 
thirst,  cold,  and  nakedness, — being  in  want,  distressed,  afflicted,  —  wandering 
in  deserts,  in  mountains,  in  dens,  and  in  caves  of  the  earth." 

It  was  after  having  read  these  things  in  O'Connell's  Memoir,  that  the 
patriot,  Robert  Tyler,  exclaimed,  at  Philadelphia,  in  reply  to  Brougham, 
"  Thank  God,  I  am  not  an  Englishman  ! " 

The  lands  of  Ireland  were  now  parcelled  into  small  allotments,  among 


740  CROMWELL    ASSUMES    THE    THRONE. HIS    DEATH. 

Cromwell's  array.  This  rule  applied  to  every  part  of  Ireland  save 
Connaught,  which  was  appropriated  by  the  English  parliament,  in  a 
general  treaty  with  the  Irish,  for  their  reception ;  all  beyond  the  Shan- 
non was  appropriated  for  their  use;  and  the  rest  of  Leiand  was 
divided  amongst  the  adventurers  of  the  previous  reigns  and  the  present. 
This  took  place  anno  1654  ;  but  the  parliament  found  it  impossible  to 
force  all  the  Irish  from  their  homes,  without  encountering  another  war, 
to  which  Cromwell  was  now  averse. 

At  length,  having  influenced  a  majority  of  the  English  parliament  to 
his  interest,  Cromwell  had  himself  proclaimed  lord  protector  of  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  and  Ireland  ;  he  sent  his  son  Henry  to  Ireland,  who 
suddenly  changed  the  system  of  government  to  comparative  mildness. 
Meditating  now  the  seizure  of  the  crown  of  England,  and  the  es- 
tablishment of  himself  as  monarch,  he  soon  found  an  opportunity  to 
carry  his  ambitious  views  fully  into  effect.  Having  secured  the  army, 
and  generated  distrust  of  the  parliament  in  the  minds  of  the  people, 
he  boldly  took  a  file  of  musketeers  to  the  house  of  commons,  and 
bid  them  "disperse  —  they  had  sat  long  enough"!  To  one,  he 
said,  he  was  a  drunkard  ;  to  another,  a  cheat ;  and  finally  directed 
his  officer  to  "  carry  ofi'  that  shining  bauble,"  pointing  to  the  mace. 
In  short,  having  turned  them  all  out,  he  locked  up  the  doors,  and 
coolly  put  the  keys  of  the  parliament-house  in  his  pocket.    ' 

He  soon  called  another  parliament,  but  quickly  dissolved  it ;  called  a 
second,  and  dissolved  that ;  a  third,  and  a  fourth,  and  found  them  all 
untractable.  He  assembled  and  dissolved  his  parliaments  as  he  would 
his  courts  martial.  His  government  was  a  naked  despotism,  depending 
entirely  on  the  soldiery  for  support.  No  parliament  had  been  suffered  to 
assemble  in  Ireland  for  many  years ;  that  country  was  given  up  to  the 
management  of  his  son.  His  internal  government  was  distinguished  by 
watclifulness  and  energy  ;  by  means  of  his  spies,  he  frustrated  every 
effort  of  his  enemies  ;  but  death  put  a  period  to  his  career,  after  a 
stormy  existence.  He  reigned  as  lord  protector  four  years,  but  was 
military  dictator  for  ten  or  twelve. 

Although  his  son,  Richard  Cromwell,  was  proclaimed  hereditary  pro- 
tector, yet  his  authority  was  soon  overthrown  ;  and  the  young  Prince 
Charles,  having  now  a  considerable  party  in  England,  Scotland,  and 
Ireland,  had  himself  recalled  to  the  throne  of  England  ;  which  event 
is  denominated,  in  English  history,  the  "  restoration.^'' 

Charles   the   First,    when  beheaded,    left   three   children  —  two  of 


CHARLES    II. CHANGE    IN    THE    RELIGION    OF    THE    STATE.      741 

whom  successively  became  monarchs  of  England,  as  Charles  the 
Seco?id,  and  James  the  Second ;  the  first  now  filled  the  throne. 

Anno  1660.  On  the  arrival  of  Charles  to  power,  he  was  beset  by 
intrigues.  The  various  parties  into  which  the  three  kingdoms  were 
split,  contended  for  favor.  The  king  introduced  Episcopacy  again,  as 
the  religion  of  the  nation,  admitted  bishops  to  the  house  of  lords,  and 
also  some  Catholic  peers  to  the  same  assembly,  and  drove  the  Presby- 
terians and  Independents  from  all  offices  of  trust  and  power.  The 
Presbyterian  clergy,  especially,  were  driven  from  their  livings. 

This  was  the  state  of  things  in  England.  The  condition  of  Ireland 
was  miserable  in  the  extreme:  the  people  had  continued  fighting  for  the 
royal  cause  three  years  longer  than  any  other  part  of  the  British  empire ; 
subject,  for  the  previous  hundred  years,  to  the  subduing  influences  of  the 
sword  and  of  famine  ;  driven  from  their  homes  into  wilds  and  fastnesses ; 
and  their  houses  and  lands  occupied  by  a  new  race,  who  seemed  bent 
on  their  extermination.  It  was  thus  the  unfortunate  wrecks  of  the 
native  Irish  were  penned  up  like  hunted  beasts  in  the  wilds  of  Con- 
naught.  When  Charles  the  Second  came  to  the  throne,  before  he 
even  landed  in  England,  commissioners  were  sent  to  induce  him  to 
exclude  the  Cathohcs  of  Ireland  from  parliament,  and  to  confirm  Crom- 
well's soldiers  in  their  holdings  :  this  he  promised,  and,  though  the  Irish 
Catholics  were  the  first  to  declare  for  his  restoration,  he,  like  a  true 
Stuart,  when  he  reached  the  goal  of  his  ambition,  became  the  bitterest 
enemy  they  had  in  all  his  dominions. 

The  very  men,  Coote  and  Broiighill,  who  most  opposed  the  Stuart 
cause,  under  Cromwell,  —  these,  who  hunted  the  old  native  Irish  like 
wolves,  were  the  two  men  whom  Charles  now  placed  as  chief  rulers 
over  Ireland.  The  clamors  that  beset  him,  about  the  lands  and  spoils 
of  Ireland,  were  such  as  baffle  all  description.  The  English  were  all 
for  sweeping  confiscations ;  and  the  king  was  too  much  dependent  on 
his  English  supporters  to  refuse  them  any  thing  they  asked  in  Ireland. 
An  act  of  "  settlement "  was,  therefore,  brought  into  parliament,  which 
confiscated  from  the  Catholic  Irish   eight  millions  of  acres  of   the 

BEST    LAND    OF    THE    KINGDOM. 

As  for  the  mock  "  Court  of  Claims,"  established  by  him  in  Dublin, 
one  sentence  will  describe  it.  Before  one  thousand  of  the  Catholic 
proprietors  had  preferred  their  claims  to  be  restored  to  their  possessions,  — 
which  claims,  being  resisted  by  the  most  barefaced  perjury,  were  gen- 
erally rejected,  —  Clarendon,  his  lord  lieutenant,  dissolved  the  court, 
though  there  ivere  yet  seven  thousand  claims  remaining  unheard. 


742       LENITY    OF    THE    CATHOLICS. INGRATITUDE    OF    CHARLES. 

The  old  Catholic  families  met,  and  appointed  agents  to  proceed  to 
England,  to  remonstrate  against  this  sweeping  and  cruel  confiscation ; 
but  they  were  neither  heeded,  nor  even  treated  civilly,  by  Charles  or 
his  ministers. 

The  Catholics  were  charged  with  the  murder  of  fifty  thousand 
Protestants,  since  1641  ;  and,  though  the  Catholics  dared  their  accusers 
to  a  solemn  investigation  of  the  origin  of  the  spilling  of  blood,  and 
the  greatest  sufferers  thereby,  no  inquiry  ever  took  place.  It  is  proved, 
by  Protestant  historians,  in  numberless  instances,  where  Catholic 
generals  saved  the  lives  of  Protestants  during  this  sanguinary  war. 
O'Connell  quotes  three  English  historians  to  this  effect :  — 

"  But,"  he  says,  "  with  what  proud  and  glowing  gratulation  do  I  turn  to  the 
conduct  of  the  Irish  Catholics  during  the  civil  war!  I  collect  from  Protestant 
historians;  for  on  this  subject  I  shall  scarcely  use  one  other:  'Multitudinous 
facts  of  lenity,  forbearance,  and  mercy — the  horrors  of  war  mitigated  by  the 
multiplied  exercise  of  the  tenderest  humanity.'  What  a  glorious  contrast !  a  con- 
ti-ast  rendered  more  striking  when  we  bear  in  mind,  that  all  this  time  the  English 
Protestants  were  committing  the  horrid  cruelties  I  have  been  citing.  We  find 
preserved  by  Cartt  (English  and  Protestant)  the  following  fact:  'The  Irish 
made  proclamation,  on  pain  of  death,  tliat  no  Scotsman  should  be  molested  in 
body,  goods,  or  lands.'  p.  178.  The  next  admission  is  from  Temple :  '  It  was 
resolved  by  the  Irish  party  not  to  kill  any,  but  where  of  necessity  they  should  be 
forced  thereunto  by  opposition. ' —  Temple's  History  of  the  Rebellion,  65.  —  Even 
Leland  himself — the  anti-Irish,  the  anti-Catholic  Lei  and  —  has  the  same  admis- 
sion :  '  In  the  beginning  of  the  insurrection,  it  was  determined  by  the  Irish,  that 
the  enterprise  should  be  conducted  in  every  quarter  with  as  little  bloodshed  as 
possible.'  —  Book  5,  c.  3." 

See  O'  ConnelVs  Memoir,  for  further  evidences. 

The  doom  of  Ireland  was,  however,  now  sealed,  and  her  choicest 
spirits  were  driven  into  exile,  and,  for  the  first  time,  sought  employment 
in  the  armies  of  Spain  and  France ;  in  which  service,  as  we  shall 
see  hereafter,  they  distinguished  themselves  by  bravery,  ability,  and 
genius.  All  the  old  inhabitants  became  victims,  in  some  way  or  other, 
to  the  reformation. 

"That  spirit  was  broken  which  never  would  bend." 

The  ingratitude  of  Charles  the  Second  to  the  Catholic  Irish  ought 
to  cause  tiiem  to  hate  forever  the  name  and  race.  This  king,  who  had 
twice  owed  his  life  to  Catholic  priests ;  who  had,  in  fifty-two  instances, 
held  his  life  at  the  mercy  of  Catholics,  and,  when  Cromwell's  blood- 
hounds hunted  him  through  Scotland,  had  been  concealed,  and  then 
guided  in  safety  past  his  enemies,  by  one  of  those  Catholics,  a  poor 
man,  who  could   have  had  a  great  reward  for  giving  him  up,  —  this 


CALUMNIOUS    PAMPHLETS. FALSE    HISTORIES.  743 

very  king — profligate  in  manners,  mean  and  corrupt  in  principles  — 
has  placed  upon  the  page  of  history  the  most  memorable  instances  of 
baseness  and  ingratitude  that  ever  it  received. 

Derrick,  in  his  entertaining  letters,  relates  the  following  anecdote  — 
one  instance  in  a  thousand  of  the  ingratitude  of  that  most  heartless  and 
profligate  member  of  a  worthless  race  :  — 

«  The  conduct  of  Charles  the  Second,  on  his  restoration,  is  notorious ;  he  con- 
firmed the  grant  made  to  Oliver's  soldiers,  while  his  most  loj'al  subjects  were 
betrayed  and  abandoned  to  misery.  Among  these  unhappy  sufferers,  no  man's 
case  was  more  deplorable  than  that  of  Lord  Viscount  Fermoy,  the  head  of  the 
Roclies,  a  numerous  and  loyal  clan  in  the  county  of  Cork.  This  nobleman,  re- 
fusing to  compromise  witli  the  usurper,  abandoned  a  very  fine  estate,  and  in  1652 
went  abroad,  and  entered  into  the  Spanish  service.  When  Charles  was  at  Brus- 
sels, Fermoy,  being  a  colonel  of  a  regiment,  assigned  to  the  king  almost  all  his 
pay,  reserving  a  mere  trifle  for  the  maintenance  of  himself  and  family.  This 
generosity  having  ruined  him,  he  was  obliged  to  sell  his  regiment  to  pay  his  debts ; 
and  afler  the  restoration,  coming  to  London  with  a  wife  and  six  children,  the  king, 
tliough  pressed  by  the  Duke  of  Ormond  and  Lord  Clanricarde,  far  from  restoring 
him  to  his  honors  and  estate,  refused  to  hear  of  him ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the 
benevolence  of  these  two  illustrious  noblemen,  tliis  unhappy  lord  and  his  family 
must  have  starved."  —  Virtue's  Scenes  in  Ireland. 

On  another  occasion,  Colonel  Costello,  who  had  sacrificed  his  entire 
fortune  in  the  king's  service,  thus  addressed  the  ungrateful  monarch 
in  reply  to  his  customary  cant  of  condolence  :  "  Please  your  majesty, 
I  ask  no  compensation  for  my  services  and  losses  in  your  majesty's  cause ; 
I  see  that  to  your  friends,  and  to  my  countrymen  in  particular,  you  give 
nothing,  and  that  it  is  your  enemies  alone  who  receive  favor  and  reward. 
For  ten  years'  service,  for  many  wounds,  and  for  the  total  loss  of  my 
estates,  I  ask  nothing  ;  but  in  the  ardor  of  youth,  and  in  the  belief  that  I 
was  asserting  the  sacred  cause  of  liberty,  I  fought  for  one  year  in  favor 
of  the  usurper,  and  against  your  majesty  :  give  me  hack  such  portion  of 
my  estates  as  that  year's  service  entitles  me  to  I " 

During  the  reigns  of  James  the  First,  EUzabeth,  and  Cromwell,  pam- 
phlets, defaming  the  Irish,  were  constantly  issuing  from  the  press  of  Eng- 
land. These  pamphlets  were  issued  in  periods  of  strife,  for  the  purpose 
of  palliating,  before  the  more  humane  portion  of  the  people  of  England, 
the  atrocities  of  their  agents  and  armies  in  Ireland.  For  sixty  years 
these  pamphlets  continued  to  be  issued  in  England  :  not  one  of  them  but 
contained  wilful,  detailefl  falsehoods ;  even  John  Milton  blotted  his 
pages  with  enormous  calumnies  on  the  Catholics,  and  retained  vigor 
enough  to  abuse  the  Irish  Presbyterians  in  his  old  age.  Throughout  the 
last  century,  the  English  historians  copied  into  their  books  the  wretched 


744 


TITUS    GATES. 


effusions  of  these  party  pamphleteers.  The  English  acts  of  parliament, 
through  every  preamble  and  clause,  contained  calumny  and  abuse  of 
the  Irish.  And  from  these  lying  pamphlets,  and  lying  acts  of  parlia- 
ment, has  the  history  of  England,  relating  to  this  period,  been  compiled. 
Those  things  were  encouraged,  for  it  was  comfortable  to  them  to  hear  ill 
names  applied  to  a  race  they  had  robbed  and  slaughtered.  Those 
calumnies  were  worked  into  the  histories  of  England.  Falsehoods, 
once  brought  into  life,  take  ages  to  die.  English  conversation,  literature, 
public  documents,  all  convey  a  disparaging  account  of  the  resources, 
military  achievements,  and  abilities,  of  the  Irish.  Of  course,  this  is  done 
to  discourage  all  attempts  of  the  Irish  people  to  recover  their  independ- 
ence;  but  the  fifteen  years'  war  with  the  English  Puritans  was  as  well 
sustained  by  the  Irish,  though  not  with  equal  success,  as  the  war  against 
Elizabeth. 

I  will  not  consume  valuable  space  by  dwelling  on  the  events  of 
Charles  the  Second's  reign.  At  one  period,  he  swore  to  the  covenant 
of  the  Scotch  Presbyterians ;  again  he  sold  himself  to  Louis  the  Four- 
teenth of  France,  and  promised  that  king  to  restore  the  Catholic  religion. 
On  obtaining  power  by  this  very  means,  he  became  the  greatest  perse- 
cutor of  the  Catholics.  Towards  the  close  of  his  reign,  he  relaxed 
somewhat  towards  the  Catholics,  and  admitted  them  to  the  corporations, 
magistracy,  and  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion.  During  all  his  reign, 
plots  and  conspiracies  against  his  power  succeeded  each  other,  in  which 
Russell,  Sidney,  Oates,  Rathbone,  and  others,  were  the  chief,  but  un- 
successful actors:  his  brother,  tlie  Duke  of  York,  afterwaids  James  the 
Second,  who  was  principally  bred  to  the  sea,  professed  himself  a 
Roman  Catholic  ;  and  an  immense  outcry  was  got  up  against  the  pope 
and  Catholics.  It  seemed  to  be  the  bugbear  cry  of  the  age,  and  was 
industriously  propagated,  for  mere  political  purposes. 

On  the  appointment  of  the  notorious  Ormond  to  the  lord  lieutenantcy 
of  Ireland,  an  outcry  against  popery  was  got  up  there.  A  plot  was  said 
to  be  hatched  by  Titus  Oates,  which  had  for  its  object  the  murder  of 
all  the  Protestants,  the  overthrow  of  the  monarchy,  and  the  resumption 
of  the  forfeited  estates ;  that  the  Jesuits  were  at  the  bottom  of  it,  and 
that  they  instigated  the  burning  of  London,  and  were  now  meditating 
the  burning  of  all  the  ships  in  the  harbors  of  England  and  Ireland ; 
that  Ormond  himself  was  to  be  the  first  victim,  &tc.  The  supposed 
Irish  leaders  in  this  plot  were  Peter  Talbot,  the  Catholic  archbishop  of 
Dublin,  who  had  latterly  distinguished  himself  by  the  grandeur  with 
which  he  celebrated  the  Catholic  worship,  Lord  Mountgarrett,  and  others. 


DEATH    OF    CHARLES    THE    SECOND. JAMES    THE    SECOND.      745 

Terror  seized  the  whole  nation,  and  the  whisperings  of  reason  were 
drowned  in  the  hurricane  of  indignation  that  immediately  broke  out.  At 
first,  men  walked  the  streets  as  if  their  steps  were  dogged  by  assassins,  and 
turned  a  comer  as  if  death  lay  in  wait  to  seize  them.  Some  Protestants 
really  imagined  they  were  doomed  to  death  by  the  pope  and  his  agents. 
At  length  indignation  succeeded  terror,  and  nothing  but  blood  would 
satisfy  the  public  appetite. 

Oates,  who  now  offered  himself  as  an  informer  to  government,  received 
from  them  the  greatest  encouragement,  and  a  pension  of  twelve  hundred 
pounds  a  year.  There  were  many  marked  out  for  destruction  ;  and  as 
Oates,  in  his  own  person,  proved  that  a  Protestant  witness  against  the 
Catholics  was  a  good  speculation,  there  were  many  who  now  contended 
for  the  honor  and  profit  of  disclosing  the  names  of  conspirators  to  the 
governn)ent.  The  names  of  many  persons  who  had  no  existence  were 
given  in  —  amongst  these  a  "  Colonel  Peppard,"  who  was  never  before  or 
since  heard  of.  The  Catholic  priests  were  held  accountable  for  the  acts 
of  their  people,  and  imprisoned  on  suspicion.  Catholics  were  driven 
from  every  office  they  filled,  and  a  sudden  and  general  persecution  com- 
menced, during  which  several  great  men  fled  from  England  and  Ireland, 
among  them  the  Duke  of  York.  Numbers  of  criminals,  who  were  con- 
fined in  the  jails,  now  offered  to  become  informers.  Upon  the  evidence 
of  three  of  those  loathsome  wretches.  Archbishop  Plunkett,  the  Catholic 
primate  of  Ireland,  was  apprehended,  and,  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the 
realm,  sent  over  to  England  to  be  tried,  where  he  was  found  guilty  and 
condemned  to  death,  though  some  difficulty  was  experienced  in  accom- 
plishing his  destruction,  even  by  a  Protestant  jury.  He  was  hanged  in 
Tyburn  ;  and  Burnet,  the  Protestant  historian,  says  of  him,  "  He  was  a 
wise  and  sober  man,  fond  of  living  quietly  and  in  due  subjection  to  the 
government,  without  engaging  in  intrigues  of  state  ;  be  had  nothing  to 
say  in  his  defence  but  to  deny  all ;  so  he  was  condemned,  and  suffered 
very  decently,  expressing  himself  in  many  particulars  as  became  a 
bishop."  —  Burnet,  vol.  i.  p.  230.  At  last,  after  a  number  of  lives  had 
been  taken,  the  people  awoke  from  their  frenzy,  and  found  they  had 
been  made  the  dupes  of  faction. 

In  this  reign,  the  celebrated  George  Fox  founded  the  society  of  Qua- 
kers. He  was  imprisoned  and  persecuted  by  Charles  and  his  ministry : 
so  were  the  Scotch  Presbyterians,  and  the  Irish  Catholics. 

Charles  died  on  the  6th  of  February,  1685,  in  the  midst  of  political 
troubles,  and  was  succeeded  by-  his  brother,  the  celebrated  James  the 
Second.  On  the  king's  accession  to  the  throne,  he  released  from 
94 


746  RELEASES    FROM    PRISON    CATHOLICS    AND    QUAKERS. 

prison  several  thousand  Catholics,  who  were  kept  on  fines  for  not  attend- 
ing Protestant  worship ;  he  also  discharged  twelve  hundred  Quakers, 
who  were  imprisoned  for  a  like  offence.  His  clemency  and  justice  were 
applauded  by  the  whole  hation.  King  James  publicly  professed  his 
Catholic  principles,  and,  very  shortly  after  his  coronation,  published  a 

DECLARATION,  ALLOWING  LIRERTY  OF  CONSCIENCE  TO  ALL  HIS  SUBJECTS. 

He  dispensed  with  all  penal  laws  and  tests.  Even  the  oaths  of  alle- 
giance and  supremacy,  on  entering  office,  were  abolished.  The  Catho- 
lics, Presbyterians,  Quakers,  and  all  other  religionists,  were  thus  made 
eligible  to  all  offices  in  the  state.  Perfect  freedom  of  conscience  was 
universally  established. 

Addresses  of  thanks  for  this  liberty  were  daily  presented  to  him,  by 
dissenters,  Presbyterians,  Quakers,  Catholics,  all  of  whom  made  the 
highest  professions  of  loyalty  and  gratitude.  The  Quakers,  without 
compromising  their  principles,  left  their  hats  in  the  privy  chamber,  ere 
they  entered  the  king's  presence. 

The  Catholics  of  Ireland  had  resumed  their  position  in  the  state. 
Many  of  the  Irish  chiefs  returned  to  their  castles  and  estates,  and  had 
turned  the  Cromwellians  out.  The  Catholic  Earl  of  Tyrconnel  was 
made  lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland  ;  a  parliament  was  called  in  Dublin, 
which  was  composed  two  thirds  of  Catholic  members,  one  third  Protes- 
tant ;  and  it  is  admitted  this  parliament  passed  a  series  of  excellent  laws 
for  the  promotion  of  trade  and  manufactures,  and  not  one  law  of  a  penal 
or  persecuting  character.  Ireland  began  again  to  assume  the  features 
of  civilization  and  prosperity.  The  following  are  a  few  of  the  principal 
acts  passed  by  that  parliament,  which,  however,  were  afterwards  ex- 
punged from  the  statute-books  of  England  :  — 

An  act  declaring  that  the  parliament  of  England  cannot  bind  Ireland. 
—  Against  writs  of  errors  for  removing  suits  out  of  the  Irish  courts  to 
the  courts  of  England. 

An  act  for  repealing  the  acts  of  settlement.  An  act  for  taking  off  all 
incapacities  of  the  natives  of  this  kingdom. 

An  ACT  FOR  LIBERTY  OF  CONSCIENCE,  and  repealing  such  acts  and 
clauses  in  any  act  of  parliament  which  are  inconsistent  with  the  same. 

An  act  for  the  encouragement  of  strangers  to  inhabit  and  plant  in  the 
kingdom  of  Ireland. 

An  act  for  investing  in  his  majesty  the  goods  of  absentees. 

An  act  for  the  advance  and  improvement  of  trade,  and  for  the  en- 
couragement and  increase  of  shipping  and  navigation. 

These  acts  are  evidence  of  the  liberal  spirit  of  the  Irish  Catholics, 


THE    HIGH    CHURCH    PARTY    OPPOSE    HIM.  747 

when  in  possession  of  supreme  power,  and  ought  to  go  far  In  removing 
from  the  minds  of  all  reasoning  men  any  apprehensions  about  the  future 
exercise  of  power  by  that  calumniated  body  of  Christians. 

But  this  liberal  conduct  begot  in  the  hearts  of  the  Episcopal  party  a 
fiery  animosity,  which  soon  displayed  itself.  The  vice-chancellor  of  the 
University  of  Cambridge  opposed  the  king's  tolerant  wishes,  by  rejecting 
one  Francis,  a  monk,  from  the  fellowship  of  that  college.  The  king 
issued  a  mandate  to  this  college,  and  to  that  of  the  College  of  St.  Mary 
Magdalene,  at  Oxford,  directing  them  to  admit  Catholics  to  study,  and 
to  degrees.  The  colleges  refused  to  obey  the  king  ;  and  thus  was  the 
religious  quarrel  again  opened  by  the  intolerance  of  the  High  Church 
Protestant  party  in  England. 

At  this  time,  a  political  conspiracy  against  the  king  of  France  begot  a 
religious  persecution  of  the  Protestants  in  that  country,  many  of  whom 
were  killed.  Some  of  them  fled  to  England  and  Ireland.  Those  were 
called  the  French  Huguenots,  and  the  whole  of  this  massacre  grew  from 
a  political  plot ,  for  the  particulars  of  which,  see  Cobbett's  History  of 
the  Reformation.  King  James,  by  an  order  in  council,  ordered  a  col- 
lection to  be  taken  through  all  the  churches,  for  the  relief  of  those 
persecuted  French  Protestants,  when  sixty-three  thousand  pounds  ster- 
ling were  made  up  for  their  use.  They  were  also  kindly  and  hos- 
pitably received  in  Ireland,  and  were  the  means  of  reviving  the  silk 
manufacture  in  that  country.  The  La  Touches,  the  wealthy  bankers 
of  that  city,  are  descendants  of  some  of  those  Huguenots.  About  the 
same  time,  a  rebellion  broke  out  in  England,  headed  by  Monmouth,  the 
professed  object  of  which  was  the  reestablishment  of  the  Protestant 
ascendancy.  It  was  suppressed.  Monmouth  was  executed,  with  accom- 
panying circumstances  of  horror,  Judge  Jeffries,  who  was  as  bloody- 
minded  as  any  judge  that  ever  sat,  under  the  authority  of  England, 
condemned  hundreds  to  death  for  aiding  in  this  rebellion,  upon  slender 
evidence.  This  begot  in  the  hearts  of  many  men  a  well-founded  hatred 
of  the  king  and  his  government. 

The  king,  adhering  to  his  resolution  of  declaring  conscience  free, 
issued  a  further  declaration  to  a  like  effect,  which  he  commanded  all 
bishops,  deacons,  presbyteries,  elders,  and  religious  teachers,  of  every 
denomination,  to  read  amongst  their  congregations,  on  three  successive 
Sundays.  This  very  fair  and  liberal  declaration  was  refused  to  be  read 
by  the  Protestant  archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  six  other  bishops,  which 
refusal  created  considerable  excitement.  The  bishops  petition  the  king, 
in  which  they  deny  his  power  to  grant  such  liberty ;  though  they  had, 


748 


TRIAL    OF    THE    SEVEN    BISHOPS. 


by  the  oath  of  supremacy,  sioorn  the  kings  of  England  to  be  chiefs  in 
religious  matters. 

The  bishops  were  then  imprisoned  by  the  king,  (a  very  foolish  act,) 
and  tried  for  contempt,  by  a  jury,  who,  after  great  debate  and  a  long  stay 
in  the  jury-box,  brought  in  a  verdict  "  not  guilty."  This  verdict  was 
received  with  applause  by  some  persons  in  the  court,  and  reaching  the 
king's  army,  who  were  stationed  near  London,  a  cheer  was  also  raised 
by  the  soldiers,  which  the  king  hearing,  while  at  dinner  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, he  asked  an  attendant  what  the  cheer  was  given  for,  and 
received  for  answer,  "  Nothing,  my  liege,  but  the  acquittal  of  the 
bishops."     "  Call  you  that  nothing?"  rejoined  the  king. 

Several  earls  and  lords  of  the  Protestant  party,  highly  incensed  at 
the  favor  shown  to  the  Catholics,  entered  into  a  confederation  to 
change  the  succession  :  these  sent  deputies  and  an  address  to  William, 
Prince  of  Orange,  inviting  him  over,  and  offering  him  their  support  on 
his  arrival.  This  address  was  confided  to  the  celebrated  Bishop  Burnet, 
who  afterwards  wrote  a  history  of  his  times.  Burnet,  with  much  plausi- 
bility, painted  to  William  the  dazzling  prospects  of  possessing  the  crown 
of  England,  and  actually  enticed  him  to  the  enterprise,  though  it  was  to 
dethrone  James,  his  own  father-in-law. 

The  prince  at  length,  after  many  disappointments,  landed  at  Torbay, 
on  the  5th  November,  1688,  with  only  seven  hundred  men ;  and,  but 
few  persons  joining  his  standard,  he  made  preparations  to  return.  He 
seemed  disheartened  for  want  of  success,  and  continued  for  a  week  to 
remain  close  to  his  ships,  for  the  purpose  of  returning,  threatening,  at  the 
same  time,  to  publish  the  names  of  all  those  who  had  invited  him  over, 
as  a  reward  for  their  treachery  and  cowardice.  By  degrees,  accessions 
came  dropping  in.  Lord  Colchester  deserted  from  King  James's  army, 
with  a  few  men  under  his  command  ;  Lord  Cornby  was  the  next ;  and 
so,' after  the  examples  of  only  two  or  three  of  this  sort,  hundreds,  and 
then  thousands,  flocked  to  his  standard.  Meantime  his  main  army  ar- 
rived from  Holland,  which  amounted  to  fourteen  thousand  men.  He  then 
marched,  with  all  his  forces,  towards  London.  The  king  met  him,  with 
thirty  thousand  men,  at  Salisbury  ;  but,  instead  of  fighting,  his  principal 
officers  joined  the  invaders.  The  king  now  fled  to  London,  from 
whence  he  subsequently  retired  to  France.  James  was  betrayed  by  his 
secretary,  the  Duke  of  Sunderland,  who,  the  better  to  effect  his  treach- 
ery, affected  to  become  a  Catholic,  but  gave  the  king's  secrets  to  the 
Protestant  confederation  all  the  time.  Louis  the  Fourteenth  offered  to 
send  James  thirty  thousand  men ;  but  this  Sunderland  strongly  opposed, 


FLIGHT    OF    JAMES. ACCESSION    OF    WILLIAM   THE    THIRD.      749 

on  the  ground  that  it  would  shake  the  loyalty  and  confidence  of  the 
English  people  in  the  king.  William  entered  London  in  the  midst  of 
burning  Catholic  chapels  and  desecrated  altars. 

James  reigned  only  three  and  a  half  years ;  all  his  relations  deserted 
him  at  the  very  crisis  of  his  fate.  Even  his  daughter  Anne,  wife  of 
the  Prince  of  Denmark,  with  her  husband,  fled,  in  the  night,  from  his 
palace  to  the  Prince  of  Orange's  camp,  which  niade  the  wretched 
monarch  exclaim,  "  God  help  me ;  my  very  children  have  forsaken  me." 
And  now  it  will  be  necessary  to  follow  the  fortunes  of  his  cause  to 
Ireland. 

The  declarations  of  freedom  of  conscience  in  England,  had  been  like- 
wise made  and  published,  and  carried  into  effect  in  Ireland,  by  his 
command.  A  parliament  was  called,  to  which  Catholics  were  invited 
with  Protestants  ;  and  a  spirit  of  emulation,  enterprise,  and  public 
virtue,  seemed  for  a  short  period  to  take  the  place  of  the  demon  of  dis- 
cord and  rapine.  All  religions  were  tolerated,  and  the  Catholics  were 
admitted  to  places  of  trust,  to  the  corporations,  and  to  the  command  of 
the  army.  Good  feeling  and  conciliation  were  the  order  of  the  day  ;  but 
the  High  Church  party,  and  others,  who  had  been  put  in  possession  of 
the  old  Catholic  property,  feared  much  that,  should  this  state  of  things 
continue,  some  of  that  property  would  be  put  back  to  its  original  owners. 
It  is  to  be  noted  here  that  the  English  house  of  lords  debated  as  to 
whether  they  should  support  King  James  after  his  flight.  The  vote  was 
taken  on  the  following  question :  "  whether  James  had  broken  the 
original  compact,  and  thereby  made  the  throne  vacant."  Negatived 
by  a  majority  of  two  ;  which  proves  that  one  branch  of  the  British 
legislature  had  agreed  with  the  Irish  people  in  sentiment. 

Sir  Jonah  Harrington  puts  the  case  of  the  Irish  people,  at  this  period, 
in  the  following  terse  and  pithy  style  :  — 

"  James,  a  monarch  de  jure  and  de  facto,  expelled  from  one  portion 
of  his  empire,  threw  himself  for  protection  upon  the  loyalty  and  faith 
of  another ;  and  Ireland  did  not  shrink  from  affording  that  protection. 
She  defended  her  legitimate  monarch  against  the  usurpation  of  a  for- 
eigner ;  and  whilst  a  Dutch  guard  possessed  themselves  of  the  British 
capital,  the  Irish  people  remained  faithful  to  their  king,  and  fought 
against  the  invader. 

"  In  strict  matter  of  fact,  therefore,  England  became  a  nation  of  de- 
cided rebels,  and  Ireland  remained  a  country  of  decided  royalists.  His- 
toric records  leave  that  point  beyond  the  power  of  refutation.  *  *  * 

"  James  was  the  hereditary  king  of  both  countries,  jointly  and  severally. 


750  A    GRAND    IRISH    ARMY    RAISED. 

The  third  constitutional  estate,  only,  of  one  of  them,  (England,)  had 
deposed  him  by  their  own  simple  vote;  but  Ireland  had  never  been  con- 
sulted on  that  subject ;  and  the  deposition  of  the  king  of  Ireland  by  the 
commons  of  England,  could  have  no  paramount  authority  iq  Ireland,  or 
supersede  the  rights  and  dispense  with  the  loyalty  of  the  Irish  parlia- 
ment. The  Irish  people  had  held  no  treasonable  intercourse  with 
William  ;  they  knew  him  not ;  they  only  knew  that  he  was  a  foreigner, 
and  not  their  legal  prince;  that  he  was  supported  by  a  foreign  power, 
and  had  succeeded  hy  foreign  mercenaries.  But  even  if  there  was  a 
doubt,  they  conceived  that  the  most  commendable  conduct  was  that  of 
preserving  entire  their  allegiance  to  the  king,  to  whom,  in  conjunction 
with  England,  they  had  sworn  fealty.  The  British  peers  had  showed 
them  an  example,  and  on  that  principle  they  fought  William,  as  they 
had  fought  Cromwell  ;  and  again  they  bled,  and  again  were  ruined,  by 
their  adherence  to  legitimate  monarchy.''^ 

The  High  Church  party  now  prepared  to  cooperate  with  their  friends 
in  England.  King  James,  having  retired  to  France,  negotiated  with 
Louis  the  Fourteenth  for  military  and  monetary  advances,  to  enable  him 
to  attempt  the  preservation  of  Ireland  as  an  independent  dominion. 

An  attempt  was  now  made,  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  to  raise  the  stand- 
ard of  revolt  against  King  James,  by  Major  Poor,  and  some  others, 
turning  out  in  arms,  in  the  name  of  the  Prince  of  Orange.  Poor  and 
his  party  were  met  and  defeated  by  young  Bellew,  of  Lowth,  in  the 
name  of  King  James. 

It  was  then  that  the  nobility  of  Ireland  raised,  clothed,  equipped,  and 
armed,  partly  at  their  own  expense,  thirty  thousand  men  for  the  king's 
service.  There  were  already  some  old  corps  in  Ireland,  viz.,  the  regi- 
ments of  Mountcashel,  Tyrconnel,  Clancarty,  Antrim,  and  some  oth- 
ers. The  regiments  of  Enniskillen,  of  Hugh  M'Mahon,  Edward  Boy 
O'Reilly,  M'Donnel,  Maginnis,  Cormac  O'Neill,  Gordon  O'Neill,  Felix 
O'Neill,  Brian  O'Neill,  Connact  Maguire,  O'Donnell,  Nugent,  Lutter- 
rell,  Fitzgerald,  Galmoy,  O'Morra,  and  Clare,  &,c.,  soon  appeared  in 
the  field.  There  was  no  want  of  soldiers,  but  the  soldiers  were  in  want 
of  almost  every  thing,  except  courage  and  good-will ;  and  the  nobles, 
who  underwent  the  first  expense,  were  not  able  to  support  it  long. 
There  were  also  but  few  officers  who  knew  military  tactics,  or  who  had 
time  to  train  and  discipline  the  new  levies.  In  the  month  of  March,  the 
Earl  of  Tyrconnel  sent  Richard  Hamilton,  lieutenant-general  of  the 
king's  army,  at  the  head  of  two  thousand  men,  against  Hugh  Montgom- 


VICTORIOUS    IN   THE    NORTH. 'PRENTICE    BOYS    OF    DERRT.      751 

ery,  Lord  Mount  Alexander,  who  had  raised  a  regiment  for  the  Prince 
of  Orange,  and  was  at  the  head  of  eight  thousand  rebels  in  Ulster. 
Hamilton  set  out  from  Drogheda  on  the  8th  of  March,  and  came  up  with 
the  enemy,  who  were  boldly  drawn  up  in  order  of  battle  at  Cladyfort. 
Notwithstanding  the  superior  number  of  the  rebels,  the  royalists  attacked 
them  so  vigorously  that  they  took  to  flight,  and  retreated  in  disorder 
towards  Hillsborough,  where  Montgomery  left  two  companies  of  infantry 
in  garrison.  He  sent  the  remainder  of  his  forces  to  Coleraine,  under  Sir 
Arthur  Rydon,  and. sailed  for  England  from  Donaghadee.  The  resist- 
ance of  Derry  began  in  the  following  way. 

"Tyrconnel  had  withdrawn  the  garrison  from  Londonderry,  on  the  first  intelli- 
gence reaching  him  of  William's  invasion  of  England.  But  soon  perceiving  the 
error  he  had  committed  in  leaving  this  important  place  to  the  government  of  its 
Protestant  inhabitants,  he  despatched  tlie  Earl  of  Antrim  to  take  possession  of  it 
with  a  body  of  twelve  thousand  Scottish  Highlanders.  This  wild  and  savage- 
looking  force,  whose  exploits  in  the  west  of  Scotland  had  spread  a  general  horror 
throughout  the  land,  had  halted  at  the  village  of  Limavaddy,  about  twelve  miles 
from  the  city,  at  the  very  time  when  the  rumor  of  the  intended  massacre  reached 
the  ears  of  the  people  of  Londonderry.  The  citizens,  alarmed  at  the  approaching 
danger,  were  collected  in  the  streets,  consulting  as  to  what  was  to  be  done,  when 
messengers  arrived  from  the  village  where  the  Highlanders  had  halted,  giving  the 
most  alarming  account  of  their  numbers  and  savage  appearance.  There  was 
obviously  no  time  to  lose.  Already  were  two  companies  of  the  force  in  sight, 
and  two  officers  of  the  corps  were  actually  in  the  town  seeking  quarters  for  their 
men,  when,  at  this  critical  moment,  nine  young  men  of  the  populace,  '  'prentice 
lads,'  as  tliey  were  termed,  drawing  their  swords,  snatched  up  the  keys  of  the  city, 
and  making  towards  the  ferry-gate,  they  suddenly  raised  the  drawbridge,  and 
shut  the  gates  in  the  face  of  the  approaching  enemy.  The  adventurous  spirit  of 
the  youths  spread  like  wildfire.  They  were  soon  joined  by  numbers  of  citizens  of 
their  own  class,  and  the  guns  were  pointed  against  the  advancing  troops,  who 
retired  without  further  trouble.  The  example  of  Derry  quickened  the  Protestant 
spirit  of  the  north ;  numbers  of  men  from  the  surrounding  neighborhood  flocked 
into  the  city  to  aid  in  its  defence ;  and  several  other  places,  Enniskillen  among 
the  number,  determined  also  to  hold  out  for  tlie  Protestant  cause." 

King  James  was  still  in  France,  and  saw  how  favorably  disposed  his 
Irish  subjects  were  towards  him,  the  greater  part  of  whom  had  continued 
faithful ;  only  three  small  towns,  Londonderry,  Coleraine,  and  Culinor, 
having  rebelled  in  favor  of  the  Prince  of  Orange.  The  English  party  in 
Ireland  pressed  William  to  send  the  necessary  succors  to  support  these 
towns.  The  royalists  thought  James's  presence  might  be  a  check  to  the 
enemy  ;  and  being  encouraged  and  assisted  by  France,  he  set  sail  with  the 
celebrated  Gabaret,  and  landed  at  Kinsale  in  March,  accompanied  by 
some  French  officers.     At  Cork  he  was  joined  by  the  Earl  of  Tyrconnel, 


752  SUCCESS    OF    THE    IRISH    ARMY. 

whom  he  created  duke,  and  proceeded  to  Dublin,  in  the  midst  of  a 
magnificent  procession  of  forty  thousand  courageous  Irish  soldiers. 

The  Duke  of  Berwick,  his  natural  son,  accompanied  by  several  officers, 
arrived  in  the  camp  of  Hamilton  before  Coleraine  ;  and  the  same  night 
the  general  was  informed  that  the  enemy  had  abandoned  the  place, 
after  having  broken  the  bridge.  The  day  following  he  entered  Cole- 
raine, and  having  repaired  the  bridge,  and  given  the  command  of  the 
place  to  Colonel  O'Morra,  he  marched  to  Strabane,  where  he  refreshed 
his  troops  and  held  a  council  of  war.  Here  it  was  understood,  through 
a  letter,  that  the  troops  of  Enniskillen  and  Deny,  making  in  the  whole 
about  ten  thousand  men,  were  collected  at  Clodybridge,  on  the  River 
Finn,  under  the  orders  of  Major-Geueral  Lundee,  for  the  purpose  of 
opposing  the  royal  army.  After  the  contents  of  this  letter  were  com- 
municated, the  council  determined  to  march  and  attack  the  rebels. 
Hamilton  set  out  with  his  army,  and  found,  on  his  arrival,  that  the  fiftt 
arch  of  the  bridge  was  broken,  and  a  fort  built  on  the  other  side,  defend- 
ed by  two  thousand  men,  drawn  out  in  order  of  battle,  upon  an  eminence 
near  the  fort.  To  surmount  these  difficulties,  General  Hamilton  posted 
six  companies  of  musketeers,  with  orders  to  fire  on  those  who  were 
guarding  the  fort,  for  the  purpose  of  covering  some  workmen  sent  to 
repair  the  bridge.  Every  thing  was  done  with  the  greatest  order :  the 
arch  being  repaired  with  planks  and  pieces  of  wood,  the  infantry  passed 
over  without  difficulty,  while  the  cavalry  was  crossing  the  river  in  view 
of  the  enemy.  This  intrepid  act  disconcerted  the  rebels :  not  only 
those  who  were  guarding  the  fort,  but  the  whole  army  took  to  flight, 
some  of  whom  retreated  to  Derry,  and  some  to  Enniskillen.  They  were 
pursued  to  Raphoe  by  the  royalist  troops,  who  killed  many  of  them,  with- 
out any  loss  on  their  own  side,  except  that  of  Robert  Nangle,  major  in  the 
regiment  of  Tyrconnel.  After  this  advantage  over  the  rebels,  General 
Lundee,  who  commanded  them,  surrendered  at  Culraor,  and  embarked 
for  England.  Several  other  lesser  battles  were  fought  between  both 
parties,  too  tedious  to  be  inserted  in  this  work. 

Hamilton  found  abundance  of  provisions  at  Raphoe,  where  he  stopped, 
and  was  joined  by  Ijord  Galmoy  at  the  head  of  eight  hundred  men 
from  the  garrison  of  Trim.  During  his  stay  there,  he  received  some 
deputies  from  Derry,  who  offered  to  capitulate.  This  garrison  consisted 
of  six  thousand  men;  and  the  general,  who  knew  the  importance  of  the 
place,  promised  them  their  lives,  properties,  and  protection,  on  con- 
dition that  the  city  would  surrender  at  twelve  o'clock  next  day,  which 
terms  icere  accepted  and  ratified  on  both  sides. 

The  king,  who  had  stopped  in  Dublin,  wishing  to  benefit  by  the  first 


James's  defeat  at  derry,  —  his  imbecility.  lo'J 

moments  of  ardor  which  his  presence  excited  among  those  of  his  own 
party,  marched  directly  to  the  north.  The  rebels  were  not  a  little 
alarmed  at  this,  having  previously  given  up  Coleraine  and  Cultnor. 
The  prince,  accompanied  by  M.  Rose,  the  deputy-marshal  of  France, 
Lord  Melford,  and  some  troops,  arrived  at  St.  Johnstown,  between 
Raphoe  and  Derry,  on  the  same  day  that  Hamilton  was  in  treaty  with 
the  deputies.  The  eagerness  of  the  general  to  compliment  the  king  on 
his  arrival,  made  him  likewise  eager  to  give  him  an  account  of  the  cam- 
paign. The  monarch  signified  to  General  Hamilton  his  disj)leasure  at 
the  terms  he  was  about  to  grant  to  the  rebels  of  Derry,  and  marched 
himself  directly  for  that  town,  whh  the  fresh  troops  he  had  with  him, 
and  immediately  summoned  it  to  surrender  at  discretion.  Tliis  change 
made  by  the  king,  from  the  terms  previously  agreed  upon,  gave  great 
alarm  to  the  garrison.  It  had  been  stipulated  that  the  king's  troops 
should  not  advance  till  the  place  would  be  evacuated ;  and  now  they 
began  to  doubt  his  sincerity.  It  was  determined,  therefore,  to  defend  the 
town  to  the  last  extremity,  while  waiting  for  succors  that  were  expected 
from  England.  At  this  juncture,  a  Protestant  minister,  named  Walker, 
took  the  command  of  the  garrison,  and  infused  great  courage  into  the 
hearts  of  his  party. 

The  siege  was  now  begun.  The  royal  army  was  reenforced  by  some 
newly-raised  troops,  who  were  as  yet  undisciplined.  The  whole  then 
amounted  to  ten  thousand  men.  The  trenches  were  opened  before  the 
place,  and  the  garrison  was  so  straitened  for  provisions  that  they  were 
at  length  forced  to  eat  dogs,  cats,  &lc.  To  lighten  their  numbers,  six 
companies,  belonging  to  Lord  Mountjoy's  regiment  of  infontry,  were 
embarked  and  sent  away.  The  garrison  was  well  provided  with  warlike 
stores  of  every  kind,  and  it  had  forty  pieces  of  cannon  planted  upon 
the  walls,  which  played  on  the  besiegers.  The  succors  by  which  the 
Prince  of  Orange  intended  to  relieve  Derry  soon  made  their  appear- 
ance. An  English  fleet  of  twenty  ships  of  war,  and  three  hundred 
transport-vessels  laden  with  provisions,  warlike  stores,  and  six  thousand 
troops,  under  the  command  of  Major-Gen eral  Kirke,  appeared  in 
Loughfoyle,  in  the  beginning  of  August.  Having  relieved  the  be- 
sieged, just  as  they  were  on  the  point  of  surrendering,  the  royalists  were 
forced  to  withdraw  on  the  10th  of  August,  after  a  siege  of  seventy- 
three  days,  resisted  with  extraordinary  bravery  by  the  Protestant  garri- 
son. King  James  then  ordered  Hamilton  to  lead  the  army  towards 
Dublin,  to  oppose  Marshal  Schomberg,  who  was  expected  to  land  with 
an  army  in  the  neighborhood  of  that  city.  Hamilton  obeyed  the  king's 
95 


754  IMBECILITY    OF    JA?.IES. 

orders,  first  placing  a  garrison  in  Cliarleinont,  under  Capia'i:  OTteyan, 
an  officer  of  high  repute. 

In  the  mean  time,  Schomberg  landed  between  Carrickfergus  and 
Belfast,  and  besieged  the  former  town,  which  was  under  the  command 
of  M'Carty  More,  who,  having  but  one  barrel  of  powder,  was  forced  to 
surrender  the  castle  after  a  feeble  defence.  Schomberg  then  proceeded 
towards  Dundalk. 

The  king,  being  arrived  at  Drogheda,  sent  two  lieutenants,  Butler  of 
Kilcop,  and  Garland,  each  at  the  head  of  a  detachment,  to  reconnoitre 
the  enemy.  They  brought  back  word  that  Schomberg  was  encamped ; 
that  his  right  wing  was  stretched  along  Castle-Bellew,  his  centre  ex- 
tended towards  Dundalk,  and  his  left  towards  the  sea.  Upon  this,  the 
king  marched  towards  Ardee,  where  he  stopped,  and,  the  day  following, 
sent  General  Hamilton,  with  the  whole  of  the  cavalry,  to  the  village  of 
Aphene,  where  he  was  separated  from  the  enemy  by  a  bog  and  a  small 
river.  The  king  arrived,  after  a  few  hours,  with  the  infantry,  and 
encamped,  for  some  days,  in  presence  of  the  enemy.  The  Duke  of 
Tyrconnel,M.  Rose,  and  other  general  officers  of  the  army,  were  for 
attacking  the  enemy.  The  opportunity  was  a  favorable  one,  as  sickness 
had  got  in  among  Schomberg's  troops,  and  out  of  twelve  thousand  men, 
of  whom  his  army  was  at  first  composed,  there  were  not  more  than 
three  thousand  remaining  in  health ;  so  that,  if  the  proposed  attack  had 
been  undertaken,  Schomberg  would  have  been  forced  to  decamp,  and 
return  to  his  ships,  three  of  which  were  in  the  harbor  of  Dundalk, 

The  king,  by  the  advice  of  his  general  officers,  put  his  army  in  order 
of  battle,  and  marched  with  a  design  of  turning  the  enemy,  on  the  side 
of  the  morass.  This  proved  only  an  ostentatious  parade  ;  as  scarcely 
had  they  marched  a  league,  when  he  ordered  the  troops  to  return  to 
their  camp,  ivhere  they  continued  till  October,  without  making  any 
further  attempt. 

"  If  it  were  permitted  to  censure  the  conduct  of  a  wise  and  virtuous 
king,"  says  M'Geoghegan,  "  James  the  Second  might  be  reproached 
with  having  committed  two  egregious  oversights,  which  deeply  affected 
his  cause,  and  eventually  caused  the  loss  of  Ireland.  At  Derry,  he 
rejected,  contrary  to  sound  policy,  a  capitulation  entered  into  between 
General  Hamilton  and  the  garrison  of  that  city.  This  would  have  put 
into  his  hands  that  important  place.  It  was  the  magazine  of  the  north, 
and,  besides  being  an  arsenal,  it  afforded  to  his  enemies,  by  its  situation, 
an  easy  entrance  into  the  kingdom.  At  Dundalk,  he  showed  a  weak 
compassion  for  the  English,  and  an  imprudent  clemency  towards  subjects 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BOYNE.  755 

armed  against  their  sovereign,  and  ready  to  tear  the  sceptre  from  his 
hands,  after  they  had  violated  all  the  respect  due  to  royalty.  It  was  in 
these  circumstances  that  Monsieur  Rose,  according  to  Larrey,  ob- 
served to  the  king,  '  Sire,  if  you  possessed  a  hundred  kingdoms, 
you  would  lose  them.'  " 

King  James  and  his  army  decamped  the  10th  of  October,  in  presence 
of  the  exulting  enemy,  and  lay  all  the  winter  idle  in  their  quarters. 
Towards  spring,  he  withdrew  to  Ardee  and  to  Drogheda,  and  was  soon 
joined  by  Sarsfield,  from  Sligo,  who  had  routed  and  destroyed  all  the 
king's  enemies  there.  And  had  James  now  marched  against  Schom- 
berg,  with  the  victorious  Sarsfield,  all  would  have  been  saved. 

At  length.  King  William  came  over  in  person,  bringing  with  him  as 
strong  a  force  as  he  could  muster ;  joining  Schomberg,  and  increasing 
his  army  to  thirty-eight  thousand  men.  With  this  force  he  marched  to- 
wards King  James's  army,  now  stationed  on  the  Boyne.  The  Duke 
of  Berwick  makes  James's  arm}^  twenty-three  thousand,  and  that  of 
the  enemy  forty-five  thousand  ;  of  which  M'Geoghegan  proves  that 
thirty-eight  thousand  were  at  the  Boyne,  under  the  command  of 
"W^illiam. 

Finding  the  most  circumstantial  history  of  the  celebrated  battle  of 
the  Boyne  in  an  English  histoi'ian,  (Smiles,)  I  transcribe  it  entire:  — 

"  William  reached  the  Boyne,  at  the  head  of  his  advanced  guard,  early  on  the 
morning  of  the  30th  of  June.  After  carefully  surveying  the  lines  of  the  Irish 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  he  resolved  to  force  the  passage  on  the  following 
day.  As  his  army  was  marching  into  camp,  he  himself  went  out  to  reconnoitre 
with  some  of  his  staff.  The  rich  plains  of  Meath  were  within  sight ;  the  clear 
and  joyous  river  ran  sparkling  through  a  fair  and  fertile  pasture  land ;  and  the 
very  summits  of  the  hills  were  clad  in  verdure.  '  Behold,'  said  William,  turning 
to  his  officers  —  '  behold  a  land  worth  fighting  for  ! '  As  he  advanced  along  the 
left  bank,  however,  a  circumstance  occurred  which  had  nearly  proved  fatal  to 
William,  and  checked  the  career  of  his  ambition.  He  had  advanced  to  within 
musket-shot  of  Oldbridge,  on  the  opposite  side,  Avhen  he  fixed  on  the  place  where 
his  batteries  were  to  be  planted,  and  decided  upon  the  spot  at  which  his  army 
should  pass  the  river ;  after  which,  he  alighted,  and  sat  down  to  refresh  hunself 
on  a  rising  ground.  The  motions  of  William  and  his  staff  were  carefully- 
watched  from  the  other  side  of  the  river.  Berwick,  Tyrconnel,  Sarsfield,  and 
some  other  generals,  observed  the  position  of  William,  and  ordered  up  a  detach- 
ment of  men  with  two  field-pieces,  which  immediately  opened  a  fire  on  the 
opposite  party.  William,  however,  saw  his  danger,  and  took  to  horse ;  but,  ere 
he  could  do  tliis,  a  man  and  two  horses  alongside  of  him  were  killed  by  the 
first  shot ;  the  second  had  like  to  have  proved  fatal  to  him ;  the  ball,  having  struck 
the  bank  of  the  river,  rising  en  ricochet,  slanted  on  the  king's  right  shoulder, 
took  out  a  piece  of  his  coat,  and  tore  the  skin  and  flesh.  Some  confusion 
immediately  took  place  among  the  attendants  of  William,  and  he  rode  off,  stoop- 


756  THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BOTNE. 

ing  in  his  saddle ;  on  seeing  -which,  the  report  immediately  arose  in  the  Irish 
army  that  the  Prince  of  Orange  was  killed.  This  intelligence  was  immediately 
conveyed  to  Dublin,  and  from  thence  to  tlie  continent,  where  it  caused  both  sad- 
ness and  rejoicing.  At  Paris,  the  guns  of  the  batteries  were  fired,  the  church  bells 
were  set  ringing,  and  bonfires  were  lit  in  the  streets,  in  commemoration  of  the 
event  William,  however,  was  but  slightly  hurt;  and,  having  got  his  wound 
dressed,  he  continued  on  horseback  during  the  greater  part  of  the  day. 

On  the  side  of  James,  there  was  little  of  the  resolute  detennination  that  was  so 
conspicuous  on  the  part  of  his  opponent.  After  his  sudden  bravado,  the  cowardly 
monarch  gradually  cooled  down,  until  he  at  length  became  as  anxious  to  avoid  an 
engagement  as  he  had  formerly  been  to  court  one.  At  the  appearance  of  Wil- 
liam's army  marching  into  quarters,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Boyne,  the  last 
vestiges  of  James's  courage  completely  evaporated.  A  council  of  war  was  held 
late  in  the  evening,  when  the  French  generals,  who  had  perceived  William's 
superiority  in  numbers  and  artillery,  seconded  James  in  his  eiForts  to  avert  an  en- 
counter. On  the  other  hand,  the  Irish  generals  were  eager  to  engage  with  the 
enemy,  and  urged  that  William's  passage  of  the  Boyne  should  be  desperately 
resisted.  The  result  was,  that  James  resolved  to  risk  a  partial  battle,  keeping 
himself  out  of  harm's  way  tlie  while,  and  then  to  retreat,  by  the  pass  of  Duleek, 
without  risking  a  general  action.  Hamilton,  the  Irish  general,  advised  the  send- 
ing of  eight  regiments  to  protect  the  bridge  of  Slane,  a  post  of  great  conse- 
quence, inasmuch  as  it  commanded  the  left  of  James's  position,  and  there  was 
little  doubt  that  William's  right  wing  would  there  attempt  a  passage  ;  but  James 
received  the  proposition  with  indifference,  and  said  he  would  order  thither  fifty 
dragoons !  Hamilton,  surprised  and  chagrined,  bowed,  and  was  silent.  In  the 
mean  time,  James,  in  anticipation  of  a  retreat,  ordered  the  baggage  and  tlie 
principal  part  of  the  artillery  to  be  immediately  sent  forward  to  Dublin.  The 
fighting  part  of  the  affair  on  the  morrow  was  intrusted  to  the  Irish ;  while  the  six 
thousand  French,  the  best-appointed  part  of  the  army,  were  to  take  care  of  the 
wretched  monarch,  and  conduct  him  in  safety  from  the  field  of  battle.  Thus  did 
James  deliberately  make  his  preparations  to  throw  away  his  last  chance  for  his 
awn  throne,  and  to  sacrifice,  without  a  struggle,  his  brave  and  loyal  adherents 
among  the  Irish  people. 

At  William's  council,  a  veiy  different  spirit  prevailed.  The  mind  of  the-leader 
gives  the  tone  to  every  council.  W^illiam  was  resolute,  and  bent  on  an  engage- 
ment. He  at  once  declared  his  determination  to  cross  the  river,  on  the  morrow, 
in  front  of  the  enemy.  The  hazardous  nature  of  such  an  attempt,  however, 
startled  some  of  William's  best  officers.  Duke  Schomberg,  now  above  eighty 
years  of  age,  endeavored  to  dissuade  him  from  the  enterprise.  When  he  could 
not  prevail,  he  urged  that  a  strong  body  of  men  should  be  immediately  detached 
to  secure  the  bridge  of  Slane,  so  as  to  flank  the  enemy,  and  cut  them  oft'  from  the 
pass  of  Duleek.  Schomberg's  advice  was  received  with  indifference,  and  the  old 
general  retired,  it  is  said,  in  disgust:  he  afterwards  received  the  order  of  battle  in 
his  tent,  remarking,  that  it  had  been  '  the  first  ever  sent  to  him.'  The  order  of 
William  was,  that  the  river  should  be  passed  in  three  places  —  by  his  right  wing, 
commanded  by  Count  Schomberg  (son  of  the  duke)  and  Lieutenant-General 
Douglas,  at  the  fords  near  the  bridge  of  Slane,  —  the  former  commanding  the 
cavalry,  the  latter  tiie  infantry  ;  by  the  centre,  commanded  by  Duke  Schomberg  ; 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BOTNE.  i O i 

and  by  the  left  wing,  commanded  by  William  in  person.  Orders  were  issued  that 
every  soldier  should  be  provided  with  a  plentiful  stock  of  ammunition,  and  that 
all  should  be  ready  to  march  by  break  of  day,  and  that  every  man  should  wear  a 
green  bough  or  sprig-  in  his  hat,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  Irish,  who  wore 
tlie  white  cockade.  He  rode  through  his  whole  army,  about  twelve  o'clock  at 
night,  inspecting  them  by  torch-light;  and,  after  giving  out  the  pass-word,  '  West- 
minster,' he  retired  to  his  tent,  impatient  for  the  struggle  of  the  morrow. 

The  shades  of  night  lay  still  and  quiet  over  the  sleeping  host.  The  stars 
looked  down  in  peace  upon  tliese  sixty  thousand  brothers  of  one  great  human 
family,  ready  to  rise  with  the  sun,  and  imbue  their  hands  in  each  other's  blood. 
God  and  nature  had  formed  them  in  one  common  hnage,  and  breathed  into  them  a 
deep  sympathy  for  tlieir  kind ;  but  t}Tant  factions  and  warring  creeds  had  set 
them  at  bitter  enmity  to  each  otlier,  and  turned  all  the  sweetness  of  their  exist- 
ence into  gall.  Nature  now  lay  peaceful  around  them,  as  a  sleeping  child ;  a  few 
twinkling  lights  gleamed  through  tlie  dark,  from  tlie  distant  watchtowers  of 
Drogheda ;  the  murmur  of  the  river  which  separated  the  two  armies  fell  faintly 
on  the  ear ;  and  the  only  sounds  of  life  which  arose  from  the  vast  host  that  now 
lay  encamped  in  the  valley  of  tlie  Boyne,  were  the  hoarse  challenges  of  tlie  sen- 
tinels, as  they  paced  their  midnight  rounds. 

The  sun  rose  clear  and  beautiful.  It  was  the  first  day  of  July  —  an  ever- 
memorable  day  to  poor  Ireland.  The  generate  was  beat  in  the  camp  of  William 
before  daybreak ;  and,  as  soon  as  the  sun  was  up,  the  battle  commenced.  Count 
Schomberg  and  General  Douglas  at  once  moved  forward  with  the  right  wing 
towards  Slane.  The  Irish  also  brought  up  their  left  wing  towards  the  same 
place  ;  but  tliey  were  t<;o  late,  owing  to  James's  indecision  of  the  previous  night. 
Before  their  resistance  could  be  brought  to  bear  with  effect  upon  the  enemy's 
ranks,  they  had  dashed  into  the  river  and  forded  it  there.  After  a  smart  fight,  the 
Irish  retreated,  and  ten  thousand  English  horse,  foot,  and  artillery,  gained  a  firm 
footing  upon  the  right  bank  of  the  Boyne.  There  still,  however,  lay  between 
them  and  the  Irish  position  several  fields  enclosed  by  deep  ditches  difficult  to  be 
crossed ;  and  beyond  these  lay  the  morass,  which  was  a  still  more  embarrassing 
obstacle  in  their  way.  They  forced  their  way  through,  nevertheless ;  when  the 
Irish  fled  towards  Duleek,  and  were  pursued  with  great  slaughter. 

The  centre,  under  Duke  Schomberg,  so  soon  as  it  was  supposed  that  the 
right  wing  had  effected  their  passage,  prepared  to  enter  the  river  at  Oldbridge. 
The  Dutch  blue  guards,  beating  a  march  till  they  reached  the  water's  edge,  then 
went  in  eight  or  ten  abreast,  the  water  reaching  above  their  girdles.  When  they 
had  gained  the  centre  of  the  stream,  they  were  saluted  with  a  tremendous  fire 
from  the  breastworks,  houses,  and  hedges,  on  the  Irish  side  of  the  river.  But 
tliey  pushed  on,  and,  reaching  the  opposite  bank,  drove  the  Irish  skirmishers  before 
them.  Hamilton  now  brouglit  tlie  Irish  battalions  of  infantry  to  bear  on  them, 
but  without  effect.  The  Irish  cavalry  also  charged  them  with  vigor,  but  the 
Dutch  squares  remained  unbroken.  William,  observing  that  his  flivorite  troops 
were  hardly  pressed,  ordered  two  regiments  of  French  Huguenots  and  one  Eng- 
lish regiment  to  their  assistance.  Hamilton's  infantry  met  them  in  the  stream, 
yet  they  made  good  their  passage.  But  a  body  of  Irish  dragoons,  at  the  moment 
of  tlieir  landing,  charged  them  on  their  flank,  broke  their  ranks,  and  cut  the 
greater  part  of  them  to  pieces.     Caillemote,  their  commander,  was  killed,  dying, 


758  THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BOYNE. 

like  a  Frenchman,  with  the  Avords  in  his  mouth  —  ^  A  la  gloire,  mes  en/am!  A  la 
gloire!'  [To  glorj',  my  sons!  to  glory!]  A  squadron  of  Danish  horse  now 
pushed  across  ;  but  the  Irish  dragoons,  in  another  of  their  dashing  charges,  broke 
and  defeated  them  in  a  moment,  driving  them  back  across  the  river  in  great  con- 
fusion and  dismay. 

The  brilliant,  rapid,  and  successful  attacks  of  the  Irish  cavalry  spread  a  gen 
eral  alarm  through  the  ranks  of  the  enemy.  As  they  approached,  the  general  cry 
of  '  Horse !  horse ! '  was  raised,  which  was  mistaken,  by  William's  advancing 
soldiers,  for  'Halt!  halt!'  The  confusion  was  rapidly  extending,  when  old 
Schomberg,  perceiving  the  disorder,  and  that  the  remaining  French  Huguenots 
had  no  commander  to  lead  them,  crossed  the  river  witli  a  few  followers,  and  put 
himself  at  their  head.  Pointing  to  the  Frenchmen  in  James's  ranks,  he  cried, 
'■Allans,  messieurs,  voila  vos  persecuteurs ! ^  [Onward,  men!  behold  your  perse- 
cutors !]  and  was  preparing  to  rush  forward  ;  but  scarcely  were  these  words  out 
of  his  mouth,  ere  he  was  shot  through  the  neck  by  an  Irish  dragoon,  or,  as  some 
supposed,  by  a  fatal  mistake  of  one  of  his  own  men. 

The  critical  moment  had  now  arrived.  The  enemy's  centre  was  in  complete 
confusion.  The  Irish  cavalry  rode  through  their  ranks.  Their  leaders,  Schom- 
berg and  Caillemote,  were  both  killed ;  and  the  men  were  waiting  for  orders,  ex- 
posed to  the  galling  fire  of  the  Irish  infantry  and  the  furious  charges  of  their 
cavalry.  Had  James  improved  the  moment,  and  ordered  the  French  troops  to  the 
instant  aid  of  the  Irish,  there  can  be  little  doubt  but  the  day  would  have  been  de- 
cided in  his  favor.  But  James  looked  idly  down  from  the  heights  of  Donore,  sur- 
rounded  by  his  unoccupied  French  body-guard  of  six  thousand  men,  —  a  safe  and 
inglorious  spectator  of  a  struggle,  on  the  issue  of  which  his  crown  depended.  He 
watched  the  tide  of  battle  veering,  now  here,  now  there ;  his  enemies  pushing 
their  way  in  triumph,  and  the  brave  Irish  falling  beneath  the  swords  of  the 
foreigner ;  then  the  dashing  charge  of  the  Irish  cavalry,  the  rout,  the  meUe,  the 
pursuit.  Now  was  the  time  for  the  electric  word,  '  Onward ! '  to  be  sent  along  the 
line.  But  no ;  the  miserable  monarch  did  not  even  sympathize  with  the  success 
of  his  own  soldiers ;  for  it  is  said  that,  on  observing  the  Irish  dragoons  of  Hamil- 
ton cleaving  down  the  cavalry,  and  riding  over  the  broken  infantry,  of  William, 
he  exclaimed,  with  a  mawkish  sensibility,  'Spare,  O  spare  my  English  sub- 
jects ! ' 

The  firing  had  now  lasted,  uninterruptedly,  for  more  than  an  hour,  when 
William  of  Orange  seized  the  opportunity  to  turn  the  tide  of  battle  against  his 
spiritless  adversary.  He  entered  the  action  at  the  head  of  the  left  wing,  which 
consisted  chiefly  of  Dutch,  Danish,  and  English  cavalry,  and  directed  it  upon 
James's  centre,  ivhere  the  Irish  now  had  the  decided  advantage.  Crossing  the 
river  through  a  dangerous  and  difficult  pass,  in  which  he  was  exposed  to  con- 
siderable danger,  he  made  his  appearance  at  the  head  of  his  squadrons,  with  hia 
drawn  sword,  and  soon  forced  back  the  Irish  infantry.  But  the  Irish  dragoons 
still  maintained  their  superiority.  They  again  vigorously  charged  the  foreign 
troops,  and  completely  broke  their  ranks.  William  hastened  up  to  the  Ennis- 
killeners,  and  asked,  '  What  will  you  do  for  me  ?  '  They  answered  by  a  shout, 
and  immediately  declared  their  readiness  to  follow  him.  They  advanced  ;  but  at 
the  first  volley  from  the  Irish  ranks,  they  wheeled  and  fled.  On  William 
bringing  up  his  Dutch  cavalry,  they  returned  again  to  the  charge.  The  struggle 
now  became  very  close,  and  the  superior  strength  of  William  began  to  tell.    The 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BOYNE.  759 

Irish,  unsupported  as  they  were  by  their  French  allies,  -while  William's  entire  army 
was  in  action,  slowly  gave  way  ;  but  again  and  again  they  rallied,  driving  back 
the  enemy  ;  the  Irish  cavalry,  dashing  in  among  the  advancing  troops,  scorning  all 
toil  and  danger.  William  fought  with  great  courage,  mingling  in  the  hottest  part 
of  the  fight.  Several  times  he  was  driven  back  by  the  Irish  horse  ;  but  at  last  his 
superior  physical  power  enabled  him  to  force  back  the  Irish  troops,  and  they  re- 
tired slowly  towards  Donore.  Here  they  again  made  a  gallant  stand,  beating 
back  the  troops  of  William  several  times.  The  fann-house  of  Sheephouse  for  a 
long  time  withstood  their  attacks,  and  was  taken  and  retaken  again  and  again. 
Again  Hamilton  endeavored  to  retrieve  the  fortune  of  the  day,  by  a  desperate 
charge  at  the  head  of  his  horse.  The  British  infantry  witlistood  the  furious 
shock ;  the  cavalry  were  repulsed ;  and  Hamilton,  their  general,  was  left  a 
prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Having  thus  resisted  to  tlie  last,  tlie  Irish 
retreated  slowly  to  the  pass  of  Duleek. 

James  had  already  meditated  a  retreat  with  his  French  troops.  Sarsfield  had 
implored  him  to  put  himself  at  their  head,  and  make  a  last  effort  for  his  crown. 
With  six  thousand  fresh  men  coming  into  the  field  when  the  enemy's  troops  were 
exhausted  by  fatigue,  there  is  little  doubt  but  James  would  have  succeeded.  But 
the  effort  would  cost  him  trouble,  exertion,  danger,  —  neither  of  which  the  royal 
poltroon  would  risk.  Accordingly,  James  put  himself  at  the  head  of  his  French 
troops,  —  the  first  occasion  on  which  he  had  led  in  the  course  of  the  day,  —  and 
set  out  on  his  route  towards  Dublin,  leaving  tlie  rear  of  his  army  to  shift  for 
themselves. 

The  Irish  army  now  poured  through  the  pass  ;  and  when  they  had  reached  the 
other  side,  they  faced  about,  and  vigorously  defended  it  with  their  scanty  artillery. 
From  Duleek  they  pressed  forward  towards  the  Neal,  another  defile  on  their 
route,  the  enemy  following  without  pressing  upon  them  at  all,  until  night  closed 
upon  the  rival  armies,  and  William  sat  down  with  his  army  on  the  ground  which 
James  had  occupied  in  the  morning. 

Though  '  the  Boyne '  has  since  become  a  party  word  of  triumph  among  the 
Protestants  of  Ireland,  it  seems  to  us  that,  after  all,  there  was  very  little  to  boast 
of  at  the  close  of  that  day's  battle.  All  the  advantage  that  William  had  gained 
was,  that  he  had  succeeded  in  crossing  the  Boyne,  in  the  face  of  a  very  inferior 
force  —  inferior  in  numbers,  in  appointments,  in  discipline,  and  in  artillery.  His 
best  troops  had  been  repeatedly  repulsed ;  his  best  generals  killed.  William  him- 
self was  compelled  to  fall  back,  and  more  than  once  was  in  danger  of  overthrow  ; 
and  would  have  been  overthrown,  but  for  his  great  superiority  in  cavalry,  infantry, 
and  artillery.  The  best  part  of  James's  force,  the  French,  were  never  brought 
into  action.  Yet,  with  all  these  disadvantages,  the  issue  was  doubtful  even  to  the 
close  of  the  day.  William  gained  nothing  but  the  ground  on  which  his  army 
encamped  at  night,  and  the  dead  bodies  with  which  the  field  was  strewed ;  for, 
with  the  exception  of  Hamilton,  he  made  no  prisoners ;  neither  did  he  take  any 
spoil  from  the  Irish,  who  retreated  in  excellent  order,  with  all  their  baggage  and 
artillery.  There  is  little  doiibt  that,  had  not  the  Irish  the  misfortune  to  be  com- 
manded by  a  coward,  the  result  would  have  been  very  different  The  cry  of  the 
Irish,  after  the  battle,  was,  '  Change  generals,  and  we  will  fight  the  battle  over 
again.'  The  brilliant  and  successful  charges  of  the  Irish  cavalry  under  Hamilton, 
showed  what  might  have  been  accomplished  had  James  but  possessed  a  tithe  of 
the  chivalrous  spirit  of  this  leader.    The  Boyne  was  neitlier  more  nor  less  than 


760 


SIEGE    OF    ATHLONE. DEFEAT    OF    THE    ENGLISH. 


a  drawn  battle,  tliough  to  William  it  had  all  the  advantages  of  a  complete 
victory." 

I  compress  from  O'Callaghan  a  few  additional  remarks  on  tiiis  un- 
fortunate battle :  — 

"  The  attacking  force  at  the  Boyne  was  thirty-six  thousand  men,  wanting  for 
nothing,  with  fifty  pieces  of  cannon ;  that  of  the  Irish  was  fourteen  thousand 
Irish,  six  thousand  French,  —  total,  twenty  thousand  men,  with  only  six  pieces 
of  cannon.  The  Irish  were  newly-raised,  undisciplined  troops ;  while  those  of 
William  were  veterans,  most  of  whom  had  fought  on  the  Continent,  and  led  by 
William,  one  of  the  most  indefatigable  captains  of  his  own  or  any  age.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  it  be  true,  according  to  Chabrias,  the  Athenian  general,  that  '  an 
army  of  stags  led  by  a  lion  would  be  better  than  an  army  of  lions  led  by  a  stag,' 
what  a  great  disadvantage  and  discouragement  tlie  Irish  suffered  in  being  led 
by  such  an  imbecile,  nay,  sach  an  absolute  runaway,  as  James;  yet,  after  the 
action,  which  lasted  from  six  in  the  morning  till  night,  the  Irish  were  found  to 
have  lost  only  one  thousand  men  and  one  cannon ;  while  the  English  lost  five 
hundred  men,  and  their  best  general,  Schomberg ;  and  it  is  supposed  their  loss 
was  far  more  than  five  hundred,  for,  on  the  review  of  their  army  at  Finglas,  after 
the  battle,  the  muster-roll  did  not  exceed  thirty  thousand.  The  pass  at  Oldbridge 
was  guarded  by  the  Irish  with  great  valor.  The  English  charged  ten  times,  and 
were  as  often  repulsed  in  tlie  course  of  the  day.  The  Irish  yielded  that  point  to  a 
force  more  than  double  their  number." 

The  Irish  army,  under  Tyrconnel  and  Sarsfield,  made  good  their 
retreat  to  the  fortifications  on  the  western  side  of  the  Shannon,  fighting 
their  way  with  their  pursuers  the  entire  distance.  They  secured  their 
positions,  however,  in  the  strongholds  of  Shgo,  Athlone,  Limerick,  and 
Cork. 

King  William  sent  General  Douglas,  with  eight  thousand  men,  to  take 
Athlone.  It  was  well  fortified.  The  town  was  built  on  both  sides  of 
the  River  Shannon,  over  which  there  was  a  single  connecting  bridge. 
On  the  English  side  of  the  town,  the  fortifications  were  light ;  but  on  the 
Irish  side,  the  batteries  were  stoutly  built,  and  well  furnished  with  heavy 
guns.  This  garrison  was  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Grace,  a  brave 
old  Irish  officer,  who  had  fought  against  Cromwell,  and  defended  Ath- 
lone twice  before.  His  effective  force  was  eight  hundred  men,  though 
the  English  make  the  eight  hundred  two  thousand.  However,  the 
English  brought  before  the  town  eight  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
ninety-four  men,  twelve  cannon,  and  two  mortars.  At  the  approach 
of  the  enemy,  Colonel  Grace  broke  down  the  bridge,  and  betook  him- 
self to  the  Irish  side  of  the  river.  When  called  upon  to  surrender,  that 
heroic  chieftain  replied  by  firing  a  pistol  over  the  messenger's  head, 
exclaiming,"  These  are  my  terms."  The  assault  commenced,  and  was 
continued  day  and  night,  by  the  assailants,  with  the  greatest  fury,  resisted 


EXPLOIT    OF    SARSFIELD. 


761 


with  heroic  bravery,  accompanied  by  the  shouts  of  hearty  defiance 
from  the  besieged. 

After  seven  days'  firing  on  the  town,  Douglas,  having  lost  three 
hundred  and  thirty  men,  drew  off  his  forces  to  Limerick,  where  he 
joined  King  William,  who  was  now  preparing  to  attack  that  city. 

Having  now  Dublin,  Drogheda,  Carrickfergus,  Londonderry,  Ar- 
magh, Wexford,  Waterford,  and  Duncannon  garrisons  in  his  possession, 
W^illiam  laid  furious  siege  to  Limerick,  as  being  the  key  to  the  west 
and  south  of  Ireland.  About  three  eighths  of  the  kingdom  were  still  in 
possession  of  the  Irish.  Their  king,  for  whom,  and  for  the  rights  of 
conscience,  they  had  taken  up  arms,  had  left  them  to  their  fate.  The 
half  of  their  French  allies  had  returned  to  France,  at  the  instigation  of 
the  French  commander,  the  ignoble  Lauson,  who  marched  out  of 
Limerick  just  as  King  William  appeared  before  the  walls.  But  who 
could  be  expected  to  support  the  cause  of  a  runaway  prince?  The 
Irish,  under  all  these  circumstances,  had  determined  to  make  a  death- 
like stand  for  their  country  ^nd  their  freedom. 

King  William's  besieging  army,  before  the  walls  of  Limerick,  now 
amounted  to  twenty-five  thousand  men,  with  a  considerable  train  of 
artillery ;  that  of  the  Irish  on  the  other  side  amounted  to  twenty 
thousand,  of  which  ten  thousand  only  were  armed.  The  Irish  lay 
within  a  strong-walled  garrison,  protected  by  the  current  of  the  river, 
which  washed  part  of  its  base,  and,  being  considerably  animated  by 
the  bravery  of  the  Athlone  garrison,  awaited  the  attack  with  undaunted 
hearts.  King  William  had  ordered  to  his  assistance  a  considerable  park 
of  artillery,  and  great  quantities  of  ammunition,  which  were  on  their  way 
to  him  from  Dublin. 

Sarsfield,  hearing  of  it,  went  up  the  river  twelve  miles  from  Limerick, 
and,  with  a  party  of  chosen  cavalry,  crossed  over  to  the  rear  of  William's 
army,  hung  in  the  mountains,  and  waited  the  coming  of  those  supplies 
from  Dublin.  William,  hearing  of  his  move,  sent  an  additional  guard 
of  five  hundred  cavalry  to  protect  the  ammunition,  which  met  the 
cavalcade  and  artillery,  and  conducted  them  to  within  five  miles  of 
William's  camp ;  and  here,  thinking  Sarsfield  would  not  have  audacity 
enough  to  come  near  them,  being  overborne  with  fatigue,  encamped  for 
the  night.  Sarsfield  watched  them,  fell  on  them  while  their  horses 
were  grazing,  destroyed  them  as  they  rose  to  meet  him,  leaving  not  one 
of  them  alive  to  escape.  He  then  filled  all  their  cannon  with  their  own 
gunpowder,  buried  the  muzzles  in  the  earth,  piled  their  baggage  and 
waggons  on  the  top,  and,  by  a  well-fixed  train,  blew  all  up  into  atoms, 
96 


762  ASSAULT    ON    LIMERICK.  HEROIC    DEFENCE. 

the  explosion  of  which  was  heard  in  William's  camp,  and  fifteen  miles' 
distance  all  around. 

Although  the  English  were  now  out  on  all  sides  to  intercept  Sarsfield, 
yet  he  cut  his  way  through  his  enemies,  carried  off  a  considerable 
booty,  recovered  his  position  behind  the  walls  of  Limerick,  by  the 
morning's  light,  and  there  communicated  the  utmost  enthusiasm  to  the 
garrison. 

King  William  was  amazed  at  the  bravery  and  skill  of  Sarsfield, 
whom,  as  he  said,  he  did  not  believe  capable  of  such  an  able 
manosuvre.  William,  though  disturbed  in  his  operations,  prosecuted 
the  siege  with  vigor.  Playing  with  forty  pieces  of  ordnance,  for  twenty- 
seven  days,  on  the  walls,  he  at  length  effected  a  breach  thirty -six  feet 
wide.  He  now  ordered  an  assault,  which  was  made  by  six  thousand 
men,  supported  by  a  reserve  of  eight  thousand,  all  excited  to  the  highest 
pitch  of  enthusiasm  by  the  presence  and  example  of  their  king. 

The  besieged  watched  all  the  preparations  of  the  enemy,  and  were 
ready  for  a  desperate  resistance.  A  dead  silence  reigned  alike  in  the 
camp  of  the  besiegers  and  in  the  city.  The  silence  was  broken  by  three 
cannon-shois,  the  signal  of  attack.  And  now  the  stormers  spring 
forward  to  the  breach :  as  they  approach,  the  Irish  open  on  ihem  a 
terrible  discharge.  They  press  on  to  the  breach  amidst  a  tremendous 
fire,  fighting  foot  to  foot,  and  hand  to  hand  ;  and  now  the  advance  men 
enter ;  the  Irish  close  behind  them,  they  are  all  cut  to  pieces ;  new 
chargers  press  on  ;  they  come  faster  and  more  furious ;  the  shouts  of 
the  combatants,  and  the  groans  of  the  wounded,  are  drowned  by  the  din 
of  the  besiegers'  cannon  thundering  against  the  walls ;  the  Irish  oppose 
themselves  in  masses  to  the  progress  of  the  invader.  The  invaders 
enter  the  breach,  fight  for  four  hours  under  cover  of  the  thunder  of 
thirty  pieces  of  artillery,  and  what  remain  unkilled  of  them  retreat 
dismayed.  The  Irish  women  fought  with  desperate  fury ;  they  flung 
themselves  into  the  ranks  with  the  men,  which  gready  animated  them ; 
and  a  struggle  was  sustained  which  illumines  the  page  of  Irish  history, 
and  flings  a  radiance  on  their  posterity  that  yet  will  light  them  to 
victory. 

The  English,  under  cover  of  their  artillery,  returned  a  second  time 
to  the  breach,  but  were  equally  unsuccessful.  On  this  occasion,  they 
were  driven  out  quicker  than  before,  and  pursued  to  their  very  camp  by 
the  Irish,  to  the  great  distress  and  dismay  of  King  William,  who  rebuked 
his  commanders  with  bitterness.  If  the  Irish  lost  one  thousand  men 
at  the  Boyne,  the  English  lost  more  than  two  thousand  men  here, 
together  with  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  officers  killed  and  wounded. 


iiING    WILLIAM    RAISES    THE    SIEGE.  763 

The  English  Parson  Story,  who  accompanied  William,  and  wrote 
an  account  of  his  wars  in  Ireland,  thus  describes  the  bravery  of  the 
Limerick  women  ;  to  be  seen  in  O'Callaghan's  Green  Book,  200 :  — 

"  The  Irish  then  ventured  upon  the  breach  again,  and  from  the  walls  and 
every  place  so  pestered  us  upon  the  counterscarp,  that  after  nigh  three  hours 
resisting  bullets,  stones,  [from  the  very  women,  who  boldly  stood  in  the  breach, 

FIGHTING    WITH     SUCH     WEAPONS     AS     THEY     COULD     CATCH     FROM     THE    SLAIN, 

AND  WERE  NEARER  TO  OUR  MEN  THAN  TO  THEIR  OWN ! )  and  whatever  ways 
could  be  thought  on  to  destroy  us,  our  ammunition  being  spent,  it  was  judged 
safest  to  return  to  our  trenches."  —  Impartial  History,  by  Story,  p.  129. 

"  The  battle  was  described  as  so  terrific,  by  a  looker-on,"  says  O'Cal- 
laghan,  "  that,  with  the  thunder  of  the  cannon  and  the  roar  of  the 
musketry,  the  very  skies  appeared  rending  asunder ;  the  smoke  that 
came  from  the  town  reached,  in  one  continued  cloud,  to  the  top  of  a 
mountain  at  least  six  miles  off"  1  And  yet  the  women  and  the  men  of 
Limerick  stood,  during  this  thunder,  in  the  very  eye  of  death,  and 
clashed  with  the  lightning  of  the  invader,  and  struck  him  to  the  earth. 

0  illustrious  women  and  men  1  where  is  the  hand  to  sound  your 
praises  !  Where  are  "  Cormac's  bards,"  to  give  your  deeds  to  immortal 
song  1  But  your  bright  deeds  shall  live  in  our  hearts,  and  light  the 
patriots  of  other  ages  to  victory  1 

1  pity  the  cold  heart  that  can  read  these  things  unmoved.  I  agree 
with  O'Callaghan  that  — 

"The  MAN  that  is  not  moved  witli  what  he  reads, 
That  takes  not  fixe  at  such  heroic  deeds. 
Unworthy  of  the  blessings  of  the  brave. 
Is  base  in  kind,  and  born  to  be  a  slave! 

I  am  not  one  of  these.  1  feel  the  influence  of  their  inspiring  deeds 
enter  into  my  soul,  and  I  inscribe  to  their  glorious  memories  the  homage 
of  my  heart  in  song:  — 

Hurrah  for  the  heroes  of  Limerick  town ! 

Whom  the  power  of  William  could  never  put  down ! 

Hurrah  for  brave  Sarsfield !  though  dead  m  his  grave, 

His  spirit  yet  fires  the  valiant  and  brave. 

And  if  ever  the  day  shall  come  again, 

When  Lim'rick  women  and  Limerick  men 

Shall  be  called  to  the  breach  to  defend  their  own  land, 

May  we  be  all  there  just  to  give  them  a  hand! 

The  Prince  of  Orange  asked  the  garrison  for  a  cessation  of  arms,  to 
bury  his  dead,  which  was  "  haughtily  refused  ;  "  and,  finally,  in  a  few 
days  after  this  defeat,  he  was  compelled  to  raise  the  siege.     The  Eing- 


764 


KING    JAMES  S    IMBECILITY. 


lish  army  decamped  in  great  disorder  under  General  Ginckle,  after  setting 
fire  to  the  houses  in  wliich  the  sick  and  wounded  lay.  They  marched 
from  thence  to  Birr,  while,  in  the  mean  time.  King  William  had  himself 
escorted  to  Waterford,  where  he  embarked  for  England. 

I  cannot  dismiss  this  brilliant  page  in  Irish  history,  without  weighing 
and  considering  the  discouraging  circumstances  under  which  so  signal  a 
victory  was  won. 

In  the  first  place,  King  James  refused  to  confirm  the  terms  of  ca- 
pitulation, made  by  his  able  General,  Hamilton,  with  the  Derry  men, 
by  which  they  agreed  to  give  up  the  garrison,  conVam'ing  forty  pieces  of 
cannon  and  sixty  thousand  stand  of  arms,  to  Hamilton  ;  which  the  king 
refused  to  confirm  unless  they  submitted  to  his  mercy,  thereby  rendering 
them  liable  to  be  tried  and  hanged  as  rebels,  which  they  apprehending, 
returned  to  their  dt^fence,  and  fought  it  out  bravely,  living  on  dogs,  cats, 
and  rats,  for  several  weeks,  till  succor  arrived,  which  obliged  King 
James  to  raise  the  siege,  after  his  army  had  dwindled  away  to  half  their 
original  number. 

In  the  second  place.  King  James  allowed  the  invading  army,  which 
first  arrived  in  Ireland  under  Schomberg,  to  remain  unmolested  several 
months  in  Newry,  though  fully  able  to  attack  them  ;  especially,  more- 
over, as  the  majority  of  Schomberg's  twelve  or  fourteen  thousand  men 
were  taken  ill  with  a  sort  of  plague,  which  rendered  more  than  five  thou- 
sand of  them  totally  unfit  for  service  ;  and  this,  forsooth,  out  of  hu- 
manity io'wards  his  English  subjects. 

In  the  third  place.  King  James  refused,  though  strongly  pressed  by 
his  Irish  commanders,  Tyrconnel,  Sarsfield,  and  Sir  Neal  O'Neal,  the 
night  before  the  battle  of  the  Boyne,  to  place  a  strong  guard  at  the  pass 
over  that  river,  at  Old  Bridge,  the  neglect  of  which  enabled  the  British 
to  come  upon  the  flank  of  the  Irish  army. 

In  the  fourth  place.  King  James,  instead  of  coming  to  the  aid  of  his 
troops  in  the  crisis  of  that  battle,  with  his  reserve  of  six  thousand  French, 
fled  the  field  ere  it  terminated,  and,  instead  of  rallying  an  Irish  regiment, 
that  temporarily  gave  way  near  him,  he  himself,  who  had  all  at  stake, 
took  to  flight !  for  which  the  Irish  have  called  him,  from  that  day  to  the 
present,  "  Shemus  a  hocha,"  which,  in  English,  means  Jemmy  the  dirty. 

In  the  fifth  place,  King  James,  on  his  return  to  France,  met  with  a 
French  fleet,  under  De  Seignelay,  sent  to  his  support  by  the  king  of 
France,  whose  orders  were  to  cruise  round  the  coast  of  Ireland,  to  watch 
and  destroy  the  transports  bringing  ammunition  and  provisions  to  King 
William  ;  but,  instead  of  allowing  them  to  proceed  on  their  duty,  he 
induced  the  fleet  to  return,  as  a  convoy  to  protect  himself  in  his  flight. 


Marlborough's  perfidy.  765 

In  the  sixth  place,  Lauson,  the  French  commander,  who  retreated  on 
Limerick,  with  the  Irish  army  from  the  Boyne,  withdrew  from  the  aid  of 
that  garrison.  "  As  soon  as  the  enemy  had  appeared  before  Limerick, 
the  French  general,  with  all  his  troops,  marched  straight  to  Galway, 
taking  with  him  a  great  quantity  of  ammunition,"  &tc.  —  Vide  King 
James's  Memoirs. 

In  the  seventh  place,  Boislau,  the  French  governor  of  Limerick,  dur- 
ing the  assault,  ordered  several  battalions  y?'om  the  breach,  xvhich  had  he 

BEEN  OBEYED   IN,  THE  TOWN  HAD  BEEN    LOST.       This  is  prOVed  by  King 

James's  Memoirs ;  and  Mr.  O'Callaghan  considers  that  these  French 
generals  had  been  bribed  to  act  in  this  way,  and,  to  justify  this  view, 
produces  the  postscript  of  a  letter  written  from  King  William's  camp 
before  Limerick,  by  Sir  Arthur  Rawden,  three  days  after  the  battle,  name- 
ly, 29th  August,  1690.  After  having  said,  "We  never  have  received 
such  a  foil,"  the  writer  adds,  "  We  got  their  countersign  —  got  into  the 
breach  —  but  were  beaten  back." — Rawden  Papers,  pp.  337  and  338. 

So  that,  considering  all  these  circumstances, — the  mismanagement  of 
the  king,  the  abandonment  or  treachery  of  allies,  and  the  unlucky  re- 
verses previously  encountered,  —  the  defence  of  Limerick  by  the  Irish 
alone  equals,  if  it  does  not  surpass,  the  bravest  and  brightest  military 
exploit  on  the  page  of  universal  history. 

Soon  after  this,  the  famous  Marlborough  was  sent  by  King  William 
to  Cork,  with  ten  thousand  men  and  some  ships  of  war.  Cork  and 
Kinsale  were  reduced  by  him,  after  a  brave  defence  of  some  days  on  the 
part  of  the  Irish  under  Magelligot  in  Cork  and  M'Carthy  in  Kinsale, 
who,  however,  ere  their  little  band  surrendered,  had  consumed  all  their 
powder,  and  obtained  a  capitulation  as  "  prisoners  of  war,"  which  was 
perfidiously  broken  through  by  Marlborough.  The  prisoners  were 
starved  in  prison,  the  dead  left  unburied,  and  disease  carried  off  the  ma- 
jority of  four  thousand  men  who  surrendered.  These  English  have  no 
honor  in  war  or  in  peace.  — See  O^  Callaghan,  pp.  204  and  205.  —  It 
may  be  mentioned  that  these  Irish  commanders  were  advised  to  burn  the 
cities  of  Cork  and  Kinsale,  and  retire  to  the  mountains  of  Kerry,  which 
would  have  been  wiser,  though  perhaps  less  brave. 

Marlborough,  Ginckle,  and  Douglas,  King  William's  chief  generals, 
now  concerted  a  grand  plan  for  the  winter  campaign.  Their  united 
forces  spread  along  the  frontier  line,  from  Cork  to  Enniskillen,  amounted 
to  about  forty-three  thousand  men.  The  war  had  already  cost  King 
William  a  loss  of  about  five  thousand  men,  tooether  with  a  considerable 
amount  of  ammunition.  Something  decisive  must  be  done,  or  his  chances 
of  conquest  would  become  precarious.     A  southern  division  of  two  thou- 


766 


FAILURE    OF    THE    ENGLISH    IN    THE    SOUTH. 


sand  horse  and  foot  were  ordered  to  penetrate  Kerry,  under  the  English 
General  Tatten,  but  were  so  harassed  by  the  nimble  Irish  on  their  light,  un- 
shod, mountain  horses,  that,  after  two  or  three  months'  skirmishing  among 
the  mountains,  and  a  repulse  by  Colonel  M'Carthy,  from  his  strong  castle 
of  Ross,  the  invaders  returned  to  winter  in  Cork.  Ginckle,  the  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  English,  subsequently  marched  into  Kerry  with  a 
great  force,  but  was  even  less  successful  than  Tatten,  which  he  avows  in 
his  letter  to  the  government  at  Dublin,  in  which  he  strongly  urges  King 
William  to  treat  with  the  Irish  Catholics  upon  fair  and  liberal  principles. 
See  O'' CallagJianh  Green  Book,  208  and  209.  General  Douglas  was 
equally  unsuccessful  against  Sligo ;  and  the  troops  of  the  Duke  of  Ber- 
wick, stationed  on  the  Connaught  side  of  the  Shannon,  kept  the  English 
army  busy  all  the  winter  ;  insomuch  that  Captain  O'Connor,  with  only 
one  hundred  and  twenty  men,  chased  the  English,  at  one  time,  as  far  as 
Philipstown,  in  the  King's  county,  which  he  entered  sword  in  hand, 
killed  upwards  of  one  hundred  troopers,  and  burnt  the  town.  The  Eng- 
lish Parson  Story  thus  writes  about  the  relative  prowess  of  both  armies, 
during  this  winter :  "  We  retired  farther  into  the  country,  (towards  Dub- 
lin,) and  left  them  (die  Irish)  all  the  passes  and  forts  upon  the  Shannon, 
by  which  means  they  are  not  to  be  kept  in  their  ovk'n  province  of  Con- 
naught,  as  they  might  have  been,  but  can  keep  us  out,  and  also  come 
amongst  us  when  they  have  a  mind  to  it."  —  Impartial  History,  p.  147. 
I  insert  an  appropriate  note  from  O'Callaghan. 

"It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  Irish  had  'a  mind  to  it,'  since,  in  aid  of  those 
'  trips  over  the  water,'  the  territory  nominally  in  possession  of  the  English  was 
overrun  and  ravaged  as  far  as  Kildare,  Wicklow,  and  the  counties  adjacent  to 
Dublin,  by  different  light  parties,  under  various  Rapparee  leaders,  such  as  Macabe, 
Grace,  Higgins,  Callaghan,  Cavanagh,  the  '  White  Sergeant,'  and  '  Galloping 
Hogan,'  who  wore  called  'robbers,  thieves,  and  bog-trotters,'  by  the  English  and 
their  faction,  for  only  levying  contributions  and  waging  a  system  of  defensive  and 
patriotic  warfare,  Avith  the  approbation  of  their  legitimate  sovereign,  James  the 
Second  !  similar  to  the  hostilities  which  Alfred,  entitled  the  Great,  because  success- 
ful, carried  on  with  his  Rapparees  from  the  woods  and  bogs  of  Somersetshire 
against  the  Danes  and  the  advocates  of  a  Danish  '  connection '  and  '  glorious  revo- 
lution ! '  '  He  sought,'  says  the  historian,  speaking  of  Alfred,  '  the  woods  and 
deserts  to  conceal  himself.  .  .  where  there  was  a  peninsula  swrrounrfet?  by  swamps. 
.  .  .  Fortified  in  his  island  against  a  surprise  from  the  enemy,  by  entrenchments  of 
earth  and  wood,  he  led  the  hard  and  savage  life  reserved,  in  every  conquered  coun- 
try, for  such  of  the  vanquished  as  are  too  proud  for  slavery  —  that  of  n  free- 
booter in  thAi  WOODS,  morasses,  and  defiles!  At  the  head  of  his  friends, 
formed  into  bands,  he  plundered  the  Danes,  laden  with  spoil,  and,  if  Danes  were 
wanting,  the  Saxon  who  obeyed  the  foreigners  and  saluted  them  as  his  mas- 
ters!^— Thieiry,  vol.  i.  p.  110  — 112.     The  most  distinguished,  however,  of  those 


UNSUBDUED    BRAVERY    OF    THE    IRISH.  767 

brave  Irish  partisans  who  infested  the  Irish  territory  occupied  by  the  enemy,  —  one 
who,  in  the  language  of  Milton,  — 

' above  the  rest, 

In  shape  and  gesture  proudly  eminent, 
Stood  like  a  tower/  — 

was  a  gentleman  of  Tipperary,  Anthony  Carroll,  surnamed  Fada,  or  the  Tall,  who 
possessed  an  estate  there,  and,  by  his  influence  among  the  Rapparecs,  could,  ac- 
cording to  Story,  '  upon  any  alarm  bring  together  to  the  number  of  at  least  two 
thousand  ! '  This  gentleman  (who,  unlike  our  heroes  of  the  present  day,  required 
no  special  commissions  or  insurrection  acts  to  protect  him  from  his  tenantry !) 
seized  on,  garrisoned,  and  held  the  Castle  of  Nenagh,  taken  from  the  English 
after  their  defeat  at  Limerick,  and  gave  '  plenty  to  do,'  through  the  autumn  and 
winter  of  1690,  and  part  of  the  spring  and  summer  of  1691,  during  which  he  main- 
tained himself  in  that  stronghold,  whence  he  made  frequent  excursions  through 
the  country  till  the  2d  of  August,  1691,  when,  on  the  collection,  in  his  neighbor- 
hood, of  ALL  the  English  forces,  after  the  battle  of  Aughrim,  for  the  second  siege 
of  Limerick,  the  gallant  castellan  of  Nenagh  evacuated  that  fortress,  burned  the 
town,  and  brought  away  the  whole  of  his  garrison  of  five  hundred  men  in  safety, 
towards  Limerick,  in  spite  of  the  pursuit  of  a  strong  party  of  Ginckle's  cavalry, 
under  Brigadier  Leveson  and  Major  Wood." 

With  such  persevering  bravery,  though  deserted  by  a  great  portion 
of  their  French  allies,  did  the  Irish  keep  up  the  war  all  that  winter ;  and,, 
surprising  as  it  appears,  it  is  actually  true  that  the  regular  army  of  the 
English  amounted  to  forty-one  thousand  men,  when  the  entire  population 
of  Ireland  did  not  exceed  one  million  and  a  half — the  half  of  which 
were  in  the  English  interest.  And  yet,  with  that  thundering  army 
harassing  them,  —  a  greater  than  England  ever  since  brought  to  bear  on 
any  point  of  Europe, —  the  Irish  were  able  {again  on  the  invaders,  to  cut 
up  their  encampments  and  their  troops.  "  Their  way  was,"  says  Story, 
speaking  of  the  Irish  irregulars,  "to  make  a  private  appointment  to  meet 
at  such  a  pass  or  wood,  precisely  at  such  a  time  of  the  night  or  day  as 
suited  their  conveniency  ;  and  though  you  could  not  see  a  man  over  night, 
yet,  exactl}?  at  their  hour,  you  might  find  four  or  five  hundred,  all  well 
armed  and  ready  for  what  design  they  had  formerly  projected  ;  but  if 
they  happened  to  be  discovered  or  overpowered,  they  presently  dispersed, 
having  beforehand  appointed  another  place  of  rendezvous  ten  or  twelve 
miles  distant  from  that  where  they  were,  by  which  means  our  men 
could  never  fix  any  close  engagement  on  them  during  the  winter." 

The  summer  of  1691  now  opened.  King  William  was  pouring  troops 
into  Ireland  all  the  spring,  and  there  was,  in  fine,  sixty-seven  English 
regiments,  consisting  of  thirty  thousand  foot  and  about  seven  thousand 
five  hundred  horse,  with  immense  quantities  of  arms,  ammunition,  clo- 
thing, and  money,  to  carry  on  the  war ;  besides  which,  there  were  under 


763  MOVEMENTS    OF    BOTH    ARMIES. 

arms,  on  William's  side,  twelve  thousand  militia,  who  were  placed  in  the 
defence  of  towns,  forts,  k,c.  Arms  were  sent  into  the  settlements  of 
Protestants,  who  were  inflamed  by  religious  fears  and  frenzy  towards 
the  Irish  Catholics.  Besides  all  which,  William  had  now  in  Ireland 
thirty-nine  heavy  cannon,  twelve  field-pieces,  and  six  mortars. 

On  the  Irish  side,  there  were  about  fourteen  thousand  na.tives,  with  six 
thousand  French  allies.  Of  the  latter  three  thousand  were  prisoners  of  all 
nations,  taken  by  the  French,  in  their  battles  in  the  Low  Countries,  some 
of  whom  were  actually  English  ;  and  at  the  Boyne  three  hundred  of  these 
,"  allies"  deserted  to  William's  side,  in  presence  of  both  armies.  Louis 
made  great  promises  of  assistance  to  King  James  ;  he  sent  him  two 
thousand  barrels  of  powder,  eight  thousand  stand  of  small  arms, —  very 
bad,  and  of  little  use,  —  but  no  cannon,  and  one  million  five  hundred  thou- 
sand copper  crowns,  bearing  King  James's  effigy,  which  were  prepared  at 
Brest.  The  French  assistance  arrived  in  May,  under  St.  Ruth.  That 
general  brought  over  some  provisions,  ammunition,  and  clothing ;  and 
now  the  entire  force  of  Ireland  was  placed,  by  James,  under  the  chief 
command  of  the  French  Marshal  St.  Ruth,  and  amounted  to  twenty 
thousand  men,  the  chief  part  of  which  moved  on  the  western  side  of 
the  Shannon,  towards  Athlone,  which  is  in  the  centre  of  Ireland.  The 
Irish  had  in  their  possession  all  Connaught  onwards  to  Sligo,  on  the 
north-west,  together  with  the  counties  of  Clare,  Limerick,  Kerry,  and 
part  of  the  county  Cork,  in  the  south.  They  were  protected  along 
their  front  by  the  Shannon,  and  in  their  rear  by  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

Ginckle,  at  the  head  of  seventeen  thousand  men,  with  twenty  pieces 
of  cannon,  moved  from  Dublin  towards  Athlone.  At  Ballimore,  within 
ten  miles  of  Athlone,  he  encountered  the  first  resistance,  where  a  garri- 
son defended  by  one  thousand  men,  under  Uliake  Burke,  bravely  fought, 
until  their  powder  was  exhausted,  when  they  surrendered.  Ginckle 
sent  seven  hundred  of  the  Irish  soldiers,  found  here,  to  starve  on  the 
Island  of  Lambay,  near  Dublin,  from  which  none  of  them  ever  returned. 
Before  Ginckle  captured  this  garrison,  he  encountered,  in  his  way  to  it, 
an  old  castle,  guarded  by  a  sergeant  and  fifteen  men.  When  called 
upon  to  surrender  by  the  general,  at  the  head  of  seventeen  thousand  men, 
this  undaunted  fellow,  with  that  reckless  courage  for  which  the  Irish  are 
remarkable,  ^rerf  upon  the  enemy,  and  made  a  desperate  resistance,  until 
he  was  dislodged  by  superior  numbers  ;  when  the  English  general,  in- 
stead of  applauding  him  for  his  bravery,  hanged  him  for  his  rashness. 
The  delays  offered  to  Ginckle  by  the  resistance  at  Ballimore  enabled 
the  Irish,  encamped  near  Athlone,  to  get  into  a  state  of  defence. 


SIEGE    OF    ATHLONE.  769 

Ginckle  moved  on  Athlone  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  18th 
June,.  1691,  with  twenty-five  thousand  men,  and  a  considerable  park  of 
artillery.  General  Fitzgerald,  who  commanded  the  outposts  of  the  Irish, 
sent  out  two  or  three  hundred  men  to  harass  and  delay  the  approaching 
enemy ;  which  service  they  performed  so  skilfully,  that  Ginckle's  ad- 
vance-guard did  not  get  to  the  walls  of  Athlone  for  five  hours  after  he 
set  out,  though  the  distance  from  his  bivouac  was  only  five  miles. 

St.  Ruth,  who  lay  a  few  miles  from  Athlone,  neglected  to  send  for- 
ward a  sufficient  force  to  defend  the  garrison.  The  outer  fortifications, 
on  the  Leinster  side  of  the  river,  were  now  attacked  by  Ginckle's  main 
army  ;  thirteen  pieces  of  cannon  played  upon  the  walls  for  forty-eight 
hours.  The  English  were  refreshed  by  relays  from  their  numerous 
army,  while  the  Irish,  consisting  of  only  a  little  band,  between  three  and 
four  hundred,  defended  the  outward  garrison  with  great  bravery,  working 
all  the  time,  night  as  well  as  day,  every  moment  expecting  reenforce- 
ments  from  Field-Marshal  St.  Ruth. 

At  five  o'clock,  on  the  second  day,  the  English  cannon  made  a 
breach  in  the  walls,  and  four  thousand  men  rushed  to  the  assault.  The 
gallant  band  within  the  fortification  fought  till  half  their  number  were 
killed,  and  then,  with  consummate  address,  a  party  of  them  went  to  work 
to  destroy  the  stone  arches  of  the  bridge  which  led  across  the  river  to 
the  Irish  side;  while  the  remaining  handful  withstood  the  murderous 
bayoneting  of  the  four  thousand  invaders,  until  the  two  stone  arches 
of  the  bridge  were  demolished,  and  then  only  the  remnant  retreated 
within  the  Irish  walls. 

Never,  surely,  was  there  performed,  by  a  besieged  few,  a  more  glori- 
ous defence  than  this ! 

In  three  or  four  days,  Ginckle  had  his  preparations  made  for  cannon- 
ading the  Irish  town.  He  was  soon  able  to  point  at  least  twenty  cannon 
and  mortal's  against  the  walls.  These  walls  had  been,  the  previous 
year,  especially  the  castle,  lined  by  clay  walls,  eighteen  feet  thick. 
The  English  batteries  had  been  playing  away,  for  five  days,  on  the  walls 
and  castle,  without  doing  any  great  damage.  On  the  27th  June,  the 
eighth  battery,  of  five  guns,  was  planted  in  a  meadow  below  the  town, 
to  rake  the  flanks  of  the  Irish  garrison.  Ginckle  had  fired  away  nearly 
all  his  cannon-shot.  A  hundred  cart-loads  of  cannon  balls  arrived  from 
Dublin  on  the  26th.  The  English  guns  now  blazed  away  night  and 
day ;  not  a  cat  could  safely  expose  its  head  on  the  Irish  ramparts :  the 
Insh  army  worked  like  horses,  in  filling  up  the  breaches  with  clay  and 
stone,  and  ventured,  with  the  rashness  of  desperate  men,  to  the  eye  of 
97 


770  BRAVE  DEFENCE. HEROIC  EXPLOIT. 

danger.  No  sooner  was  a  breach  made  in  any  part  of  the  walls,  than 
hundreds  of  stout  hearts  and  willing  hands  flew  to  repair  it,  though  every 
moment  some  one  of  them  was  shot  off  by  a  cannon  ball.  Sometimes 
they  drove  up  oxen  into  the  breaches,  which  were  siiot  by  the  enemy's 
balls,  and  falling  into  them,  the  Irish  adroitly  covered  over  the  carcases 
with  clay  and  stones,  which  made  excellent  ramparts.  The  English 
were  amazed  at  the  bravery  and  tact  of  their  adversaries,  and  the  French 
officers  acknowledged  they  never  saw  more  resolution  and  firmness  in 
any  men  or  in  any  nation. 

The  great  struggle  of  Ginckle  was  to  get  the  bridge ;  but  this  was 
contested  by  the  Irish  inch  by  inch.  At  length  their  wooden  fascines 
having  been  set  on  fire  by  the  English  grenades,  the  party  in  defence  of 
the  bridge  had  to  retire  within  the  fortress.  Ginckle  now  threw  beams 
over  both  of  the  broken  arches,  and  was  preparing  to  put  planks  across 
them,  intending  to  pass  directly  over,  boasting  to  his  officers  that  he 
would  spend  Sunday   (the  next  day)   in  the  Irish  fortress. 

At  this  moment,  a  brave  dragoon  sergeant,  named  Custume,  offered 
with  his  own  guard  to  stop  the  enemy.  The  offer  of  the  sergeant  and 
his  ten  daring  companions  was  accepted  ;  and  in  the  face  of  the  English 
firing,  they  began,  with  courage  and  strength,  to  pull  away  the  English 
beams  and  planks,  and  fling  them  into'  the  water.  A  tremendous  fire  of 
great  and  small  arms  from  the  whole  English  line  was  directed  upon  those 
gallant  fellows.  They  were  all  slain  before  they  could  complete  their 
desperate  task.  Undeterred  by  their  fate,  eleven  more  then  sprang  forth 
to  continue  what  remained  to  be  done.  Another  general  discharge  of  can- 
non was  now  directed  on  the  spot ;  the  smoke  cleared  away ;  nine  of  the 
eleven  had  fallen ;  but  the  beams  were  all  thrown  into  the  river.  The 
bridge  was  rendered  impassable,  and  two  of  the  gallant  fellows  returned 
in  triumph  within  their  walls. 

May  not  Irishmen  be  forgiven  for  pausing  on  this  heroic  deed,  and 
expressing  their  admiration  of  these  unparalleled  defenders  of  their 
country's  liberty  ? 

Ginckle,  foiled  a  second  time  in  his  efforts  to  cross  the  bridge,  now 
directed  his  artillery  with  terrific  fury  on  the  town.  The  Irish  guns 
were  disabled.  Thirteen  squadrons  of  horses  and  carriages  were  sent  to 
Dublin  for  more  ammunition.  All  that  had  been  brought  down  previ- 
ously was  nearly  used.  The  garrison  had  stood  an  incessant  fire,  for 
nine  days  and  nights,  from  the  "  whole  artillery  "  of  Ginckle. 

The  English  general  now  determined  to  ford  the  river,  which,  in  the 
memory  of  man,  was  never  known  to  be  so  low.     This  enterprise  having 


THE    ENGLISH    FOILED. ST.    RUTh's    JOT.  771 

been  communicated  to  St.  Ruth  by  his  spies  from  the  English  camp,  he 
instantly  made  preparations  to  drive  the  enemy  back  into  the  water, 
should  he  be  daring  enough  to  cross.  The  next  morning,  a  bridge  of 
boats  was  got  ready  by  the  English.  The  broken  bridge  was  approached 
under  cover  of  moving  galleries  and  breastworks.  The  Irish,  on  the  oppo- 
site side,  were  not  idle.  A  grenade,  flung  by  an  Irish  soldier  into  the 
English  works  on  the  bridge,  set  them  on  fire,  and  their  men  had  to  fall 
back.  This  disaster  retarded  the  plan  of  Ginckle ;  and  observing  how 
well  prepared  St.  Ruth  was  to  receive  them,  they  .thought  it  prudent  to 
give  up  the  attack,  after  expending  already  in  the  siege  fifty  tons  of  pow- 
der, six  hundred  bombs,  twelve  thousand  cannon  balls,  and  several  tons 
of  stone,  shot  from  the  cannon  ! 

Ginckle's  officers  knew  not  what  to  think,  seeing  themselves  a  third 
time  defeated  in  so  great  a  project.  The  Irish  were  filled  with  joy  at 
what  they  thought  was  an  abandonment  of  all  further  design  upon  the 
town.  St,  Ruth,  when  he  saw  the  English  retire,  marched  his  own 
army  back  to  his  camp,  two  miles  from  Athlone,  where,  to  commemorate 
the  enemy's  defeat,  he  gave  an  entertainment  to  the  ladies  and  gendemen 
of  the  neighborhood  —  a  fatal  trick  of  the  French,  by  which  Ireland  was 
twice  lost ;  first  by  this  very  carousing  of  St.  Ruth  after  the  victory, 
and  again  by  the  French  officers  who  landed  from  Tone's  expedition, 
in  Killala,  in  1798,  under  Humbert,  who,  having,  with  the  United 
Irish,  beaten  twenty  thousand  British  troops,  in  three  field  battles,  and 
driven  them  from  Casde-bar  into  the  heart  of  Ireland,  instead  of  pursuing 
the  victory,  gave  a  series  of  balls  and  entertainments  to  the  gentlefolks 
of  Castle-bar,  and  remained  ten  or  twelve  days  loitering  in  pleasure, 
until  the  enemy,  recovering  his  strength,  returned  and  defeated  them. 
Men  who  struggle  for  liberty  should  never  taste  of  pleasure  till  it  is 
won,-  and  secured  beyond  the  possibility  of  danger. 

And  here  I  must  remark  how  frequent  and  unfortunate  it  is  that  the 
liberties  of  mankind  are  jeopardized,  and  even  lost,  by  the  paltry  jeal- 
ousies of  chiefs.  The  Duke  of  Tyrconnel,  who  had  been  twice  in 
France,  the  successful  ambassador  of  the  Irish  ;  who  had  commanded 
in  many  well-contested  actions,  and  had  been  always  lucky  and  victori- 
ous, was  doomed  to  become  a  victim  to  a  cabal  raised  in  the  Irish  army, 
and  countenanced  by  St.  Ruth  ;  and  he  was  finally  so  disgusted,  that 
he  quitted  the  ranks  of  his  countrymen,  whose  ingratitude,  more  pow- 
erful than  the  steel  of  the  enemy,  had  entered  his  great  soul. 

The  English  government  at  Dublin  were  at  this  time  in  the  deepest 
gloom.     The  noble  defence  of  the  Irish  astonished  and  confounded  them. 


772  FOURTH    ATTACK   ON    ATHLONE. 

In  anticipation  of  their  defeat  in  the  west,  they  began  to  barricade  the 
city  of  Dublin,  to  secure  a  retreat;  and  Ginckle  had  actually  withdrawn 
some  of  his  cannon  from  the  walls,  with  the  intention,  it  is  said,  of 
retiring.  Ginckle,  mortified  beyond  measure  at  his  failure,  after  all  his 
boastful  promises,  now  held  a  council  of  war,  at  which  it  was  determined,, 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  3d,  to  ford  the  river  at  six  o'clock,  on  the  ensuing 
morning,  and  fight  a  way  to  the  Irish  ramparts,  which  were  now  so  much 
damaged  as  to  be  accessible  by  assault. 

The  attack  was  commenced  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  1st 
of  July,  1691,  by  two  thousand  grenadiers,  commanded  by  General 
Mackay,  led  on  by  Captain  Sandys,  and  — 

"  Under  cover  of  the  British  cannon, 
Their  grenadiers  in  armor  crossed  the  Shannon; 
Led  by  brave  Captain  Sandys,  who,  with  fame, 
Plunged  to  his  middle  in  the  rapid  stream. 
He  led  them  through,  and,  with  undaunted  ire, 
They  gained  the  bank  in  spite  of  all  our  fire." 

St.  Ruth,  at  this  time,  lay  with  his  main  army  two  miles  to  the  rear 
of  the  town.  He  did  not  dream  that  the  English  would  have  made  this 
fourth,  or  "  forlorn  hope  "  attack,  until  roused  from  his  bed  the  n)orning 
after  the  ball,  by  the  roar  of  the  enemy's  cannon.  The  town  was  un- 
protected against  such  an  attack,  it  having  not  more  than  twelve  or 
thirteen  hundred  men  for  its  defence ;  and  St.  Ruth,  by  the  most  un- 
lucky obstinacy,  and  unaccountable   pride,    refused   to   send   aid   in 

THE    MORNING,    WHEN  WARNED  OF    THE    PREPARATIONS    OF    THE    ENEMY 

by  the  commanding  officer  of  the  town,  who  sent  out  to  the  general  for 
a  reenforcement,  but  was  instantly  answered,  '•  if  lie  was  afraid,  another 
general  officer  would  be  sent  there." 

Meanwhile  the  English  gain  the  Irish  side  of  the  river.  The  example 
of  the  advance  companies  animated  those  behind,  and  soon  several 
thousand  of  the  English  were  seen  rushing  headlong  into  the  stream, 
while  their  artillery,  from  their  high  batteries,  with  well-pointed  aim,  cut 
down  the  Irish  as  fast  as  they  appeared  on  their  ramparts.  At  another 
part  of  the  river  the  English  threw  over  a  bridge  of  boats,  over  which  a 
column  of  two  thousand  men  soon  passed.  Enough  is  stated.  The 
town  was  encompassed  with  English  soldiers  on  every  side.  The  Irish 
fought,  and  fell  in  vain,  against  so  overpowering  a  force.  The  pride 
of  their  French  chief  would  not  allow  him  to  send  them  that  timely  suc- 
cor, which,  had  they  obtained  when  first  demanded    in  the  morning. 


ST.    RUTH    REFUSES    AID. SARSFIELD    INDIGNANT.  773 

would  have  enabled  them  to  destroy  a  third  part  of  Ginckle's  army,  and 
mayhap  decide  the  campaign. 

Fate,  however,  ruled  it  so.  The  perverse  Frenchman  refused  a  second 
application  from  the  town,  made  when  Mackay's  troops  plunged  into  the 
water.  He  is  described  as  having  been  then  quite  at  his  ease,  sitting 
in  his  tent,  signing  articles  against  the  patriotic  Duke  of  Tyrconnnel, 
and  about  to  set  out  on  a  shooting  excursion  :  "  It  is  impossible,"  he 
exclaimed,  on  hearing  the  news,  "that  the  English  should  attempt 
to  take  a  town,  and  I  so  near,  with  an  army  to  succor  it!"  To  this 
the  brave  Sarsfield,  who  was  present,  replied,  that  he  knew  the  en- 
terprise was  not  too  difficult  for  English  courage  to  attempt.  He  urged 
the  immediate  despatch  of  succor  to  the  town ;  but,  St.  Ruth  continuing 
to  make  a  jest  of  the  news,  a  quarrel  between  those  two  chief  com- 
manders was  the  unfortunate  result. 

St.  Ruth  was  convinced,  when  too  late,  by  the  thunder  of  the  British 
cannon,  that  the  action  had  commenced,  and  then  sent  on  two  brigades 
of  infantry,  which  were  useful  only  in  covering  the  retreat  of  the  remnant 
of  the  Irish  garrison,  who  were  driven  from  the  town,  and  were  found 
contending  the  ground,  inch  by  inch,  with  their  pursuers.  The  English, 
seeing  the  reenforcements  arrive,  retired  behind  those  walls  from  whicb 
they  had  dislodged  the  Irish  ;  and  the  latter,  dispirited  by  the  miscon- 
duct of  their  chief,  and  the  loss  of  five  hundred  of  their  body,  who  were 
slain  that  morning,  retired  to  the  main  body  at  the  camp. 

"Thus,"  says  O'Callaghan,  from  whose  very  minute  history  of  King 
William's  invasion  I  have  partly  compressed  the  foregoing  outline,  "  not 
through  native,  but  foreign  misconduct,  not  through  the  fault  of  the 
Irish,  but  of  their  general,  Athlone  was  at  length  taken,  after  a  resist- 
ance that  does  honor  even  to  Irish  valor."  The  loss  of  the  Irish,  in 
defending  this  place  during  twelve  days,  was  about  thirteen  hundred 
men,  with  all  their  cannon,  &c. 

St.  Ruth,  though  an  able  general,  had,  by  his  arrogance  towards  the 
Irish  commanders,  and  his  loss  of  Athlone,  so  disgusted  and  dispirited 
his  army,  that  upwards  of  five  thousand  of  them  abandoned  his  camp. 
Findino-  his  fame  and  cause  endangered,  he  suddenly  altered  his  bearing 
towards  his  companions,  sought  a  reconciliation  with  Sarsfield,and  busied 
himself  up  and  down  to  conciliate  and  encourage  every  body.  He  re- 
tired to  the  hill  of  Kilcommoden,  where  he  posted  his  entire  army  most 
advantageously.  A  bog  or  morass  secured  his  front.  (This  morass  is 
now  a  rich  meadow.)  The  only  approach  to  his  ground  lay  through  two 
narrow  passes,  about  two  miles  apart ;  the  one  called  the  pass  ofAu- 


774  RETREAT    ON    AUGHRIM.  PREPARATION    FOR    BATTLE. 

ghrim,  and  the  other  the  pass  of  Urrachree.  That  part  of  his  ground 
faced  by  the  morass  was  most  favorably  shielded  by  several  white-thorn 
hedges  and  ditches,  in  which  his  infantry  were  posted,  flanked  by  cav- 
alry and  a  few  cannon.  He  had  now  but  nine  pieces  of  cannon 
remaining.  His  reserve  was  strongly  intrenched  on  the  hill,  from  which 
he  could  observe  the  entire  movements  of  the  enemy  ;  and  behind  him 
all  approach  was  cut  off  by  rivers,  broken  bridges,  woods,  and  strong 
detachments  of  troops. 

St.  Ruth  was  unquestionably  a  man  of  first-rate  military  talent,  and 
seemed  now  determined  to  make  up  for  past  faults  and  follies.  Though 
he  had  not  yet  become  reconciled  to  Sarsfield,  still  the  army,  seeing  him 
do  his  part  so  well,  determined  to  die  or  conquer.  The  English,  after 
some  ten  days  spent  in  fortifying  Athlone,  posting  troops  at  several  points 
on  the  English  side  of  the  Shannon,  receiving  supplies  of  men  and  am- 
munition from  England,  &ic.,  now  approached  Aughrim,  which  lies  about 
three  miles  south-west  of  Balinasloe. 

St.  Ruth,  on  the  Irish  side,  flew  through  his  ranks,  and  addressed  the 
men  and  officers  in  the  most  enthusiastic  language.  '  The  clergy  also 
exhorted  them,  and  prepared  the  whole  army  for  death,  by  hearing  con- 
fessions and  administering  to  them  the  last  sacrament.  The  entire  of 
Saturday  and  Sunday  was  spent  in  those  solemn  devotions :  every  man 
was  fortified,  by  all  his  hopes  of  earthly  happiness  and  eternal  bliss,  to  do 
his  duty,  in  the  coming  batde,  to  his  country,  liberty,  and  his  proscribed 
religion.  St.  Ruth  had  now,  according  to  King  James's  Memoir,  but 
fiifteen  thousand  men  and  nine  pieces  of  cannon  ;  but  every  man  was  not 
only  a  soldier,  but  a  hero.  His  French  auxiliaries  were  reduced  to  some 
tea  or  eleven  hundred. 

Ginckle  approached  with  fifty  regiments,  full  five-and-tvventy  thousand 
men,  the  flower  of  Europe,  composed  of  Daries,  Dutch,  Germans,  and 
English,  besides  an  unlimited  park  of  artillery.  He  saw  from  the  oppo- 
site hill  the  advantageous  position  of  the  Irish,  and  calculated  on  a  hard 
battle.  The  morass  appeared  to  be  impassable,  and  the  only  two  passes, 
of  Urrachree  and  the  Castle  of  Aughrim,  were  strongly  guarded.  The 
first  move  made  by  the  English  was  on  the  pass  of  Urrachree,  on 
Monday,  the  12th  of  July,  1691.  The  morning  was  foggy,  and 
little  was  done  till  about  twelve  or  one  o'clock.  A  skirmishing  party 
were  sent  over  by  Ginckle,  consisting  of  two  to  three  hundred  men, 
who  were  decoyed  by  a  feint  battle  and  retreat  of  the  Irish  into  their  am- 
buscades, and  were  nearly  destroyed.  A  few  of  them,  retreating  quickly, 
were  supported  by  a  new  detachment  of  nine  hundred  from  Ginckle's 


ACTION    BEGUN.  775 

main.  The  Irish  were,  in  turn,  reenforced,  and  charged  the  enemy  so 
vigorously  that  he  had  to  retire  quickly.  Upon  this  Ginckle  ordered  a 
further  supply  of  cavalry,  four  hundred  and  eighty  strong.  Soon  ad- 
ditional forces  from  both  sides  came  on  the  ground  to  succor  their 
respective  sides,  and  a  sort  of  general  engagement  was  now  hotly  carried 
on.  At  length,  about  three  o'clock,  a  fresh  body  of  Irish  horse,  by  an 
impetuous  charge,  drove  back  the  English,  with  great  slaughter,  to -their 
own  lines. 

This  first  skirmish  altered  the  plans  of  the  English.  A  council  of  their 
officers  was  held,  at  which  it  was  debated  whether  the  battle  should  be 
continued  that  night.  Mackay,  the  Scotch  general,  who  had  so  bravely 
crossed  the  Shannon  at  Athlone,  urged  that  the  battle  should  be  con- 
tinued that  night,  and,  by  bearing  on  Urrachree  with  large  numbers, 
compel  St.  Ruth  to  weaken  the  Aughrim  pass  in  drawing  off  his  men  to 
defend  the  former,  when  as  the  English  reserve  were  to  pour  unexpected- 
ly upon  the  pass  of  Aughrim,  the  morass  was  also  to  be  sounded,  and, 
if  found  passable,  a  division  of  infantry  was  to  force  the  Irish  ground  in 
front. 

The  attack  was  thus  begun  by  the  English,  in  overwhelming  num- 
bers, and  with  all  the  impetuosity  of  which  the  human  heart  is  capable. 
The  Irish  received  them  bravely.  We  had  better  let  the  English  Parson 
Story,  v/ho  was  amongst  the  English  troops  at  that  moment,  tell  their 
tale.  "  Here  we  fired  .one  upon  another  for  a  considerable  time,  and  the 
Irish  behaved  themselves  like  men  of  another  nation,  defending  their 
ditches  stoutly ;  for  they  would  maintain  one  side  till  our  men  put  their 
pieces  over  at  the  other,  and  then,  having  lines  of  communication  from 
one  ditch  to  another,  they  would  presently  post  themselves  again,  and 
flank  us." 

St.  Ruth  despatched  part  of  his  left  centre  to  support  his  men  in  this 
hot  battle.  He  comprehended  the  plan  of  the  enemy,  which  was,  to 
weaken  him  at  the  Aughrim  pass,  and  felt  well  persuaded  he  should 
disconcert  and  overthrow  them  ;  for  he  was  truly  delighted  at  the  man- 
ner m  which  the  Irish  fought  that  day,  their  guns  being  muzzle  to 
muzzle  with  the  invaders. 

Two  thousand  of  the  English  had  now  crossed  the  bog,  plunging,  at 
every  step,  to  their  middle  in  mud,  and  appeared  at  the  foot  of  the  hill 
on  which  St.  Ruth's  reserve  was  posted.  The  Irish  received  them  with 
a  murderous  fire  from  their  hedges,  whence  they  retreated  from  hedge 
to  hedge,  half  a  mile  up  the  hill,  destroying  part  of  the  enemy  at  every 
discharge,  and  decoying  them  nearer  and  nearer  to  St.  Ruth's  main 


776  BRAVERY    AND    SUCCESS    OF    THE    IRISH. 

centre.  Too  far  advanced  to  recede,  and  seeing  the  Irish  now  prepared 
to  return  on  them  in  an  overvvhehning  avalanche,  the  English  commander 
of  this  attack  tried  to  rally  his  men  by  exclaiming,  "  There  is  no  way  to 
come  off  but  to  be  brave !  "  But  to  no  purpose :  the  remnant  of  this 
daring  band  were  driven  back  into  the  bog. 

Mackay,  who  was  now  crossing  another  part  of  the  bog  with  four  or  five 
thousand  men,  directed  his  advance,  under  Prince  Hesse,  not  to  engage 
the  Irish  until  he  and  his  entire  body  got  over ;  but  St.  Ruth  bore  down 
upon  the  young  prince,  who  was  too  proud  to  be  still  when  attacked, 
and,  forgetting  the  orders  of  his  wary  Scotch  general,  attacked  St.  Ruth's 
reserve,  who  enticed  him  on  as  the  others  had  been,  and  returned 
with  a  murderous  charge,  driving  the  remnant  of  his  brigade  back  upon 
Mackay's  reserve,  who  were  yet  wading  through  the  bog.  The  Eng- 
lish were  thus  repulsed  in  every  quarter,  and  the  fortune  of  the  day 
seemed  to  be  with  the  Irish  :  yet  the  English  fought  with  uncommon 
bravery.  "  Three  times  did  they  roll  the  tide  of  battle  against  the  Irish 
across  the  bog,  though  three  times  they  were  driven  back  to  the  mouths 
of  their  cannon,  by  the  victorious  Irish,"  says  their  own  writer. 

Ireland  had  at  Aughrim,  like  France  at  Waterloo,  her  Grouchy.  A 
recreant  commander,  named  O^Donnell,  who  was  marching  from  Con- 
naught  with  eight  thousand  men,  destined  to  act  on  Ginckle's  rear,  was 
expected  up  by  the  Irish  all  that  day.  The  troops  were  in  motion,  and 
heard  the  roar  of  the  artillery  ;  but  the  wretch  detained  them,  traitor- 
ously, as  afterwards  appeared  by  his  junction  with  William's  army,  at 
the  siege  of  Sligo.  The  traitor,  however,  met  his  fate  in  William's 
service  in  Flanders. 

Ginckle  now  commanded  his  entire  army  to  a  general  engagement  at 
all  those  passes  from  which  they  had  been  already  driven,  he  himself 
leading  and  fighting  like  a  common  soldier.  He  had  some  French  Prot- 
estants in  his  army  who  also  fought  desperately ;  but  the  repulse  from 
the  Irish  was  such,  as  their  account  of  the  battle  evidences,  that  "  they 
resolved,  having  no  other  way,  to  sell  their  lives  as  dearly  to  the  Irish 
as  they  could."  Instead  of  being  able  to  dislodge  the  Irish,  they  were 
repulsed  on  every  side.  "  The  Irish,"  according  to  the  French  accounts, 
"  made  a  great  massacre  of  the  enemy's  broken  foot."  Even  the  Lon- 
don Gazette  of  the  day  says,  "The  Irish  were  never  known  to  fight 
with  more  resolution,  especially  their  foot." 

St.  Ruth,  in  a  transport  of  joy,  seeing  how  the  Irish  infantry  fought, 
flung  his  hat  up  into  the  air,  and,  turning  to  those  around  him,  exclaimed, 
^^  I  will  now  beat  their  army  back  to  the  gates  of  Dublin ! ''     Ginckle 


DISASTROUS    MISTAKE. 


ST.    RUTH    KILLED.  777 


and  Mackay,  the  best  English  generals,  were  defeated  in  the  pass  of 
Urrachree,  and  in  the  two  passes  across  the  bog,  and  the  fortune  of  the 
day  seemed  setting  on  the  Irish  side,  when  a  very  trivial  circumstance 
turned  the  fate  of  war.  The  pass  at  Aughrim,  which  had  been  up  to 
this  but  little  assailed,  and  which  was  deemed,  by  both  English  and 
Irish,  the  strongest,  for  it  was  so  narrow  that  only  two  men  could  ride 
abreast,  and  was  covered  by  an  impregnable  old  castle,  which  belonged 
to  the  chieftain  O'Kelly,  —  was  guarded  by  one  thousand  nine  hundred 
men,  under  Colonel  Walter  Burke.  As  the  English  advanced  on  this 
point,  the  Irish  prepared  to  fire.  After  firing  the  first  few  rounds,  and 
when  a  supply  of  ammunition  was  required,  it  was  found  that  casks  filled 
with  cannon-shot,  instead  of  bullets,  were  sent  to  the  castle.  Here  was, 
indeed,  an  untoward  mistake.  The  Irish  were  panic-stricken  ;  but,  re- 
solved not  to  give  up  cheaply,  they  fired  their  ramrods,  pieces  of  copper 
and  silver  coins,  and  even  the  buttons  of  their  clothes,  at  the  enemy, 
which,  however,  only  wounded  them. 

Where  so  few  of  the  English  fell,  for  want  of  bullets  in  the  guns  of 
their  adversaries,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  they  forced  the  pass  of 
Aughrim,  and  thus  secured  the  very  best  ground  of  the  field  for  at- 
tacking the  Irish.  Although  the  English  were  twice  driven  back, 
yet,  supported  by  several  regiments,  they  forced  back  the  Irish  here. 
St.  Ruth,  observing  the  progress  of  the  enemy,  and  not  knowing,  the  cause, 
was  dashing  down  from  his  position  on  the  hill  with  a  splendid  body  of 
cavalry,  leaving  Sarsfield  behind  with  another  fine  body,  but  with  strict 
command  not  to  stir  till  he  received  orders.  St.  Ruth,  placing  him- 
self at  the-headof  his  choice  body  of  cavalry,  was  so  completely  sure  of 
success,  that  he  said,  '•'  Now  we  will  beat  them  to  some  purpose ; "  and 
giving  the  word  to  charge,  his  troops  dash  down  upon  the  enemy ;  but 
his  hour  had  come.  A  well-aimed  cannon  ball,  from  the  English  side, 
took  off  his  head  ;  and  in  that  head  were  contained  alone  all  the  plans 
of  the  battle.  The  brilliant  dress  of  the  French  marshal  identified  him 
to  the  enemy  —  a  hint  which  should  induce  all  skilful  commanders  to 
avoid  making  their  persons  conspicuous  by  tawdry  trappings. 

The  Irish  were  panic-stricken.  Sarsfield,  on  whom  the  command  de- 
volved, was  yet  on  the  hill,  and,  owing  to  the  coldness  that  prevailed 
between  himself  and  St.  Ruth,  knew  nothing  of  his  plans,  or  even  of 
his  death,  until  the  English  had  gained  the  hill.  Nearly  at  the  same 
moment,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stafford,  a  zealous  priest,  who  animated  the 
troops  during  the  day,  met  his  death  ;  and  a  "  great  delay  "  in  action 
having  taken  place  on  the  part  of  the  Irish  by  these  two  unfortunate 
98 


778  CHANGE  IN  THE  FORTUNE  OF  THE  DAT. 

circumstances,  —  and  where,  as  in  battle,  seconds  decide  the  fate  of  em- 
pires, —  nearly  half  an  hour  elapsed  before  any  regular  action  was  adopted 
on  their  side,  the  enemy  gaining  ground  all  the  time.  Yet,  in  the 
language  o{  Story,  the  Irish  contested  the  ground  inch  by  inch,  though 
irregularly  and  without  a  commander.  "  There  was  nothing,"  says 
he,  "  but  a  continued  fire  all  along  the  line,  the  Irish  endeavoring  to 
defend  their  ditches,  and  our  men  as  forward  to  beat  them  from  thence." 

The  English  now  pushed  up  the  hill  in  three  columns,  the  Irish 
fighting  their  way,  and  Sarsfield  still  ignorant  of  St.  Ruth's  death,  and 
afraid  to  stir  lest  he  should  give  cause  of  umbrage  ;  yet,  had  he  pushed 
down  the  hill  earlier  with  his  fine  body  of  reserve,  there  is  no  doubt, 
says  Captain  Parker  of  Ginckle's  army,  but  he  would  have  turned  the 
tide  of  battle.  And  now,  seeing  that  all  was  confusion  and  dismay,  he 
was  obliged  to  join  the  retreating  crowd  of  his  countrymen,  who  fled 
from  a  foe  double  their  number,  after  fighting  the  hardest-fought  field 
that  probably  the  history  of  Europe  records. 

A  good  retreat  was  now  Sarsfield's  object.  He  saw  himself  chief 
in  command  of  the  remnant  of  his  brave  countrymen,  and  he  determined 
to  proceed  at  once  to  Limerick,  the  theatre  of  his  former  glory,  where 
he  foiled  King  William,  and  there  make  a  last  brave  stand  for 

"  His  king,  his  country,  and  his  lost  estate." 

Two  battles  were  fought  by  the  encircled  Irish,  at  two  different  points 
of  the  field,  at  which  they  behaved  gallantly  for  half  an  hour,  cutting 
their  way  through  hostile  ranks,  rather  preferring  to  die  than  submit  as 
prisoners  to  the  faithless  invaders  ;  in  which  they  were  quite  right,  for 
nearly  two  thousand  Irish,  captured  during  the  day,  including  those 
taken  in  the  Castle  of  Aughrim,  were  inhumanly  butchered  on  the  field 
after  the  battle  !  The  loss  of  the  Irish  was,  according  to  King  James, 
about  four  thousand  men :  (the  English  make  the  loss  more.)  In  this 
number,  there  were  killed  of  chief  officers  six  hundred,  and  taken 
prisoners  one  hundred  and  eleven,  —  evidence  enough  that  the  Irish 
fought  well  "  at  home  "  that  day. 

Captain  Parker,  on  Ginckle's  side,  estimates  the  English  loss  at  three 
thousand  men,  besides  seventy-three  general  officers  killed,  and  one 
hundred  and  eleven  wounded.  The  battle  began  at  one  o'clock,  and 
lasted  until  sundown. 

Harris,  who  wrote  the  Life  of  King  William,  has  the  following  para- 
graph on  this  battle:  — 


SARSFIELD    NOW    CHIEF    IN    COMMAND.  779 

"  It  must  in  justice  be  confessed  that  the  Irish  fought  this  sharp  battle  with 
great  resokition ;  wliich  demonstrates  that  the  many  defeats  before  tliis  time  sus- 
tained by  tiiem  cannot  be  imputed  to  a  national  cowardice,  with  which  some,  with- 
out reason,  impeached  them,  but  to  a  defect  in  military  discipline,  or  to  the  want 
of  skill  and  experience  in  their  commanders.  JJnd  now,  had  not  St.  Ruth  been 
taken  off,  it  would  have  been  hard  to  say  what  the  consequences  of  this  day  would  have 
been.^^ 

"  This  admission  from  a  Williamite,"  says  O'Callaghan,  "  is  every 
thing." 

Such  was  the  field  of  Aughrim,  bravely  fought,  and  lost  without  dis- 
honor ;  gained  by  the  enemy  more  through  one  of  the  accidents  of 
war,  —  the  sending  casks  of  cannon-shot  to  Aughrim  Castle,  instead  of 
bullets,  —  than  to  his  bravery  or  skill.  Let  us,  who  live,  perhaps,  to 
fight  the  battle  over  again,  be  more  circumspect  in  packing  our  shot; 
and  let  us,  in  the  words  partly  of  Moore,  — 

"Forget  not  the  fields  where  tliey  perished, 
The  truest,  the  last  of  tlie  brave ; 
The  bright  hopes,  when  living,  they  cherished, 
Shall  live  with  its  on  to  the  grave." 

The  Irish  now  rallied  upon  the  strong  forts  yet  in  their  possession. 
The  principal  of  these  were  Limerick,  Galway,  and  Sligo ;  which 
covered  a  considerable  belt  of  the  western  part  of  Ireland.  Messengers 
were  despatched  to  France  with  a  report  of  the  war,  and  a  pressing 
request  for  further  assistance  in  arms  and  ammunition,  which  was  now 
the  principal  want  of  the  Irish.  Limerick  was  strongly  fortified,  and  the 
garrison  consisted  of  four  to  five  thousand  stout  courageous  men,  some 
of  whom  had  fought  at  Aughrim,  and  others  that  had  so  bravely  fought 
in  the  former  siege.  Galway  was  garrisoned  by  about  the  same  number, 
and  Sligo  by  as  many ;  while  Sarsfield,  at  the  head  of  a  splendid  body 
of  four  thousand  cavalry  well  mounted,  scoured  the  open  country  be- 
tween the  enemy's  lines  and  the  various  garrisons  in  possession  of  the 
Irish.  This  brave  officer  did  the  English  considerable  damage,  sur- 
prising and  cutting  off  whole  detSchments  at  a  time,  which  obliged 
them   to  keep  near   to  their  strongest  fortifications. 

Ginckle  now  laid  siege  to  Limerick,  whilst  another  division  was  sent 
to  Sligo,  to  force  that  city  to  surrender,  which  w^as  defended  by  Sir  Teague 
O'Regan.  The  English  army  lay  before  Limerick  from  the  middle 
of  July  to  late  in  September,  pouring  a  continued  volley  of  cannon 
balls  and  bombs  on  the  town.  This  continued  night  and  day,  for  sixty 
or  seventy  days,  without  any  other  intermissions  than  those  created  by 
the  occasional  heroic  sallies  of  the  garrison  on  their  assailants.     Upon 


780  SECOND    SIEGE    OF    LIMERICK. 

these  occasions  hundreds  upon  hundreds  of  both  sides  were  slain,  with- 
out disturbing  the  general  order  of  the  siege.  Upon  one  occasion,  a 
party  of  one  thousand  five  hundred  of  the  Irish  who  sallied  out  were 
so  closely  pursued  to  their  gates,  that,  whether  from  accident  or  design, 
five  hundred  of  their  number  were  shut  out  by  Colonel  Luttrel ;  and 
every  one  of  the  poor  fellows  was  butchered  at  the  very  gates  of  the 
garrison. 

The  Irish  garrison  was  at  length  gradually  encircled  by  the  British, 
and  all  intercourse  with  their  friends  in  the  country  was  cut  off:  their 
provisions  were  greatly  reduced,  and  Sarsfield  tried  to  get  some  horses 
into  the  town  for  food,  but  found  it  impossible  ;  and  what  was  still  much 
worse,  their  ammunition  was  gradually  decreasing,  without  any  hopes 
or  means  of  being  replenished.  Still  no  one  thought  of  surrendering  an 
inch  but  with  life. 

On  the  other  side,  the  affairs  of  King  William  in  the  Low  Countries, 
where  his  armies  had  been  considerably  reduced,  fighting  against  the 
combined  forces  of  Spain  and  France,  caused  him  to  send  word  to 
Ginckle  to  conclude  the  war  with  the  Irish  upon  any  terms,  provided 
they  submitted  to  own  him  as  king.  This  soon  got  wind,  and  it  en- 
couraged the  Irish  considerably.  In  the  mean  time,  private  messen- 
gers arrived  from  France  to  Sarsfield,  intimating  that  King  James's 
hopes  of  reestablishing  his  power  in  Ireland  were  declining  ;  where- 
upon Sarsfield,  Sir  Toby  Butler,  and  others  of  the  Irish  leaders,  thought 
it  best  to  come  to  terms  of  peace  with  the  English  general,  hearing  that 
he  had  power  and  directions  to  grant  them  every  advantage  which  they 
could  reasonably  hope  for,  if  they  had  conquered  for  King  James. 

To  be  brief,  after  several  negotiations  between  the  parties  on  both 
sides,  a  cessation  of  hostilities  took  place,  and  a  peace  was  agreed  to, 
highly  satisfactory  and  honorable  to  the  Irish.  The  civil  articles,  —  which, 
with  the  military  articles,  are  forty-two  in  number,  —  guarantied  to  the 
Irish  Catholics  a  free  exercise  of  rel^ion ;  the  privilege  of  sitting  in 
parliamenty  as  enjoyed  in  the  reign  of  Charles  the  Second  ;  a  freedom 
of  trdde,  and  the  benefit  of  domestic  legislation  by  the  national  par- 
liament in  Dublin  ;  the  guaranty  of  their  estates  to  all  those  Catholics 
who  liad  taken  up  arms  for  King  James  the  Second  ;  a  general  amnesty 
and  forgiveness  of  all  offences  on  either  side.  The  m,ilitary  articles 
guarantied  to  the  Irish  troops,  on  their  submission,  all  the  honors  of  war, 
as  may  be  seen  by  the  twenty-fifth  article  subjoined  :  — 

"  XXV.  That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  said  garrison  to  march  out  all  at  once, 
or  at  different  times,  as  they  can  be  embarked,  with  arms,  baggage,  drums  beating, 


THE    TREATY    OF    LIMERICK.  781 

match  lighted  at  hoth  ends,  hullet  in  mouth,  colors  flying,  six  brass  guns,  (such  as 
the  besieged  will  chose,)  two  mortar-pieces,  and  half  the  ammunition  that  is  now 
in  the  magazines  of  the  said  place ;  and,  for  this  purpose,  an  inventory  of  all  the 
ammunition  in  the  garrison  shall  be  made  in  the  presence  of  any  person  that  the 
general  shall  appoint,  tlie  next  day  after  these  present  articles  shall  be  signed." 

Transports  were  to  be  provided  to  send  to  France  such  of  those 
soldiers  as  wished  to  embark  for  that  country.  These  articles,  which 
run  to  great  length,  may  be  seen  in  Leland,  Plowden,  or  M'Geoghegan's 
Histories  of  Ireland. 

The  following  is  the  preamble  to  these  articles,  and  the  names  of  the 
high  contracting  parties  on  both  sides  :  — 

"Articles  agreed  upon  the   Third  Day  of  October,  One  Thousand  Six  Hundred 

and  JVi7iety-One, 

"  Between  the  Right  Honorable  Sir  Charles  Porter,  Knight,  and  Thomas  Con- 
ningsby,  Esq.,  lords  justices  of  Ireland,  and  his  excellency  the  Baron  de  Ginckle, 
lieutenant-general  and  commander-in-chief  of  tlie  English  anuy,  on  tlie  one 
part; 

"  And  the  Right  Honorable  Patrick,  Earl  of  Lucan,  [Sarsfield,]  Piercy  Viscount 
Galmoy,  Colonel  Nicholas  Purcel,  Colonel  Nicholas  Cusack,  Sir  Toby  Butler, 
Colonel  Garret  Dillon,  and  Colonel  John  Brown,  on  the  other  part: 

"  In  the  behalf  of  the  Irish  inliabitantd  in  the  city  and  county  of  Limerickj 
tlie  counties,  of  Clare,  Kerry,  Cork,  Sligo,  and  Mayo,  and  those  under  their  protec- 
tion, [which  words  in  Italic  were  omitted  in  the  clean  copy,  though  inserted  in  the 
rough  one,  but  afterwards  confirmed  by  King  William.] 

"  In  consideration  of  the  surrender  of  the  city  of  Limerick,  and  other  agree- 
ments made  between  the  said  Lieutenant-General  Ginckle,  tlie  governor  of  the 
city  of  Limerick,  and  the  generals  of  the  Irish  army,  bearing  date  with  these 
presents,  for  the  surrender  of  the  said  city,  and  submission  of  the  said  army :  it  is 
agreed,"  &c.  &c. 

These  binding  articles  between  the  English  and  Irish  nation  were 
solemnly  signed  the  3d  day  of  October,  1691,  in  presence  of  both 
garrisons,  on  a  large  stone  that  stood  in  the  midway  ground  between 
the  two  armies.  The  stone  on  which  this  charter  of  civil  and  re- 
ligious liberty  was  signed  is  yet  preserved  conspicuously,  and  held  in 
great  veneration  by  the  people  of  Limerick,  and  is  appropriately  called 
the  Treaty  Stone. 

In  two  days  after  this  treaty  was  signed,  a  French  fleet  arrived  in  the 
mouth  of  the  Shannon,  bringing  an  army  of  reenforcement  to  Sarsfield. 
This  created  considerable  emotion  on  both  sides  ;  some  of  Sarsfield's 
captains  urged  him  to  avail  himself  of  this  aid,  and  to  return  to  the 
combat  and  extinguish  the  English  army.  He  exclaimed,  "  No !  I 
have  set  my  name  to  the  contract,  and  I  will  never  disgrace  the  name 
of  a  soldier,  or  an  Irishman,  by  erasing  it."     Alas  for  Sarsfield's  con- 


782  IRISH    COMMANDERS    IN    THIS    WAR. o'nEILL. 

fidence  in  British  honor !  We  shall  by  and  by  see  that  treaty  deliber- 
ately broken  in  every  particular  by  Britain. 

And  now,  after  a  war  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  between  the 
Irish  and  English,  the  principle  for  which  the  Irish  first  took  the  field 
was  established,  namely,  religious  liberty.  It  had  been  wrung  from 
Elizabeth,  after  a  fifteen  years'  war;  subverted  again  by  James, the  First, 
Cromwell,  and  the  parliamentarians ;  partly  restored  by  Charles  the 
Second  ;  fully  established  by  James  the  Second  ;  subverted  by  King 
William  ;  and  now,  after  many  a  hard-fought  field,  again  wrung  from  a 
reluctant  enemy  by  the  indomitable  valor  of  the  Irish  heart. 

This  is  the  natural  place  from  whence  to  glance  back  at  a  few  of 
those  bright  names  who,  during  the  wars  from  Elizabeth  to  William, 
took  a  leading  part  in  our  eventful  history  —  names  that  fling  a  radiance 
over  the  past,  and  a  gleam  of  bright  light  tlirough  the  future,  which 
cannot  but  guide  the  votaries  of  Irish  liberty  for  ages  to  come. 

About  nineteen  thousand  men  and  officers,  most  of  whom  fought  in 
those  latter  battles,  availed  themselves  of  a  free  conveyance  to  France, 
and  were  afterwards  employed  by  the  French  king,  Louis  the  Four- 
teenth. They  were  offered  their  choice,  whether  to  serve  in  the  army  of 
William  or  Louis  :  a  day  was  appointed  for  testing  this.  The  Irish  com- 
mander?  having  resolved  to  go  to  France,  most  of  the  soldiers  decided 
on  following  them.  About  three  thousand  went  into  the  English  service. 
The  Irish  who  now  embarked  for  France  formed  the  celebrated  "  Irish 
Brigade,"  which  so  valorously  distinguished  themselves  under  the  French 
colors  at  various  battles,  to  whose  brilliant  deeds  upon  the  continent  I 
shall  by  and  by  allude. 

Amongst  the  names  which  shine  out  most  frequently  in  Irish  story  are 
the  O'Neills.  Every  reign  and  every  campaign  had  its  "O'Neill" 
among  the  rebels  to  English  domination  ;  and  I  do  not  remember  to 
have  read  of  a  traitor  or  runaway  of  that  name  but  one  in  our  whole 
history.  In  short,  to  do  justice  to  this  great  family  would  be  to  write 
over  again  the  history  of  Ireland.  Hugh  O'Neill,  in  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth,  and  Owen  Roe  O'Neill,  in  the  beginning  of  Cromwell's 
invasions,  were  men  whom,  as  military  commanders  and  patriots,  any 
nation  might  well  be  proud  of.  In  the  parliament  of  Ireland,  called  by 
King  James  the  Second,  there  were  seven  O'Neills  representatives  of 
northern  counties  and  boroughs.  Those  O'Neills,  indeed,  were,  in 
O'Callaghan's  words,  "  glorious  fellows,"  worthy  descendants  of  the 
race  that  held  the  Irish  sceptre  for  six  hundred  and  ninety-nine  years. 

Justin  M'Carthy,  Lord  Mountcashell,  deserves  special  notice.    He 


m'cARTHT. o'kELLYS. FITZGERALD.  783 

had  maintained  the  brunt  of  James's  battles  before  his  arrival  with 
French  aid,  and  had  been  eminently  successful  in  the  north  of  Ireland, 
where  he  fought  against  those  foolish  Protestants  who  espoused  King 
William's  cause  from  a  mere  fanatical  hatred  of  Popery.  He  was, 
however,  captured  by  his  opponents  at  Newtown  Butler,  and  kept  im 
prisoned  several  months,  but  escaped  to  France.  The  M'Carthys  were 
a  very  ancient  stock  of  the  southern  race  of  Milesian  princes,  and,  for 
nine  hundred  years  previous  to  the  invasion  of  Henry  the  Second,  were 
the  hereditary  princes  of  Desmond,  or  South  Munster,  who  enjoyed  the 
right  with  the  O'Briens,  who  were  princes  of  North  Munster,  of  nomi- 
nating alternately  a  king  of  the  province.  The  counties  of  Cork  and 
Kerry  were  their  principal  territories  ;  and  the  families  of  O'Callaghan, 
O'Donovari,  O'Connell,  O'Donoghue  More,  and  O'Donoghue  of  the 
Glen,  O'Mahony,  O'Keefe",  O'Sullivan  More,  and  O'Sullivan  Beare, 
besides  several  other  septs,  were  their  hereditary  vassals,  and  paid  them 
tribute.  The  M'Carthys,  as  vvell  as  the  men  bearing  the  above  honor- 
able names,  took  their  distinguished  posts  on  the  side  of  King  James. 
They  fought,  were  killed,  or  were  made  prisoners,  according  to  the 
indiscriminate  laws  of  war.  A  most  interesting  note  on  the  distinguished 
house  of  the  M'Carthys  will  be  found  in  the  Green  Book,  p.  235. 
Their  immense  estates,  worth  sixty  thousand  pounds  a  year,  were  un- 
justly seized  by  the  Williamites,  clearly  contrary  to  the  treaty  of 
Limerick.  The  last  of  the  family,  the  Comte  de  M'Carthy  Reagh, 
left  behind  him,  at  Toulouse,  a  splendid  library,  second  only  to  -that  of 
the  king  of  France.  In  this  magnificent  collection  there  were  eight 
hundred  books  in  manuscript,  of  the  utmost  value  :  they  were  sold,  and 
were  scattered  amongst  the  libraries  of  Europe. 

The  family  of  O'Kellys,  of  Hy-Maney,  a  county  comprehending  the 
northern  parts  of  the  county  Galway,  and  the  southern  parts  of  the 
county  Roscommon,  was  founded  in  the  fifth  century,  and  distin- 
guished themselves  in  the  Danish  wars :  one  of  the  race  commanded 
the  left  wing  at  the  battle  of  Clontarf.  The  name  gave  many  com- 
manders to  King  James's  army  ;  and  the  head  of  the  family  lost  his 
estate  at  Aughrim  by  the  loss  of  that  battle.  Many  officers  of  this 
name  rose,  by  their  valor,  to  distinction  in  the  French  and  Austrian 
services  during  the  last  century.  —  See  Green  Book,  for  further  par- 
ticulars, p.  255. 

Colonel  Fitzgerald  fought  nobly  in  the  defence  of  Athlone,  when 
attacked  by  Ginckle  before  the  arrival  of  assistance  from  St.  Ruth.  The 
name  of  Fitzgerald,  though  belonging  to  the  Norman  invaders,  has  re- 


784  "  o'reilly. 

deemed  the  sin  of  its  first  conductors  into  Ireland,  by  giving  many  a 
martyr  to  the  cause  of  Ireland ;  the  last  being  the  adored  Lord  Ed- 
ward Fitzgerald, — of  whom  more  hereafter. 

Colonel  Edmund  Bui  O'Reilly,  who  so  ably  fought  under  the  Duke 
of  Berwick  in  the  battle  of  Cavan,  which  took  place  before  the  arrival 
of  Schomberg,  was  the  head  of  the  ancient  and  powerful  house  of 
O'Reilly,  descended,  like  their  neighbors,  (the  O'Rourkes,)  from  Here- 
mon,  son  of  Milesius.  The  O'Reillys  were  princes  of  East  Brefny,  or 
the  modern  county  of  Cavan,  as  the  O'Rourkes  were  of  West  Brefny, 
or  the  modern  county  of  Leitrim.  The  O'Reillys  were  the  uncon- 
querable frontier  power  which,  for  so  many  centuries  after  the  English 
invasion,  kept  the  English  Pale  in  check,  and  forbade  its  advance. 
'They  distinguished  themselves  nobly  in  the  fifteen  years'  war  against 
Elizabeth.  On  the  fall,  by  treachery,  of  the  great  O'Neills,  their  patri- 
mony was  nearly  all  seized  about  the  same  time,  —  1607.  One  of  the 
sept  commanded  bravely  in  the  confederated  Catholic  army,  who  fought 
for  their  religious  freedom  in  the  times  of  Charles  the  First  and  Crom- 
well. There  were  several  of  the  name  killed,  as  commanders  in  King 
James  the  Second's  army,  at  the  Boyne,  Athlone,  and  Aughrim ;  one  of 
the  name  was  chaplain  to  King  James  himself,  and  another  was  master 
in  chancery  under  the  same  monarch.  There  were  three  of  the  name 
members  of  King  James's  parliament.  Many  flourishing  offshoots  of 
the  family  have  survived  in  the  counties  of  Cavan  and  Meath,  all  of 
whom,  as  well  as  the  O'Kellys,  have  given  many  shining  lights  to  the 
Catholic  church.  And  the  armies  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth,  the  Empress 
Maria  Theresa,  and  even  of  Napoleon,  had,  amongst  their  most  heroic 
corps,  some  members  of  this  noble  and  patriotic  house. 

Andrew,  Count  O'Reilly,  general  of  cavalry  in  the  Austrian  army, 
may  be  considered  as  the  last  warrior  of  that  distinguished  class  of 
Irish  officers,  the-  contemporaries  or  eleves  of  the  Lacys,  Dauns, 
Loudons,  Bradys,  and  Browns,  so  renowned  in  the  reigns  of  Maria 
Theresa  and  Joseph  the  Second.  He  was  the  second  son  of  James 
O'Reilly,  of  Westmeath,  Ireland.  By  the  brilliant  charges  of  his 
dragoons,  he  saved  the  remnants  of  the  Austrian  army  at  Austerlltz, 
and  was  the  only  commander,  according  to  Napoleon,  on  the  Austrian 
side,  who  saved  his  cannon.  The  men  who  fought  under  him  were  "  '98 
men,"  and  his  lieutenant  was  Aylmer,  of  Painstown,  in  the  county 
Kildare.  In  May,  1808,  he  was  governor  of  Vienna,  and  on  him  de- 
volved the  task  of  honorably  capitulating  to  Napoleon,  the  victor  of 
the  age.     Count  O'Reilly  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-two,  in  Vienna,  in 


O  CALLAGHAN.  MAGE 


—  m'mahon.  785 


1832,  holding  the  rank  of  general  of  cavalry  in  the  Austrian  army,  and 
chamberlain  commander  of  the  imperial  order  of  Maria  Theresa.  His 
sister  is  Lady  Talbot,  of  Malahide. 

In  August,  1844,  William  O'Reilly,  the  head  of  the  sept  in  our 
times,  died  at  the  old  castle,  county  Louth.  He  was  a  distinguished 
member  of  the  Catholic  Association,  and  served  in  parliament  for  Dun- 
dalk,  after  the  triumph  of  the  Catholic  cause,  in  1829.  He  is  suc- 
ceeded by  Miles  O'Reilly,  who,  it  is  said,  inherits  the  talent  and 
patriotism  of  his  family.  Mr.  O'Reilly's  uncle  is  the  present  attorney- 
general  of  Jamaica.  A  member  of  the  family  in  exile,  according  to 
Mackenzie,  has  written  a  history  of  Rochester. 

A  pretty  good  brigade  could  now  be  raised  in  Ireland  for  the  defence 
of  the  country,  composed   exclusively  of  the   O'Reillys. 

The  O'Callaghans,  or  O'Ceallahans,  of  the  Heberian  line,  had 
distinguished  themselves  in  defence  of  their  country,  since  the, hero  of  that 
name  defeated  the  Danes  in  many  battles,  down  to  the  war  of  William. 
Some  of  this  name  commanded  under  Desmond  in  the  wars  of  Eliza- 
beth. The  regiment  commanded  by  Maxwell,  at  Athlone,  had  a 
Major  O'Callaghan,  who  well  distinguished  himself.  It  is  hardly  ne- 
cessary to  state  that  the  talented  military  writer  of  the  Green  Book 
comes  from  that  ancient  and  noble  stock. 

The  Magennises  were  a  most  ancient  family,  that  gave  kings  to 
Ulster  for  many  centuries  after  the  first  Milesian  settlement.  They 
were  conquered  by  the  O'Neills,  when  the  great  palace  of  Emania  was 
destroyed,  and  the  royal  lineage  of  their  line  terminated.  They,  how- 
ever, continued  as  chieftains  to  defend  their  country  from  invasion  ;  their 
possessions  chiefly  lay  in  the  county  Down,  called  Dalriada,  now 
forming  part  of  the  baronies  of  Upper  and  Lower  Iveach,  and  the 
barony  of  Moy-Inis,  now  called  Lecale.  The  chief  of  this  noble 
house.  Lord  Iveagh,  furnished  King  James  with  two  regiments  of  in- 
fantry, and  one  of  dragoons,  who  fought  well  during  the  Williamite 
war.  Three  of  the  name  were  members  of  King  James's  parliament, 
returned  by  popular  constituencies  in  their  native  districts.  Two  of  the 
family  fell  at  Athlone,  bravely  leading  their  men  to  the  breach.  At  the 
end  of  the  war.  Lord  Iveagh  entered  the  Austrian  service  with  five 
hundred  men,  the  remnant  of  his  brave  legion,  who  fought  in  the  new 
service  against  the  Turks,  in  Hungary. 

The  M'Mahons  w^ere  lords  of  Monaghan,  formerly  called  Uiiel.  It 
was  an  extensive  tract,  and  we  find,  from  Sir  John  Davis,  there  were 
99 


786  o'gaRA.  GRACE. 

ninety-si'x  thousand  acres  of  M'Mahon's  land,  set  apart,  in  various  parts 
of  his  territory,  for  the  support  of  public  hospitality.  These  lands  were 
managed  by  that  ancient  public  officer,  the  beteagh,  whose  duty,  as  I 
have  already  described,  was  to  keep  food  and  beds  continually  ready 
for  the  traveller  and  the  needy.  "  They  were  a  race,"  says  the  vener- 
able Cliarles  O'Conor,  "  which  were  the  subject  of  much  panegyric 
in  the  works  of  our  annalists  and  Jileas ;  they  were  of  the  Heremonian 
line,  and  their  chiefs,  in  every  age,  won  the  laurels  due  to  the  brave,  the 
patriotic,  and  the  hospitable."  The  last  of  this  illustrious  house  was 
the  Reverend  Father  M'Mahon,  who  studied  and  taught  in  Spain,  having 
been  driven  from  his  priory  in  Ireland,  by  the  Orange  act  of  parliament 
of  1697.  Colonel  Art  Oge  MMahon,  one  of  the  house,  fell  at  the 
siege  of  Athlone.  This  distinguished  commander  was  King  James's 
lord  lieutenant  for  the  county  of  Monaghan.  Two  or  three  more  of 
the  family  commanded  in  the  same  service  ;  and  three  others  were 
members  of  King  James's  parliament.  Captain  Hugh  M'Mahon  went 
to  France,  after  the  surrender  of  Limerick,  and  entered  the  French 
king's  service.  These  northern  M'Mahons  must  not  be  confounded 
with  the  southern  M'Mahons  of  Clare  ;  the  latter  were  of  the  Hiberian 
line,  and  were  called  Dalcassians. 

The  O'Gara  family  —  of  whom  Colonel  Oliver  O'Gara  distinguished 
himself  at  Athlone  and  Aughrim  —  were  the  lords  of  the  barony  of 
Colavin,  in  the  county  of  Sligo  ;  which  immense  tract  was  forfeited 
from  them  (robbed)  by  the  English,  in  1641.  This  distinguished  officer, 
after  the  capitulation  of  Limerick,  retired  to  France,  where  he  was 
appointed  lieutenant-colonel  of  King  James's  regiment  of  foot,  which 
was  one  thousand  four  hundred  strong. 

Notice  ought  to  be  taken  of  the  brave  old  Colonel  Richard  Grace, 
who  fell  defending  Athlone.  He  was  not  of  the  Milesian  race,  but  of 
the  Norman  clan  that  followed  Strongbow  into  Ireland.  Raymond  le 
Gros  was  the  founder  of  the  family  ;  and,  in  the  course  of  ages,  that 
family  became  more  Irish  than  the  Irish  themselves.  The  southern 
family,  ennobled  as  Earls  of  Desmond,  gave  evidence  of  this  in  the 
times  of  Elizabeth.  Colonel  Richard  Grace,  who  so  bravely  fell  at  the 
head  of  his  regiment,  was  a  singularly  brave  and  chivalrous  person.  He 
was  beyond  eighty  years  of  age,  and  was  in  charge  of  Athlone,  when 
Douglas  attacked  it,  after  the  battle  of  the  Boyne.  ■  When  called  upon 
to  surrender  by  that  officer,  he  fired  a  pistol  over  the  head  of  the 
messenger,  exclaiming,  "Tell  your  n)asler,  these  are  my  terms!"  He 
ably  defended  the  fortress  against  the  invaders  on  the  first  occasion,  and 


O  CONNELL. 


•o'higgins.  787 


drove  off  three  thousand,  after  a  long  and  fruitless,  siege.  The  English 
commander  had  previously  sent  an  emissary  to  him,  with  an  offer  of  a 
considerable  bribe  and  dazzling  honors,  if  he  would  join  King  William. 
The  brave  old  hero  instantly  wrote  upon  a  card,  (the  six  of  hearts,^ 
which  was  accidentally  near  him,  a  stern  and  haughty  refusal.  This  card 
goes  by  the  name  of  "  Grace's  card,"  in  Ireland,  to  this  day.  He  had 
in  his  youth  fought  at  the  head  of  five  thousand  of  his  own  men  against 
Cromwell,  and  was  never  defeated  ;  but,  on  capitulation,  left  the  coun- 
try with  one  thousand  two  hundred  men,  returned  with  Charles  the 
Second,  and  fought  for  Ireland,  in  his  old  age,  against  King  William, 
falling  in  the  trenches  of  Atlilone,  which  town  he  had  three  times  before 
successfully  defended  against  English  invasion.  His  estate  lay  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Kilkenny. 

The  O'CoNNELL  sept  gave  commanders  to  Ireland '  before  now. 
Without  going  into  the  deeds  of  that  family,  until  1  come  to  treat  of  its 
present  chief,  I  will  merely  notice  that  Colonel  O'Connell  was  taken 
prisoner  at  Aughrim,  which  proves  that  he  was  in  the  thickest  of  the 
battle.  The  Liberator  tells  an  anecdote  of  a  soldier  who  fought  on  that 
day,  under  the  command  of  his  gallant  relative,  which  strongly  indicates 
the  resolution  that  pervaded  the  entire  Irish  army  at  that  men)orabIe 
battle.  On  Colonel  O'Connell  asking  this  poor  fellow,  the  morning  of 
the  battle,  why  he  appeared  unshaved,  it  being  the  Sabbath,  he  replied, 
"  Arrah,  curnil,  the  man  that  has  the  head  to-night  may  shave  it." 

The  O'HiGGiNs's  were  distinguished  in  those  and  the  preceding 
wars.  The  family  gave  three  martyrs  of  distinction  to  the  cause  of 
Ireland  within  the  seventeenth  century, — of  whom  two,  bearing  the 
name  of  Peter,  suffered  death,  in  Dublin,  for  their  faith.  It  must  be 
noted,  also,  that  an  excommunicated  priest  of  that  name  became  a 
traitor  in  the  Williamite  war ;  but  his  baseness  has  been  outbalanced  by 
the  numerous  great  spirits  given  by  that  family  to  the  liberty  of  Ireland, 
and  his  treachery  was  punished  with  death  by  the  guns  of  his  com- 
rades, who  killed  him  while  fighting  in  the  ranks  of  their  enemies. 
About  the  year  1610,  there  were  two  distinguished  poets  of  this  name 
in  Ireland ;  one  of  whom  was  archbishop  of  Tuam.  In  the  last  cen- 
tury. Sir  John  O'Higgins,  first  counsellor  of  state  to  Philip  the  Fifth  of 
Spain,  rendered  himself  remarkable  as  the  discoverer  of  the  works,  in 
manuscript,  of  the  Irish  poet  and  scholar,  SeduUus,  [Shiel.]  This  Sir 
John  O'Higgins,  says  O'Callaghan,  was  the  great-grandfather  of  Don 
Bernardo  O'Higgins,  president  of  the  republic  of  Chili,  so  distinguished 
in  the  annals  of  the  South  American  struggle  for  independence  ;  in  the 
success  of  which,  as  in  the  contest  for  freedom  in  the  United  States, 


788  o'hIGGINS.  officers    KILIiEI)    AND    WOUNDED. 

Irish  blood  so  amply  contributed.  The  original  founder  of  this  old  Irish 
name,  which  is  also  written  without  a  final  5,  —  O^Higgin, —  was  a 
son  of  Niall  the  Grand,  of  the  Nine  Hostages,  who  drove  the  Romans 
out  of  Britain,  in  the  fourth  century. 

The  man  who,  in  our  days,  bears  that  name  most  prominently  before 
his  countrymen,  is  the  illustrious  Dr.  Higgins,  bishop  of  Ardagh,  whose 
reply  to  Sir  Robert  Peel,  in  1843,  deserves  to  be  engraved  in  gold  on 
columns  of  marble  in  the  chief  cities  of  Ireland,  and  to  be  committed 
to  the  memories  of  the  whole  population.  "  I  have  sprung,"  said  this 
illustrious  man,  at  the  monster  meeting  of  Mulhngar,  where  two  hundred 
thousand  of  his  countrymen  assembled,  "  I  have  sprung  not  only  from 
the  people,  but  from  the  very  humblest  classes  of  the  people.  1  disdain 
and  contemn  all  the  pride  of  aristocracy.  I  am  of  the  people,  and  I 
sympathize  in«their  privations.  We  seek  for  a  repeal  of  the  union,  to 
put  an  end  to  those  privations.  The  minister  of  England  refuses  this 
measure,  and  threatens  us  with  physical  force,  —  to  put  us  down  by  the 
sword,  —  should  we  persist  in  the  demand.  I  speak  now  the  sentiments 
of  the  entire  priesthood  and  hierarchy  of  Ireland.  They  are  unanimous 
in  their  resolve  to  obtain  a  repeal  of  that  union.  We  are  now  all 
unanimous  on  this  point,  and  1  defy  Sir  Robert  Peel  to  put  down  the 
repeal  agitation  in  the  single  diocese  of  Ardagh  !  [Here  O'Connell 
cheered,  which  the  entire  multitude  reechoed  again  and  again.  '  That's 
the  best  news,'  said  the  Liberator,  '  I  ever  heard.']  They  may  drive 
us  from  our  fields  ;  they  may  deprive  us  of  the  open  light  of  day  to 
assemble  under;  but  we  will  retire  to  our  churches,  and  there,  when  we 
have  addressed  our  people  on  the  duty  they  owe  to  God,  we  shall  then 
lecture  them  on  the  duty  they  owe  to  their  country.  The  myrmidons 
of  England  may  follow  us  into  our  sanctuaries ;  hut  we  will  prepare 

OUR  PEOPLE  FOR  THE  SCAFFOLD,  AND  BEQ,UEATH  OUR  WRONGS  TO 
POSTERITY  1  " 

Let  those  who  have  the  honor  of  bearing  this  name  imitate  their 
illustrious  namesake  in  love  of  Ireland  and  exertion  for  her  freedom. 

The  following  is  a  correct  list  of  the  officers  who  were  killed  and 
wounded  at  Aughrim  :  — 

"  Killed.  —  The  commander-in-chief,  Lieutenant-General  St.  Ruth ;  Lord  Kil- 
mallock,  (Sarsfield;)  Lord  Galway,  (Burke  ;)  Brigadier  William  Mansfield  Barker  ; 
Brigadier  H.  M.  J.  O'Neill ;  Brigadier  O'Connell ;  Colonel  Charles  Moore ;  Colo- 
nels David  and  Ulick  Burke ;  Colonel  Cuconacht  or  Constantine  Maguire  ;  Colonel 
James  Talbot;  Colonel  Arthur;  Colonel  Mahony ;  Colonel  Walter  Nugent; 
Colonel  Felix  O'Neill ;  Lieutenant-Colonel  Morgan ;  Major  Purcell ;  Major 
O'Donnell;  Sir  John  Everard,  &c. 

"Taken.  —  Lord  Duleek,  (Beliew ;)  Lord  Slane,   (Fleming;)   Lord    Bophm, 


BURKE. o'bRIEN.  DILLON.  789 

(Burke ;)  Lord  Kenmare,  (Browne ;)  Major-General  Dorrington ;  Major-General 
John  Hamilton,  (who  died  of  his  wounds,  and  was  brother  to  the  gallant  Lieutenant- 
General  Richard  Hamilton,  captured  at  the  Boyne,  and  to  the  brave  and  accom- 
plished Colonel  Anthony  Hamilton,  who  fought  against  the  Enniskilleners,  and 
wrote  tlie  well-known  Memoirs  of  Grammont,  &c. ;)  Brigadier  Tuite ;  Colonel 
Walter  Burke;  Colonel  Gordon  O'Neill;  Colonel  Butler  of  Kilkasli;  Colonel 
O'Connell  ;  Colonel  Edmund  Madden  ;  Lieutenant-Colonel  John  Chappell ;  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel John  Butler;  Lieutenant-Colonel  Baggot;  Lieutenant-Colonel  John 
Border ;  Lieutenant-Colonel  Macgennis ;  Lieutenant-Colonel  Rossiter ;  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Macguire ;  Major  Patrick  Lawless ;  Major  Kelly ;  Major  Grace ;  Major 
William  Burke  ;  Major  Edmund  Butler;  Major  Edmund  Broghill,  (most  probably 
an  English  error  for  tlie  Irish  name  Braughall ;)  Major  John  Hewson,  &c." 

Colonel  Walter  Burke,  who  guarded  the  Castle  of  Aughrim,  be- 
longed to  the  great  Norman-Irish  house  of  Milo  de  Burgh,  who  came 
into  Ireland  with  Strongbow,  1170.  This  family  settled  in  Connaught 
soon  after  the  first  invasion,  and  assumed  the  name,  language,  manners, 
dress,  and  customs,  of  the  native  Irish,  and  were  deemed,  in  succeeding 
ages,  "  more  Irish  than  the  Irish  themselves."  The  Burkes  have  given 
heroes  to  the  independence  of  Ireland  in  every  age,  and  one  of  that 
family,  of  the  northern  line,  was  the  celebrated  Edmund  Burke,  whose 
genius  and  talents  were  wielded  in  favor  of  his  fellow-countrymen  in  the 
British  senate,  and  who  was  the  first  in  Europe  to  raise  his  voice  in 
behalf  of  the  then  struggling  colonies  of  America.  His  eloquence 
contributed  mainly  to  evoke  that  sentiment  through  Europe  which  in- 
duced Lafayette  and  Kosciusko  to  leave  their  homes  for  the  camp  of 
Washington,  and  which  induced  sixteen  thousand  Irishmen  to  fight  in 
his  ranks. 

Colonel  Charles  O'Brien,  of"  O'Brien's  regiment,"  went  to  France, 
after  the  surrender  of  Limerick.  The  O'Briens,  who,  like  the  O'Neills, 
have  occasionally  held  the  sceptre  of  Ireland,  have  their  names  inter- 
woven in  every  page  of  Irish  history.  The  above  colonel  was  killed 
at  the  battle  of  Ramillies,  in  1706,  when  his  regiment  was  given  to 
Murrough  O'Brien,  of  a  branch  of  the  same  family  ;  the  latter  distin- 
guished himself  as  a  skilful  officer,  at  Pallue,  in  the  French  king's  service. 
The  present  distinguished  William  Smith  O'Brien  is  a  member  of 
this  family, — of  whom  I  shall  have  something  to  say  under  the 
"  repeal  agitation." 

Lieutenant-General  Dillon  also  repaired  with  the  others  to  France, 
at  the  head  of  his  regiment.  There  were  several  sons  of  Lord  Dillon 
engaged  in  the  Williamite  war,  who  afterwards  proved  themselves  dis- 
tinguished officers  in  the  French  service.  Two  were  killed  at  the  head 
of  their  regiments,  at  the  battles  of  Fontenoy  and  Lawfeld. 


790  o'rEGAN. SEVERAL    OTHER    OFFICERS. 

Lover  gives  the  following  characteristic  sketch  of  these  brave 
men :  — 

'■  In  a  memorable  battle  fought  in  the  days  of  Louis  tlie  Fourteenth,  when  tlie 
French  were  scattered  in  every  direction,  and  the  fields  covered  with  the  dead  and 
dying,  Louis  addressed  his  general  thus  :  '  Can  any  thing  be  done  to  preserve  the 
honor  of  France  ? '  His  general  answered,  '  Yes,  my  liege ;  there  is  a  gallant,  in- 
trepid band,  the  Irish  Brigade,  upon  which  all  my  hopes  rest'  '  Dillon,'  said  Mar- 
shal Saxe,  '  let  the  whole  Irish  Brigade  charge !  to  you  I  commit  its  conduct 
Where  Dillon's  regiment  leads,  the  rest  will  follow.  The  cavalry  has  made  no 
impression  yet ;  let  the  Irish  Brigade  show  an  example.'  '  It  shall  be  done,  Mar- 
shal,' said  Dillon,  turning  his  liorse.  '  Victory ! '  cried  Saxe.  '  Or  death ! '  cried 
Dillon,  and,  plunging  his  rowels  into  his  horse's  side,  gallopped  along  the  front  of 
the  lines,  where  the  brigade  stood  impatient  for  the  order  to  advance.  Dillon  gave 
the  talismanic  word,  '  Remember  Limerick ! '  and,  heading  his  brave  regiment, 
down  swept  the  brigade,  and  shortly  the  hitherto  unbroken  column  of  Cumberland 
was  crushed ;  the  very  earth  trembled  under  that  horrible  rush  of  horse.  The  brave 
Dillon  fell,  but  ho  lived  long  enough  to  know  that  the  glorious  charge  of  the 
Irish  Brigade  had  won  the  day." 

JXor  should  we  omit  our  admiration  of  the  brave  Sir  Teague 
O'Regan,  who  held  Sligo  in  defiance  of  the  English  force  sent  against 
him  upon  three  separate  occasions,  and  only  gave  up  when  the  treaty 
of  Limerick  was  agreed  to.     He  died  in  Ireland. 

The  Abbe  M'Geoghegan  supplies  the  following  sketch  of  these 
heroic  men,  who  so  bravely  won  a  charter  for  their  country  in  the  face 
of  death  :  — 

"  The  troops  which  had  lately  arrived  in  France,  after  the  treaty  of  Limerick, 
were  new-modelled  in  1695,  and  reduced  to  twelve  regiments,  the  command  of 
which  was  given  to  those  who  had  most  influence  at  the  court  of  St  Germain. 
These  regiments,  called  "  the  troops  of  King  James,"  were,  — 

"  The  king's  regiment  of  cavalry  :  Dominick  Sheldon,  colonel ;  Edmond  Pren- 
dergast,  lieutenant-colonel ;  Edmond  Butler,  major. 

"  The  queen's  regiment  of  cavalry :  Lord  Galmoy,  colonel ;  Rene  de  Carne,  (a 
Frenchman,)  lieutenant-colonel;  James  Tobin,  major. 

"The  king's  regiment  of  dragoons:  Lord  Viscount  Kilmallock,  (Sarsfield,) 
colonel ;  Turenne  O'CarroU,  lieutenant-colonel ;  De  Salles,  (a  Frenchman,)  major. 

"  The  queen's  regiment  of  dragoons :  Charles  Viscount  Clare,  colonel ;  Alex- 
ander Barnwal,  lieutenant-colonel ;  Charles  Maxwell,  major. 

"  The  king's  infantry  regiment  of  guards :  William  Dorington,  colonel ;  Oliver 
O'Gara,  lieutenant-colonel ;  John  Rothe,  major. 

"  The  queen's  regiment  of  infantry :  Simon  Luttrell,  colonel ;  Francis  Wachop, 
lieutenant-colonel ;  James  O'Brien,  major. 

«  An  infantry  regiment  of  marines  :  The  Lord  Grand-prior,  colonel ;  Nicholas 
Fitzgerald,  lieutenant-colonel ;  Richard  Nugent  second  lieutenant-colonel ;  Ed- 
mond O'Madden,  major. 

"The  Limerick  regiment  of  infantry :  Sir  John  Fitzgerald,  colonel ;  Jeremiah 
O'Mahony,  lieutenant-colonel ;  William  Thessy,  major. 


FUTURE    DISPOSITION. IRISHMEN    IN   FOREIGN    SERVICE.        791 

"  The  Charlemont  regiment  of  infantry :  Gordon  O'Neill,  colonel ;  Hugh 
M'Mahon,  lieutenant-colonel ;  Edmond  Murphy,  major. 

"  Dublin  regiment  of  infantry :  John  Power,  colonel ;  John  Power,  lieutenant 
colonel ;  Theobald  Burke,  major. 

"  The  Athlone  reginient  of  infantry :  Walter  Burke,  colonel ;  Owen  M'Carty, 
lieutenant-colonel ;  Edmond  Cantwell,  major. 

"  Clancarty  regiment  of  infantry :  Roger  M'Elligot,  colonel ;  Edward  Scott, 
lieutenant-colonel ;  Cornelius  Murphy,  major. 

"  Out  of  the  regiments  which  the  Irish  nobility  had  raised  in  1689,  for  the 
service  of  James  the  Second,  several  were  disbanded  in  Ireland.  Most  of  those 
who  went  to  France  were  imbodied  with  those  we  have  just  been  enumerating  ; 
the  colonels  descending  to  the  rank  of  captain,  and  the  captains  to  that  of  lieu- 
tenants. The  regiments  of  O'Neill,  O'Donnel,  M'Donnel,  Maguire,  M'Mahon, 
Magennis,  were  formed  into  one;  Edmond  (Buoy)  O'Reilly's  shared  the  same  fate. 

"  The  regiments  of  Burke  and  Dillon  were  engaged  at  the  battle  of  Cremona, 
February,  1702,  in  which  they  particularly  distinguished  themselves,  and  con- 
tributed mainly  to  the  defeat  of  the  enemy.  As  a  mark  of  his  satisfaction,  the 
king  increased  the  pay  of  the  foot  captains,  not  only  of  these  regiments,  but  of 
thfee  others  which  were  on  a  footing  with  the  French,  to  twenty-five  pence  a  day, 
and  the  lieutenants  to  twelve  pence.  The  pay  of  the  second  captains  and  lieu- 
tenants was  increased  in  proportion.  The  soldiers,  also,  received  one  penny 
a  day  additional.  Dillon's  regiment  received  their  reward  in  hand,  as  they  al- 
ready had  high  pay. 

"  Sheldon's  regiment  of  cavalry,  to  which  a  squadron  was  added,  consisted  of 
three  squadrons  in  the  war  of  1700.  They  distinguished  themselves  at  the  battle 
of  Spire,  on  tlie  24th  of  November,  1703 ;  and  the  half-pay  captains  and  lieu- 
tenants, who  served  with  it,  received  an  increase  of  pay. 

"In  1708,  the  king  of  Spain  began  to  raise  two  regiments  of  dragoons,  and 
three  Irish  battalions,  consisting  of  the  prisoners  taken  from  the  English  army  in 
the  battle  oi'  Almanza.  These  corps  were  officered  by  the  half-pay  officers  who 
had  served  with  the  Irish  regiments  in  France. 

"  Peace  having  been  concluded  at  Radstadt,  on  the  6th  of  March,  1714,  between 
France  and  the  emperor,  the  regiments  of  Lee,  Clare,  Dillon,  Rothe,  and  Berwick, 
were  increased  from  twelve  to  fifteen  companies,  consisting  each  of  forty  men. 
In  order  to  make  up  tlie  tln-ee  new  companies,  the  regiments  of  O'Donnel,  wliich 
had  previously  belonged  to  Fitzgerald  and  Galmoy,  and  a  second  battalion,  which 
was  added  to  Berwick's,  were  disbanded.  O'Donnel's  was  divided  between  the 
regiments  of  Lee  and  Clare ;  Galmoy's  and  Berwick's  second  battalions  were 
joined  to  those  of  Dillon,  Rothe,  and  Berwick. 

"  From  calculations  and  researches  that  have  been  made  at  the  war-office,  it 
has  been  ascertained,  that,  from  the  arrival  of  the  Irish  troops  in  France,  in  1691, 
to  1745,  the  year  of  the  battle  of  Fontenoy,  more  than  four  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  Irishmen  died  in  the  service  of  France.  [Independent  of  which,  nearly  an 
equal  number  entered  into  the  service  of  Germany,  Spain,  and  Hungary.] 

"  Burke  applied  for,  and  obtained,  permission  for  his  regiment,  which  had  often 
served  in  Spain,  (in  order  to  avoid  shifting,)  to  offer  its  services  to  the  king  of 
Spain.  This  being  granted,  he  proceeded  to  that  country,  and  subsequently 
served  with  distinction  in  Sicily,  Africa,  and  Italy,  during  the  war  of  1733,  under 
the  king  of  the  Two  Sicilies,  to  whom  his  father,  the  king  of  Spain,  had  sent  him 


792  IRISHMEN    IN    FOREIGN    SERVICE.  O  SULLIVAN. 

in  1758.     Burke's  regiment  remained  in  Naples ;  it  was  called  the  king's  carps, 
and  received  an  addition  of  two  battalions, 

"  Through  the  changes  which  took  place  among  the  Irish  troops  in  France,  the 
kmg  of  Spain  was  enabled  to  increase  his  three  Irish  regiments  of  foot  by  a  bat- 
talion each,  so  tliat  he  had  six  made  up  of  the  supernumerary  men  who  remained 
unemployed  in  France.  They  served  at  Oran,  in  Sicily,  and  in  Italy,  in  1733, 
1734,  with  the  highest  distinction.  Four  of  these  battalions,  with  the  Walloon 
guards,  were  successful,  in  1713,  in  repulsing  the  enemy  at  Veletry,  and  in  saving 
Don  Philip,  who  was  in  danger  of  being  taken  prisoner." 

The  O'Sullivans  have  nobly  distinguished  themselves  through  every 
generation  and  age  of  Ireland.  In  the  Elizabethan  wars,  the  exploits 
of  the  O'SuLLiVAN  Beare  were  the  theme  of  the  bards  of  that  age ; 
and  succeeding  historians  have  not  failed  to  emphasize  his  deeds.  They 
are  a  very  ancient  Milesian  fauiily,  descended  from  OlioU  Olioll,  king  of 
Munster  before  the  Incarnation.  They  possessed  three  baronial  castles, 
of  great  strength,  in  the  county  of  Kerry.  The  castles  and  lands  of 
Dunkerron  were  theirs,  which  extensive  property  was  seized  by  the 
English  monarch  in  1602,  and  given  to  Sir  William  Petty,  the  founder 
of  the  Lansdoivne  family .  Sir  William  was  sent  over  to  Ireland  to  make 
a  survey  of  the  confiscated  lands,  called  the  '•  Down  survey,"  and  ob- 
tained a  considerable  share  of  the  plunder  for  his  pains.  Sir  William 
Bethem  tells  us  that  Kerry  O'Sullivan,  the  last  of  the  unfortunate  family, 
built  for  himself  a  mud  cabin  in  the  ruins  of  Ardea  Castle,  once  a  princely 
residence  of  his  ancestors.  He  clutched,  in  his  misery,  the  old  title- 
deeds  and  records  of  the  property,  and  his  poverty,  but  not  his  will,  wrung 
them  from  him.  The  O'Sullivans  are  scattered.  Branches  of  the  family 
are  to  be  found  in  the  city  and  county  of  Kilkenny,  where  they  have 
ever  distinguished  themselves  as  genuine  lovers  of  liberty  and  Ireland. 
One  of  the  family  was  returned  to  the  English  parliament,  member 
for  the  county,  on  repeal  principles,  in  the  election  of  1832,  and  retired 
to  make  way  for  O'Connell,  when  he  lost  his  seat  in  some  other  contest. 
The  Kilkenny  O'Sullivans  have  acquired  considerable  wealth  by  com- 
mercial pursuits,  and  are  now  equal,  in  that  particular,  to  the  proudest 
of  their  lordly  oppressors.  This  family,  like  their  proud  nation,  exem- 
plified, in  their  own  persons,  the  inextinguishable  vitality  of  their  race. 

Our  countrymen  have,  as  it  appears,  been  upon  every  battle-field  of 
Europe;  and  it  is  not  at  all  improbable  that  the  anecdote  related  by 
O'Donovan,  about  Napoleon's  grandfather  being  an  Irish  soldier,  named 
Gaul  BurJce,  who  fought  at  the  battle  of  Aughrim,  is  true.  Andrew 
Jackson,  quite  as  brave  and  good  a  soldier  as  Napoleon,  was  the  son  of 
an  Irish  father  and  an  Irish  mother,  and  the  world  need  not  wonder  if 
the  fact  of  Napoleon's  Irish  origin  should  be  established  more  distinctly. 


IRISH    F^XILES.  793 

There  is  no  part  of  the  world  to  which  the  sons  of  Ireland  were  not 
driven,  on  the  Pall  of  James  the  Second,  The  scattered  intellect  of  her 
vital  soil  may  be  traced  by  tl^e  light  which  it  shed  on  science  and  on 
arms.  Our  countryman,  Michael  Kelly,  one  of  the  first  musicians 
of  Europe  in  his  time,  tells  us,  in  his  "  Reminiscences,"  that  when  he 
was  at  Naples,  in  1787,  the  Russian  fleet  sailed  into  the  bay,  com- 
manded by  Admiral  O'Dwycr.  And  when,  a  few  years  after,  he  dined 
at  the  table  of  the  emperor  of  Austria,  at  Vienna,  there  were  present, 
among  the  distinguished  guests.  Marshals  Lacy,  O'Donnell,  and  Kava- 
nagh.  Marshal  Lacy  was  born  of  Irish  parents,  in  Russia !  Kava- 
nagh,  he  tells  us,  addressed  him  in  Irish,  which  he  not  understanding, 
the  emperor  turned  round,  exclaiming,  "  What  !  Kelly  !  don't  you 
speak  the  language  of  your  own  country?"  —  In  South  America, 
through  the  armies  of  Spain,  in  which  Irishmen  were  ever  honored, 
very  many  of  them  rose  to  the  highest  rank  in  the  dependencies  of 
that  once  powerful  nation.  The  very  last  Spanish  viceroy  of  Mexico 
was  O^ Donohue.  The  present  governor  of  Cuba,  General  O' Donnell, 
is,  of  course,  Irish  descended.  An  Irish  brigade,  commanded  by  General 
Devereiix,  fought  under  Bolivar  in  the  revolution  of  1823.  The  ven- 
erable Devereux  is  still  living  in  Tennessee.  Colonel  3TKenna,  who 
fought  by  the  side  of  O'Higgins,  in  Chili,  deserves  a  record  among  the 
good  and  the  great.  The  first  explorer  and  founder  of  a  civilized  com- 
munity in  Texas  was  Magee.  (See  Niles's  Texas,  page  208.)  And 
the  president  of  the  little  senate  of  the  new  settlement  of  Oregon  is 
also  of  Irish  descent. 

I  have,  in  other  pages,  glanced  at  the  share  which  Irishmen  had  in 
the  republican  struggles  of  the  United  States.  The  flag  of  resistance  to 
British  supremacy  was  raised  in  Philadelphia  by  Charles  Thompson,  an 
Irishman,  so  early  as  1765,  who  agitated  with  "Molyneux's  Inquiry"  in 
his  hand.  This  was  ten  years  before  the  states  combined,  and  took  the 
field.  And  the  man  whom  the  first  American  congress  appointed  as 
their  secretary  was  this  same  Thompson,  who  retained  his  post  to  the 
triumphant  termination  of  the  struggle.  There  were  four  or  five  Irish- 
men present,  and  signed  thedeclaration  of  independence,  —  Smith,  Tay- 
lor, Thornton,  and  Carroll  of  Carrollton.  Smith  commanded  the 
"Pennsylvania  Line,"  which  may  be  called  the  "Irish  brigade"  of 
America.  When  the  time  came  for  taking  the  field  and  the  ocean, 
Montgomery,  next  in  command  to  Washington,  led  the  northern  army, 
and  Barry  was  appointed  to  the  Lexington,  the  first  war-ship  built  by 
the  confederated  states.  The  first  came  from  Donegal,  in  Ireland  ;  and 
the  second,  from  Wexford. 
100 


794  SARSFIELD. 

Francis  the  First,  emperor  of  Germany,  left  the  following  memoran- 
dum amongst  his  papers,  which  was  found  after  his  death,  in  1765 : 
"  The  more  Irish  in  the  Austrian  service  the  better ;  our  troops  will 
alwaj^s  be  disciplined  ;  an  Irish  coward  is  an  uncommon  character;  and 
what  the  natives  of  Ireland  dislike,  even  from  principle,  they  generally 
perform  through  a  desire  of  glory  ;"  —  which  means  that,  though  Irish- 
men have  sometimes  been  obliged  to  fight  on  the  wrong  side,  yet  their 
paramount  love  of  glory  has  caused  them,  for  its  sake  alone,  to  risk 
life  freely  where  certain  death  awaited  them.  When  Maria  Theresa, 
the  queen  of  Hungary,  instituted  fifty  crosses  of  the  legion  of  honor, 
to  be  given  to  the  men  who  should  most  distinguish  themselves  in  her 
wars,  forty-six  of  them  were  won  by  Irishmen. 

One  of  the  bravest  officers  in  the  French  army  now  (1844)  in 
Africa,  is  Colonel  O'Keefe.  His  name  has  been  mentioned  with  great 
praise  by  Colonel  Tempoure.  O'Keefe  and  his  brave  companions  (the 
twenty-sixth)  were  brought  into  action,  after  a  march  of  twenty  leagues, 
(performed  in  fifty-six  hours,)  with  knapsacks  and  arms,  under  the 
broiling  sun  of  Africa ;  and  his  exploits  at  that  action  are  trumpeted 
through  Europe. 

I  have  reserved  the  most  brilliant  soldier  of  all  this  war  for  the  last 
page  of  my  prolonged  lecture. 

He  was  the  illustrious  Patrick  Sarsfield,  earl  of  Lucan.  His 
brother,  the  earl  of  Kilmallock,  was  killed  leading  a  charge  at  Aughrim. 
The  inheritance  of  the  Sarsfields  was  a  territory  near  Sligo.  I  cannot 
trace  their  pedigree  to  remote  Milesian  generations  ;  but  it  matters  not. 
Patrick  Sarsfield  commanded  a  regiment  of  Sligo  horse  at  the 
Boyne.  When  King  James  fled,  and  the  fortune  of  the  day  decided 
against  the  Irish,  Sarsfield  and  Tyrconnell  secured  a  good  retreat  for 
their  discomfited  army  to  the  western  side  of  the  Shannon,  on  which, 
as  the  event  proved,  they  made  capital  arrangements  to  repulse  the 
enemy  all  along  the  line  from  Cork  to  Sligo. 

It  was  this  Patrick  Sarsfield,  who,  with  five  hundred  brave 
horsemen,  passed  out  of  the  city  of  Limerick,  while  closely  besieged  by 
King  William,  in  1689,  and,  crossing  the  Shannon  twelve  miles  above 
the  city,  gallopped  to  the  rear  of  King  William's  camp,  blew  up  his  train 
of  artillery  and  wagons  of  ammunition,  just  arrived  from  Dublin,  killed 
the  guards  that  protected  it,  returned  behind  his  city  walls,  and  all 
within  hearing  of  the  Orange  kino-. 

It  was  this  Patrick  Sarsfield  that  animated  the  brave  men  and  brave 
women  of  Limerick  to  that  supernatural  courage  which  they  displayed 


SARSFIELD.  795 

at  the  first  siege  of  that  city,  when  they  stood  in  the  breach  and  drove 
the  invaders  off;  and,  had  the  destinies  of  Ireland  and  King  James  been 
left  in  his  hands,  King  William  would  most  assuredly  have  been  de- 
feated, and  Ireland  would  have  been  erected,  under  the  exiled  monarch, 
into  an  independent  kingdom. 

But  fate  ruled  it  otherwise.  St.  Ruth,  the  talented  but  conceited  St. 
Ruth,  was  sent  by  the  French  king,  to  command  the  Irish,  after  those 
brilliant  achievements  of  Sarsfield  had  been  performed.  It  was  the 
condition  upon  which  the  aid  of  money  and  ammunition  alone  would  be 
given.  We  have  seen  how  he  commanded,  in  his  shameful  loss  of 
Athlone,  the  key  of  Ireland.  Sarsfield's  great  spirit  could  not  brook 
such  trifling  with  the  dearest  interests  of  his  country.  He  was  present 
in  St.  Ruth's  tent  on  the  morning  he  refused  aid  to  Athlone ;  and,  though 
he,  the  second  in  command,  urged  the  French  marshal  to  despatch  this 
aid,  he  received  for  reply  the  contemptuous  answer,  "  Don't  the  English 
know  I  am  here?  " 

When  the  town  was  lost,  Sarsfield's  indignation  knew  no  bounds  :  he 
challenged  St.  Ruth  on  the  spot,  but  the  friends  of  the  great  cause  in- 
terfered, to  reconcile  them. 

The  following  poetic  sketch  of  the  quarrel  is  taken  from  a  beautifully 
written  tragedy,  entitled  the  '•'  Battle  of  Aughrim,"  which  was  pub- 
lished and  acted  about  the  year  1770.  We  should  be  glad  to  see  it 
occasionally  brought  forward  on  the  stage. 

'  Sarsfield.  —  Be  calm,  my  soul ;  my  swelling  spleen,  assuage, 

And  curb  the  boiling  madness  of  my  rage  : 

Now  let  the  earth  be  in  a  chaos  hurled ; 

Let  earthquakes  rise  and  overthrow  the  world; 

Let  gloomy  vapors  veil  the  dusky  air; 

And  let  all  mankind  sink  beneath  despair ; 

Let  Sol  and  Cynthia  now  wuhdraw  their  light, 

And  let  tiie  stars  no  longer  rule  the  night, 

But  let  all  nature  be  extinguished  quite! 

O  heavens !  Athlone  is  lost,  that  lovely  seat, 

The  pride  of  empire,  and  the  throne  of  state ; 

Thy  sons  are  slaughtered,  and  thy  walls  betrayed, 

Because  that  traitor  Avould  not  send  thee  aid ; 

But  I'll  revenge  the  wrong,  and  he  shall  fall ; 

The  crime  is  great,  though  the  revenge  is  small. 

Come,  draw!  and  let  your  sword  afford  your  heart  relie£ 
St.  Ruth.  —  Consider,  Sarsfield,  I  am  here  your  chief!  — 

Your  country's  ruin  would  attend  our  strife. 
Sarsjield.  —  No  thought  but  that  could  save  your  life.' 

«  •  *  *  • 


796  SARSFIELD. 

The  quarrel  had  not  time  to  be  healed  at  the  battle  of  Aughrim,  and 
this  prevented  Sarsfield  knowing  the  commander-in-chief's  plan  of  battle, 
which  was  unknown  to  any  when  he  fell,  —  a  chief  cause  of  the  Irish 
defeat  that  day. 

After  the  treaty  of  Limerick  with  King  William,  Sarsfield,  at  the  head 
of  four  thousand  men,  passed  over  into  France,  and,  in  the  French 
king's  service,  defeated  the  troops  of  that  same  William,  in  many  a 
well-fought  field  of  the  Low  Countries.  He  was  killed  in  the  midst 
of  victory  at  the  battle  of  Nerwindle,  170L*  As  the  life-blood  gushed 
from  his  heart,  he  caught  some  of  it  in  his  hand,  and,  looking  at  it, 
exclaimed,  "  O,  if  this  blood  had  been  shed  for  Ireland!'^  These 
were  his  last  words.  When  will  grateful  Irishmen  erect  to  him  a  monu- 
ment in  that  noble  city  of  Limerick,  which  he  so  well  defended,  and 
at  the  walls  of  which  his  valor  extorted  those  terms  from  the  invader 
which  restored  to  many  noble  and  wealthy  Irish  families  their  present 
estates.  France,  more  grateful,  has  erected  for  him,  in  her  most  splendid 
city,  (Versailles,)  a  monument,  inscribed  to  "  Patrick  Sarsfield,  Earl 
of  Luc  an,"  in  letters  of  gold. 

The  names  of  O'Brien,  earl  of  Clare,  and  several  more  of  our  exiled 
countrymen,  are  to  be  found  in  this  hall  of  honor.  There  are  no  less  than 
four  paintings  in  it  of  the  battle  of  Fontenoy,  won  from  the  English  by 
the  Irish  Brigade,  on  the  11th  May,  1745.  In  these,  the  Irish  Brigade 
is  conspicuously  seen  charging  the  flying  enemy. 

These  are  the  "  lessons  of  history  "  which  teach  us  to  rely  more  on 
ourselves  than  on  others,  in  accomplishing  our  freedom.  If  the  Irish 
have  one  addiction  more,  damning  to  their  freedom  than  another,  it  is 
ihe\v  pride,  which  renders  them  jealous  of  each  other,  and,  therefore,  un- 
willing to  obey  each  other.  Any  coxcomb  of  another  nation  can  lead 
or  command  them  ;  but  to  each  other,  howsoever  fitted  by  nature  and 
acquirements  some  may  be  to  lead  in  counsel  or  in  battle,  the  most 
ignorant  will  hardly  yield  obedience.  If  I  could  exude  my  heart's  blood 
into  my  pen,  I  would  write  with  the  ruddy  drops,  —  to  this  addiction 
IS  Ireland  indebted  for  her  fall,  and  her  sons  for  being  the 

SLAVES  of  every  NATION  UPON  EARTH. 

*  I  have  seen  another  account  which  makes  the  scene  of  his  death  the  field  of  Lan- 
don,  and  the  time  29th  of  July,  1693,  while  leading  the  victorious  charge  against 
King  William. 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


797 


THE    WOMEN    OF    LIMERICK! 


DEDICATED    TO    THE    LADIES    OF    LIMERICK, 


BY     T.     MOONEY. 

^jr,  "  Garryown." 


J 


rah     for   the    wo  -  men  of      Lim  -  er  -  ick  town, 


=5: 


'n        \' 


3e:3: 


Whom  the    pow  -  er    of    Wil  -liam  could  nev  -  er  put  down! 


Hur  -  rah      for  brave  Sarsfield  !  tho'  dead    in  his  grave,     His 


-fy-jfy 

.«     .  W~'       -'  ^ 

ifc         1^      "fc             T 

'JLh-u-     a    '      9- 

T—     ^     a     - 

1^        _l*«i  TH^-             V 

>oJ/ i ^ 

-"^  ^-  * 

&    .      *      *       ^      ± 

spir    -    It     yet 


val  -  iant     and     brave. 


And    if       ev  -  er    the     day     shall     come     a  -  gain,     When 


Lim  -  er  -  ick    wo  -  men  and     Lim  -  er  -  ick   men     Shall  be 


-f 


-h 


— .w- 


called     to  the  breach  to    de    -    fend  their  own  land,      May 

Da  Capo, 


115 ^- 


'n: 


we         all   be     there    just  to         give     them   a     hand. 


798 


ftlUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


2. 

Remember  the  treaty  of  Limerick  Stone ; 
Remember  they  broke  it  wiien  Sarsfield  was  gone ; 
Our  cloth  manufacture  they  crushed  without  cause ; 
And  they  struck  down  our  rights,  our  religion,  and  laws. 
But  if  ever  we  trust  the  Saxons  again, 
Who  butchered  our  women,  our  clergy,  and  men. 
May  we  ever  be  slaves  in  the  land  of  our  sires. 
And  bundled  and  burnt  in  Sassanagh  fires. 
Then  hurrah,  he. 

3. 

Of  all  Erin's  cities,  there  never  was  one 
That  stood  out  for  freedom  like  old  Garry  own ;  * 
For  years  in  their  garrison  bravely  they  fought ; 
And  never  were  conquered,  or  frightened,  or  bought. 
And  the  daughters  of  Limerick  we  ever  shall  prize, 
For  brave  are  their  hearts,  and  bright  are  their  eyes  ; 
And  if  ever  the  Sassanagh  f  strike  them  again. 
We'll  be  over  and  save  them,  with  plenty  of  men. 
Then  hurrah,  &ic. 


Popular  name  for  the  city  of  Limerick. 


t  Intruder,  invader. 


I'LL    LOVE    THEE    NO    MORE. 


-^--w- 


~r 


!?»L 


-^      1 


. *   r#  • 


"H" 


L     When  the    rose-bud    of     summer,         its  beau  -  ty     be 


stow  -  ing.     On  win  -  ter's  rude  blast    all     its   sweetness  shall 


pour,     And  the   sun  -  shine  of    day    in  night's   darkness    be 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


799 


-- i -^-±9—1. 

— IP  9  ^ 


=pi: 


glow  -  ing,      O,         then,     dear  -  est         El  -  len, 


"I     I 


I'll 


¥ 


T- 


love      thee     no 


I'll       love      thee      no 


-Fn^^ — \ 


"1 — I — I — I    *^~#~  ~ 
#~g — g — I 


more. 


And  the     sun  -  shine       of        day        in       night's 


«^»n — i— 


dark  -  ness       be        glow  -  ing,  O,     then,      dear  -  est 


T" 


"*i^ 


¥ 


'91 


*  El  -  len,        I'll  love      thee     no 


more. 


2. 

When  of  hope  the  last  spark,  which  thy  smiles  loved  to  cherish, 

In  my  bosom  shall  die,  and  its  sweetness  be  o'er; 
And  the  pulse  of  that  heart,  which  adores  thee,  shall  perish, 
O,  then,  dearest  Ellen,  I'll  love  you  no  more. 
And  the  pulse  of  that  heart,  which  adores  thee,  shall  perish, 
O,  then,  dearest  Ellen,  I'll  love  you  no  more, 

I'll  love  you  no  more,  I'll  love  you  no  more, 
O,  then,  dearest  Ellen,  I'll  love  you  no  more. 


*  I  have  heard  Erin  substituted  for  Ellen,  with  a  pleasing  effect,  in  this  beauti- 
ful song. 


800 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


FORGET    NOT    THE    FIELD. 


BY    MOORE. 


De3P0NDINGL7. 


-^; 


I3E 


3        I r~i      ^ 


X 


~r' 


1.     For  -  get      not       the     field      where         they  perished, 


hnS' 


^^ 


± 


n-Z^Sird: 


-r^- 


[""^r- 


The        tru  -  est,      the      last       of  the       brave ; 


^ 


—fS- 


-!?1- 


~~\~ 


;=EfeE 


-#  #~T- 


i^zzFg 


All      gone !     and      the      bright    hope     we      cherished 


^•^ZZi^~L — I" 


zi: 


"I — r' 


-'fistsail 


n 


b=^: 


Gone     with  them,      and  quenched  in 


ST 

their     grave  ! 


^Sr7P~ 


^ 


E*l 


-iS- 


MUSIC    AND    POETRY. 


801 


2. 

O!    could  we  from  death  but  recover 
Those  hearts  as  they  bounded  before, 

In  the  face  of  high  Heaven  to  fight  over 
That  combat  for  freedom  once  more ! 


Could  the  chain  for  an  instant  be  riven, 
Which  Tyranny  flung  round  us  then, 

O  !    'tis  not  in  man,  nor  in  Heaven, 
To  let  Tyranny  bind  it  again ! 


But  'tis  past,  —  and,  though  blazoned  in  story 
The  name  of  our  victor  may  be. 

Accursed  is  the  march  of  that  glory 

Which  treads  o'er  the  hearts  of  the  free ' 

5. 

Far  dearer  the  grave,  or  the  prison. 

Illumed  by  one  patriot  name, 
Than  the  trophies  of  all,  who  have  risen 

On  Liberty's  ruins  to  fame ! 


MY    DARK-HAIRED    GIRL. 


S'~.2 


MUSIC. 


THE    BATTLE    OF    AGHRIM, 


(CACH     EACTROMA.) 


Presto  and  Furioso. 


psBg^om        psnispas  p^ssapsa        t^^sspEi 


^j^=3jg^T 


r# — |S^ — Um^-i — ^33 — S^ — ^55- 


^WJ'W^W 


J- 


— irn 1^^ iin   i~ 


3  3  3 


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r#- 


jhL 


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^ 


'w^zs^-^. 


rfr — ^^'i'^ — ni 


-!'«»§  -F-fln— rn— -iH^ — l^-f- 


*;^£I#^$Ei^l?Zi?l^ipf§«Z^^€H^^8I! 


3  3  3 


3  3^ 


B0 r— 


:^^p-t 


"I    I    r 


-\ — I — r" 


iiate  Doe 


DATE  DUE 


UNIVERSITY  PRODUCTS,  INC.   #859-5503 


BOSTON  COLLEGE 


3  9031  01212116  6 


DA    910    *M81    v»l 

Moone?yy    Thomas 

A  history  of  Ireland? 


41427 


Bapst  Library 

Boston  College 
Chestnut  Hill,  Mass.    02167 


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